Raspberry Caramel Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C and grease and line two 8 inch round cake tins.

Measure out the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a medium sized bowl and mix together briefly. Set to one side.

Place the raspberries into a medium sized bowl and then take a spoonful of flour out of the measured ingredients and toss the raspberries in it. (This will stop the raspberries from sinking). Set aside.

Place the butter and sugars into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, scraping the sides down as necessary and mix until well incorporated, about 1 minute on medium-high speed.

Into the mixer bowl, add the milk and flour mixture and mix on low-med until light and smooth. Add in the raspberries and fold them in gently by hand.

Divide the batter between the two cake tins and smooth over with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown, springy to the touch and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven.

Leave to cool in the tins for at least 30 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, make the frosting: Place the caramel, butter, icing sugar and salt into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes (see note).

Take one cake layer and place on a cake stand/plate/cake board. Spread a good layer of frosting onto the cake and smooth it with a spatula. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of raspberries over the top (reserving 3 for garnish if you want).

Turn the second cake layer bottom side up and place on top of the frosted cake layer. Spread another layer of frosting over the top (and sides if you want) and garnish with a few raspberries, if desired.

Cake will keep in the fridge, covered for 2 days.

Notes:
1. Normally I wouldn’t advise the use of margarine, but in this case I prefer the resulting cake. It’s more moist and tender. If you want to use butter, use unsalted and add a pinch of salt.
2. This recipe makes a lot of frosting. I was going to frost the middle, top and sides, but then decided to only do the middle and top, so if you want to do the same as me, halve the frosting recipe.