“Hooray, party time!” we shouted a month ago when our son turned two years old. These have been such lovely years, and by now he’s already a full-fledged little person — chatting away, busy with his own important activities, “working,” and constantly running around. One of my relatives once asked, “Does he ever walk?” and I had to admit that, honestly, not really — he mostly just runs. This child has truly been blessed with endless energy and good spirits, and as a result, our home has basically turned into a stand-up comedy show from morning until night. He’s been attending daycare for a couple of months now and is enjoying life to the fullest. Just yesterday, for example, he was outside eating mud from a puddle with a shovel. I glanced over for a moment and wondered whether I should intervene… then decided, no — no need, let him eat mud. And just like that, I earned myself ten precious minutes of sitting alone on the porch while he happily splashed around in the puddle. Quality time.
But back to the topic at hand — before eating mud, our son did enjoy this delicious raspberry cake. I actually made it for Uku-Robin’s second birthday. This time, mostly out of convenience (and laziness), I kept the menu simple but nourishing. I prepared beet salad, sandwich cake, vegetable sticks, and for dessert, this very raspberry cream cheese cake. Everyone left full and happy, and we managed to celebrate a birthday on a very reasonable budget.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Cake
Ingredients
Base:
Kreem:
Preparation
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). To make the base, blend the rolled oats in a food processor, then add the buckwheat flour and 80 g butter. Process until evenly combined.
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Beat the egg and add it to the mixture along with the agave syrup. Process the dough for about 1 minute, then transfer it to a bowl and knead into a smooth ball. Roll the dough into an even layer on a baking tray and bake at 180°C for 10 minutes.
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Remove the baked base from the oven and process it again in the food processor into fine crumbs. Melt 40 g butter in a small saucepan and mix it thoroughly into the crumbs. Line a 26 cm springform cake tin with baking paper and press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the tin. Place in the refrigerator to set.
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Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Blend 200 g raspberries together with the agave syrup into a smooth purée using an immersion blender.
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Transfer 4 tablespoons of the raspberry purée into a small saucepan. Heat until boiling, then dissolve the gelatin sheets into the hot mixture.**
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Mix the remaining raspberry purée with the mascarpone cream cheese. Stir in the gelatin mixture. Finally, gently fold in the remaining 100 g whole raspberries. Pour the filling into the cake tin, smooth the top, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until set.
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Remove the cake from the tin, decorate with berries of your choice, and serve immediately.
Note
* Frozen raspberries also work well, but in that case let 200 g of the raspberries thaw at room temperature first.
** To dissolve the gelatin, squeeze excess water from each gelatin sheet one at a time and quickly stir it into the hot mixture. Repeat until all the gelatin sheets have dissolved completely.
