Gooseberry jam, muscat & mascarpone cake

Impress guests with this stunning muscat and mascarpone cake, made with a luxurious gooseberry jam centre. This grown-up dessert is perfect for afternoon tea

Prep:25 mins
Cook:30 mins
plus cooling

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 740
fat 45g
saturates 24g
carbs 71g
sugars 51g
fibre 1g
protein 11g
salt 0.8g

Ingredients

215g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for the tins
285g caster sugar
1 tsp almond extract
½ lemon, zested
250g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
165g plain yogurt
3 medium eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
200g mascarpone
150ml double cream
2 tbsp muscat dessert wine
2-3 tbsp icing sugar, to taste, plus extra to serve
250g gooseberry jam
edible flowers or lightly toasted flaked almonds, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and butter two 23cm cake tins, then line with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using an electric whisk, then beat in the almond extract and the lemon zest. Mix the flour, almonds and a pinch of salt together in another bowl. With the whisk on a low speed, gradually add the yogurt and eggs to the bowl with the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with spoonfuls of the flour and almond mixture until everything is fully combined.
Scrape the batter into the prepared tins, dividing it evenly. Bake for 30 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cakes in the tin to cool for 5 mins, then turn them out onto a wire rack, peel away the parchment and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk the mascarpone, cream, wine and icing sugar together using an electric whisk for 2-3 mins until you have soft peaks.
Put one of the cooled cakes on a serving plate. Carefully spread over the jam (it’s easy to break the sponge so be gentle), then gently spread the mascarpone cream on top of the jam. Put the second sponge on top. Sift over some icing sugar and decorate with edible flowers, if you like. White or cream flowers are lovely on this, but if you can’t find them, go for a single colour. Alternatively, sprinkle over some lightly toasted flaked almonds before sifting over the extra icing sugar.