Earl Grey and Passionfruit Cake
Earl Grey and Passionfruit Cake
- Preparation time 90 mins
- Serves 10 people
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Moist, fragrant and delicious layers of Earl Grey tea infused cake with passionfruit curd and vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream sandwiched between the layers.
Makes a 3-layered, 6 inch round cake.
Ingredients
Earl Grey cake
3 Earl Grey tea bags
½ cup boiling water
¾ cup milk
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
4 eggs
1 and ¼ cup castor sugar
2 ½ cups self-raising flour
Passionfruit curd
¾ cup passionfruit pulp/puree
1 tsp lemon juice
¾ cup castor sugar
4 egg yolks
125 g unsalted butter, chilled
Vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
Yellow gel food colour (optional)
Method
To make the Earl Grey cake
- Empty the tea bags into a coffee mug/cup. Pour the boiling water and milk into the mug. Leave aside.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Grease the base and sides of 3, 6 inch round pans and line the bases with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and continue to beat till blended. Add the flour and the Earl Grey mixture and beat until combined. The mixture will look speckled and curdled but that is fine.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of each cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Leave aside for 5 minutes. Loosen the sides gently with a blunt knife, then turn each layer onto a wire rack to cool.
To make the passionfruit curd
- Place the passionfruit pulp, lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks and butter in a medium saucepan. Over low heat, cook stirring constantly until mixture thickens (about 10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and leave aside to cool. The curd will thicken further upon cooling. Refrigerate until needed.
To make the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat). Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the bowl is just warm to touch.
- Remove the bowl from heat and whip on high speed until the meringue holds stiff peaks and looks glossy. The bowl should have completely cooled by now.
- Add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, until thick and fluffy. If it looks curdled, continue to whip until it comes back together, before adding the remaining butter.
- When the buttercream is smooth, add the vanilla paste/extract and food colour (if using) and whip again gently to blend.
To Assemble
- Once cake layers have cooled down completely, start assembling. On a cake board or serving plate, spread a little buttercream in the centre and place the first layer.
- Spread 3 tablespoons of the passionfruit curd. Using a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, pipe buttercream kisses over the passionfruit curd. Place the second layer. Repeat until the last layer has been placed in the same way.
- Decorate with sprinkles/macarons/edible glitter/flowers or any decoration of your choice.
- The cake can be chilled to enjoy later but is best, served at room temperature. Enjoy!
Nutritional Information
- Serving size 254g
- Energy 3910kJ 935kcal
- Protein 11.6g
- Total fat 56.3g
- Saturated fat 35.1g
- Carbs (total) 94.1g
- Carbs (sugar) 71.8g
- Sodium 326mg
- Fibre 3.7g
All nutrition values are per serve.