Pumpkin Cake with Quark Frosting and Raspberries

New, fresh face of a pumpkin dessert! This not wintery at all cake, with a good hint of an orange zest, very fresh and light frosting takes one of the first places on my top ten list of cakes I absolutely love. It is a wonderful after dinner dessert.

Pumpkin Cake with Quark Frosting and Raspberries

(recipe adapted from Homes & Gardens Magazine)

 

 the cake

225g soft salted butter

225g golden caster sugar

4 large eggs

200g pumpkin puree, canned or homemade

200g cake flour

30g ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

 

the frosting

150g quark or thick Greek yogurt

200ml double cream

1 tbsp icing sugar

few drops orange blossom water (optional)

 

moreover 

300g fresh raspberries, to decorate
 

 

Method:

1. Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 180'C . Grease two 18cm round cake tins and line the base of each tin with non stick baking paper.

2. Mix the flour, ground almonds, and baking powder in a bowl, and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at the time, and continue beating for a few minutes.

4. Add flour alternately with a pumpkin puree in three parts, and beat for a couple of minutes. Mix in the orange zest.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the tins. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out, peel of the baking paper and cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Make the frosting. Whip the quark or yogurt and cream together with the icing sugar and orange blossom water until lightly thick.

8. Assemble the cake. Slice each layer in half  horizontally so you have four thing cake layers.

9. Place the first layer on a cake plate. Spread on an even layer of the frosting. Repeat until you covered three layers. Place the last layer on top, cut side down.

10. Spread thing layer of the frosting over the whole cake. Using an of set spatula create decorative pattern in the frosting.  Decorate with fresh raspberries.