BaxterStorey’s baking book, The Modern Baker, features over 80 delicious recipes of varying difficulty levels – simple, tougher and expert. As The Great British Bake Off gets underway, we have selected a tougher recipe to give baking fans a challenge. Freshly puréed spinach creates a vivid green base for BaxterStorey’s renowned moss cake, making it a truly unique showstopper.
Makes: One 22cm cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 150g whole egg
- 5g salt
- 230g caster sugar
- 260g sunflower oil
- 300g plain flour
- 15g baking powder
- 300g spinach, cooked and puréed – finished weight
- 2 lemons, zested
- 10ml lemon juice
Filling:
- 200g full-fat cream cheese
- 100g mascarpone
- 40g caster sugar
- 10ml vanilla extract
- 6 raspberries, torn into rough pieces
- 15 small mint leaves
Method
- Place egg, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl and whip until light and well aerated. Continue whipping and add oil in a slow but steady manner, the same way as when making mayo or French dressing.
- Sieve flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture a quarter at a time, fully folding in each time making sure there are no lumps.
- Add spinach purée, lemon zest and juice and mix well.
- Place in two greased and lightly-floured 22cm sandwich pans and bake in a preheated oven at 170̊C for 20-25 minutes or until when checked with a skewer, it comes out clean.
- Leave until fully cool before turning out.
- For filling; place all ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until slightly thickened.
- Spoon half the filling all over the bottom tier of the cake and sandwich with the other. Spoon remaining cream over the top and spread evenly.
- Garnish with raspberries and mint.