Raspberry Charlotte ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

Cake is for life, not just for birthdays.

It is hard to believe that The Cake Slice Bakers are into their eighth month of baking through The Perfect Cake from America's Test Kitchen.  We have baked some amazing cakes so far, and this month is no different.

Our choices this month seem to center around the beautiful berries that our available at this time of the year in the US - Blueberry Boy Bait, Raspberry Charlotte, Blackberry-Mascarpone Lemon Cake, and the outlier - a Peanut Butter and Jam Cake. I quickly made my choice and then, at the last moment, changed it as I wanted to make a somewhat more challenging cake.

There are quite a few steps in baking this cake, putting it together, and cleaning up after, but it is well worth it. You also need to plan because at a minimum it will need 5 hours to firm up in the refrigerator, but it will be even better if you can give it a full 24 hours to really set, which is what I did. This show-stopper cake is made up of a delicate chiffon cake that actually forms the base and side of the cake, an exquisite raspberry curd folded into lightly whipped cream, and last but not least a swirl of raspberry jam.  And all of that does not even include the fresh raspberries that adorn the top of the cake.  Almost too pretty to cut, but you are going to want a slice of this beauty.

Honestly I am quite thrilled that I pulled it off.  There is always that moment of truth when you remove the ring from the outside.  Did it set correctly? Did the raspberry cream accidentally spill down the side of the cake? Is it going to collapse in a heap? Are there going to be bad words and tears if any of this happens? There was a big sigh of relief when all went to plan.  With the first bite you get an intense hit of raspberry, the creaminess then takes over, there is hint of the raspberry jam, the softness of the cake finishes it off, and the whole combination has you digging your fork back in very quickly to experience it all over again.  Pop one of raspberries decorating the cake in your mouth and you get a little texture to go with it because of the seeds.  Simply spectacular in taste and looks.

America's Test Kitchen has asked us not to publish the recipes for the cakes we bake, and I want to honor that because they have been so amazing to work with, so you can find the recipe for this cake on page 212 of The Perfect Cake. Of course I encourage everyone to run out and purchase the book so that you can have access to all of the amazing recipes. However, this recipe has been published online previously so if you do a search you can easily find it. A great post was done by Sarah 'n Spice who has some fantastic photos showing the steps in making this cake (plus the recipe). 

I am including the photo above as I find it too funny.  The directions say to take the cakes out of the oven when the tops are dry to touch, which I did.  You then let them cool, which I also did.  However it has been really hot here and when I tipped out the cake onto my hand and removed the parchment from the bottom, then tipped it back onto the cutting board I saw that there was an imprint of my hand on top as some of the cake had stuck to my hand.  It didn't affect anything as jam is spread on the tops of the cake prior to assembly, but I couldn't stop laughing.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through.  This year it is The Perfect Cake from America's Test Kitchen #atkcake.  We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes, or visit our blog where the links are updated each month. If you are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

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