Baby cakes.
No, it’s not Scotty’s new nickname for me… it’s my new favourite type of cake!
It’s the type of cake that is perfect for a group of four, for a little celebration that doesn’t need the grandeur of a large cake. Great when you don’t want to be tempted by leftover cake for days. Also, it doesn’t take much to decorate baby cakes all you need is a bit of cream, a few berries and voila!
Scotty’s mum recently moved into a new house. She had been in the old house since 1979, so it was definitely a big move for her! Moving after so many years is full of many emotions so I wanted to create a little something special to celebrate that the three of us could share together.
My parents still live in the house I was born in back home in Perth, and 32 years later I’m still not sure how I would feel if they moved – it would be a big deal for us kids so I know it was a big deal for Scott and his mum. My mum is totally ruthless about not keeping things in our house once we were done with them so I only have very faint memories of my favourite toys (the only toys I remember are a hippopotamus toy piano and a miniature plastic tree with tiny people who lived inside it). It was fascinating helping Scott go through the storage areas of his mum’s house where every toy he ever owned still lived alongside his art projects and his old race car bed.
After all the old memories of yore were uncovered and tales were told about each item we found, a little cake was well needed once the move was made to make everyone feel better. And there is nothing better than a golden buttercake.
For this perfect sized four serve cake I used a 10cm springform butter cake and baked two layers which sat neatly on top of each other sandwiched with freshly made raspberry jam (recipe to follow), pistachio praline and fresh cream. It was like a little cakey hug!
Raspberry and Pistachio Praline Buttercake
Serves 4
125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar (for cake)
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoons raspberry jam
100g roasted unsalted pistachios
100g caster sugar (for pistachio praline)
1 tablespoon water
150ml pure cream
Preheat oven to 180° Celsius.
Beat butter, caster sugar (for cake) and vanilla paste in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add the eggs individually, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and milk alternately a third at a time, starting and ending with flour. Stir in lightly to combine.
Grease and line a 10cm spring form pan. Add half the cake mixture to the pan, transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes (until top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove from springform pan and set aside. Clean the spring form pan and repeat with remaining cake batter. Once second cake has cooled, even the top of one of the cakes which will become the base cake.
While the cakes are cooling, line a baking tray with paper and distribute pistachios in one layer close together. Place caster sugar (for praline) and water in a heavy bottom saucepan and heat over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Allow to boil without stirring until mixture turns golden (about 5 minutes). Once golden, pour over pistachios carefully (mixture will be extremely hot) and allow to cool. Once cool break into 5-6 shards. Set aside two shards for decoration and place the remaining praline into a blender and pulse until praline has turned into a crumble.
Beat cream with a mixer until light and fluffy.
Place the base cake onto a place and spread the rop with raspberry jam. Top with pistachio praline and then a layer of whipped cream (not too much or it will ooze out of the side of the cake when you add the top layer. Gently add the second cake over the filling and pipe the remaining cream onto the top of the cake.
Decorate with the two pistachio shards, a couple of raspberries and some edible flowers.
Serve.
This is just too pretty for words Amanda – I don’t know what I’d do if my parents ever moved out of their place. To be fair, we’ve only been here since ’97, but my entire teenage life fits into my old bedroom. I’m terrified of what will happen when they finally ask me to collect all the leftover stuff!
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I’m terrified too! I’ve have to ship so much junk to Sydney from Perth when they finally decide to move.
Well mum and dad have truly moved, and I am now over that. But Josh has told me he doesn’t want us to move. You can send me a cakey hug anytime baby cakes :p
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Haha! Cakey hug you shall have whenever you shall desire x
Pinned this for those “small” celebrations.
Thanks!
What a beautiful cake! My mum never settled in one place and has long moved out of any house that I had lived in growing up. My hubby speaks so fondly of the house he grew up in, and not having experienced it I never really understood 🙂 32 years is a long time to live in one place, and one house!
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Wow, just wow. I love a cakey cuddle and this one is so gorgeous!
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This is totally gorgeous! And the perfect size. That must have been a lot of fun peering into Scotty’s past at his mother’s house! Anyway, very nice post – thanks.
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My mum is also quite ruthless. As I moved out of home when I was 17, she took the liberty many moons ago to slowly expel hoarded childhood memories. I can see where I inherited the “minimalist” genes from!
Moving sucks but it would have been much easier with this cake. What a stunner!
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Naw, I can see you batting your lashes at Scotty and saying “baby cakes”. lol
This is such a pretty cake, baby cakes!
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Haha!! You know me too well.
I’ve lived in the same house for 24 years now – I don’t know how I’d feel about moving out.. luckily for me that won’t happen until I get married (asian traditions).. the thought of it scares me though.
If this cake is a baby cake I don’t even think I’d want to share…. haha
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Haha! I understand the staying at home till you get married. Luckily, I moved away from Perth to Sydney so was able to leave the Italian house… and now, I’ve moved in with my boyfriend (that was an interesting one to navigate with my parents!!)
This is just gorgeous! I gasped when I saw it! I love the dinky size of this and the gorgeous decorations that would be as perfect at a garden party as it was for someone who really needs a beautiful cake after a big move.
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This is a super cute cake and so pretty, too, Amanda.
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I tried to pin your picture a few times throughout the night & I kept getting an error saying they were having problems talking to your site…just thought I’d let you know that….also beautiful dish, I can’t wait to veganize it ❤ ❤ ❤
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Hi Ashleigh! Thanks for your lovely words (and for letting me know about the pinning issue – I’ll have my web guys look into it). Looking forward to seeing your vegan version!!