Raspberry & Vanilla Macarons Cake

Eid Mubarak!! I know this can't be an Eid dish; but I'm too busy to type another post as this was pending in the drafts since last June. So here's a collection of Eid recipes from past posts:

Main Meal

Kannur Biriyani (Mutton)

Fish Biriyani

BBQ Chicken Biriyani

Nauratan Vegetable Biriyani

Majboos

Alisa/Arees

Desserts

Trifle Pudding

Floating Island

Crunchy Delight

Pineapple and Dry fruits pudding

Madakku Pathal /Sweet Parathas

 Somethings are worth the effort and this really was. A simple cake it was; but what made me happy was that  I could manage to find out the taste of my family after years of baking. Yes, they need everything light and less sweet- no cream and no chocolaty.. Whereas , I'm a dark chocolate person, loves cream in anything including my coffee and yeah less sugar is the only thing when i can say them 'hey i'm there with u'...

 Here I took quarter cup lesser sugar than the original recipe for them, filled the bottom layer with jam, top layer with meringue frosting and then coated with the same and glazed with chocolate. I was about to make three colored and four layered cake; orange cake was also baked the previous day along with the raspberry ones; the smell that burst out of orange zest and juice was so captivating that we couldn't wait more. When Razin asked, who is also an orangeholic,whether he could taste a bit.. i said yes- took the whole large cake, cut into pieces and gulpp.. thats it.

 I'm using chocolate glaze for the first time and didn't know that its gonna set as soon as we pour it on top. So that part turned out to be a little messy. But Wallah! the cake was delicious and finger licking good. 
 The home-made macarons on top added to it.  I haven't posted the recipe of macarons yet; but Insha Allah will do it soon! Those plain shells of  macarons were filled in with raspberry jam ; the flavor of raspberry is deliciously infused into the shells.

I've followed the same recipe, devided the batter into two, then mixed one half of the batter with 1 tbsp of fresh raspberry puree and red colour. The other half was mixed with 1 tbsp of Orange juice,a tsp of orange zest and orange color. (I added orange color accidentally to raspberry cake and red color to orange cake which spoiled the entire look :(

Ingredients

courtesy: Martha Stewart

• 
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C degrees. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.
3. Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
4. Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake stand. Tuck strips of parchment paper underneath. Using an offset-spatula or table knife, spread top with Whipped Frosting. Top with remaining cake; frost top, then sides.

• 
  
• Whipped Frosting
• 
  
• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and water. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved (or mixture registers 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high until glossy, stiff peaks form (do not overbeat), about 3 minutes; reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and beat just until combined. Use immediately.

Cook's Note

Reserve the egg whites left over from the cake for the frosting. If you don't have buttermilk, substitute plain yogurt or sour cream (not fat-free).