Raspberry Cream Butterfly Cakes

Well, I've been doing a lot of baking lately. Baking is my therapy right now, whenever I'm not feeling good I get out the flour, butter and sugar and turn on the CD player or radio and feel instantly calmer. The soothing heat of the oven and the stirring and kneading and delicious sugary buttery smells just set off something in my brain that I imagine might be just a little bit like a cigarette to a smoker or a spin class to an exercise junkie (though both of these are so far from my mode of living it's hilarious!). Not to mention the eating - I have read that the consumption of refined carbohydrates stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain, and I'm sure that is the case for me, I find that a sweet scone or piece of cake is an instant happiness fix.

It is also so gratifying to see the finished product arrayed on a wire cooler or plate. I am enjoying taking photos for this blog in that I get to preserve an image of the finished product before it is eaten.

I was doing some late night shopping recently at Coles and spied the new Gourmet Traveller, instantly falling in love with the Raspberry Cream Butterfly Cakes displayed so prettily on the front cover. Having decided this would be my next baking project I stocked up on the requisite ingredients.

They didn't turn out quite as perfect and pretty as the photograph in the magazine, but I consoled myself with the fact that there are food stylists and photographers working for hours to convince us that is how food really looks.

This recipe uses very little baking powder, relying mostly on the beaten eggs and sifting of flour to provide volume and air. As a consequence, the texture of the cakes is denser than your average sponge cupcake.

The raspberry mixture before swirling into cream mixture also makes a great quick raspberry jam to serve with scones or toast!

Gourmet Traveller's Brown Sugar Butterfly Cakes with Raspberry Cream

100g (2/3 cup) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
40g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
50g butter, melted and cooled

Raspberry Cream

125g raspberries ( I used frozen and they worked just fine)
75g caster sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
100g creme fraiche
100ml pouring cream
30g pure icing sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Triple-sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk eggs and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and tripled in volume (5-8 minutes). Sift over flour mixture and fold in with a metal spoon, then fold in melted butter. Divide mixture among 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper patty cases, filling to 5mm below rims and bake until risen and pale golden (15-20 minutes), turning tin halfway through cooking to ensure even baking. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then cool on wire rack. Cut a circle part-way through each cake to about 1cm deep and about 3-4cm diameter. Remove with sharp knife. Halve each round and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, for raspberry cream, combine raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cook until jam-like (6-8 minutes), remove from heat and cool completely. Whisk creme fraiche, cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form, then fold in raspberry mixture to form a ripple effect. Transfer to a piping bag without nozzle and refrigerate until required.

4. To serve, pipe raspberry creme fraiche into holes in cakes. Top with reserved halved cake circles, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Best eaten on day of making.