Today I have an unusual cake for you — both in flavor and appearance. I made the layers from a pound-cake-style batter, with poppy seeds for a beautiful cross-section and lemon zest for fragrance. Similar to this recipe — Lemon Poppy Seed Cake — except this time I used slightly different proportions, more eggs and milk, so the batter would be a little less thick. The layers come out on the denser, hearty side since the batter is pound-cake style, but they're wonderfully tender and aromatic. The cream has a bright, vivid black currant flavor that's beautifully mellowed by the creamy taste of mascarpone. The cake turned out incredibly delicious — rich, soft, and fragrant! You could even call it a cream-filled cake rather than a traditional layer cake, but since I assembled it like a layer cake, let's just call it a pound cake-style cake. I can say without hesitation that the flavor came out absolutely stunning — my taste testers gave it top marks!
Ingredients:
- Cake Layers:
- 200 g flour
- 200 g butter
- 150 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds (level)
- 2 tsp baking powder (level)
- zest of 1 lemon
- Cream:
- 500 g mascarpone
- 300 g black currants
- 100 g sugar
- 1 tsp starch
- 5 g gelatin
- Optional:
- 130 g heavy cream 33%
- black currants, sliced almonds
How to cook cake with black currant cream
Mix the flour and baking powder together separately. Add to the bowl and beat as briefly as possible — just until the ingredients come together.
Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter — I use a 22 cm pan. Spoon in the batter and spread it evenly.
Bake in an oven preheated to 170°C for approximately 30–50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Make the cream. Combine the black currants and sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and mash with a potato masher.
Press through a colander to remove the seeds and skins, then return to the saucepan. Dissolve the starch in 1 tbsp of water, pour into the saucepan while stirring, and cook until slightly thickened. Soak the gelatin in 2 tbsp of water for the time indicated on the package. Stir the gelatin into the hot purée and mix thoroughly until dissolved. Let cool completely — the purée will thicken up nicely.
Lightly beat the mascarpone (at room temperature). Fold in the black currant purée in 2–3 additions.
This is the gorgeous, vibrant cream you'll end up with. If the cream isn't thick enough, refrigerate it for a short while to let the gelatin start to set.
Assemble the cake. Level the top of the baked layer and cut it into two layers. Place the first layer on a serving plate.
Place the second layer on top and cover with the remaining cream. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours to allow the cream to set. The cake doesn't need a long time to soak, since the layers are already moist and tender on their own.
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