Raspberry Punch Cake by Pavel Berky

8 SERVINGS

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Buy all ingredients right below the recipe

SPONGE CAKE INGREDIENTS

4 eggs
150 g granulated sugar
130 g all-purpose flour
30 ml whole milk
50 ml sunflower oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt

SYRUP INGREDIENTS

250 g frozen raspberries
150 ml rum
200 g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

GLAZE INGREDIENTS

80 g powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

SYRUP

1
Place the frozen raspberries in a glass bowl and add 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix well and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Then place it over a pot of gently simmering water and let it steam for about 30 minutes. The water in the pot should only be lightly bubbling. This gentle method will extract the maximum flavor from the raspberries.
2
After 30 minutes, strain the raspberries through a sieve, but do not press them. Only strain the juice they have released.
3
In another bowl, press the raspberries into a fine purée and set it aside.
4
In a pot, mix the rum with the remaining sugar and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes to remove the alcohol, then pour the rum mixture into the bowl with the raspberry juice. Add the lemon juice and mix well.

SPONGE CAKE

1
Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
2
In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the whole eggs and sugar. Using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs with the sugar into a thick foam.
3
Gradually, in 2–3 parts, gently fold the sifted flour with baking soda into the egg foam.
4
Pour the batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper and greased with melted butter. Tap the pan on the table several times to remove air bubbles from the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 50–60 minutes. The baking time depends on the diameter of the pan. I used a 17 cm diameter cake pan, and the sponge cake baked for about 63 minutes. For a larger pan, the baking time will be shorter, but the slices will not be as tall. In that case, increase the amount of ingredients. You can tell the sponge cake is done when you insert a skewer and it comes out clean. If you see pieces of raw batter on it, continue baking.
5
Let the baked sponge cake rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully turn it out and immediately flip it upside down. Let it cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, cut the sponge cake into 3 layers. The top and bottom layers should be the same height, while the middle layer is usually thicker.

ASSEMBLY

1
Place the bottom layer of the sponge cake on a serving platter and spread it with raspberry purée.
2
Place the middle layer of the sponge cake on top and carefully pour the raspberry-rum syrup evenly over it. Use all the prepared syrup.
3
Spread the top layer of the sponge cake with raspberry purée and place it on the middle layer with the spread side down.
4
Prepare the glaze by mixing all the ingredients and pour it over the top layer of the sponge cake. Spread it over the entire surface.
5
Chill the punch cake in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Tip

1) Beating the eggs with sugar is key in this recipe. To make the sponge cake really light and fluffy, the eggs must be beaten into a very thick foam. Beat them on high speed for 15–20 minutes, then reduce the speed to a minimum and let the foam mix for about 5 more minutes. This will remove large air bubbles that could disrupt the structure of the batter during baking. 2) You can replace the rum in the recipe with raspberry tea 3) The glaze should be thick enough not to run off the top of the sponge cake. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar; if it's too thick, add lemon juice drop by drop. 4) For better presentation, you can decorate the top of the punch cake with fresh raspberries, white chocolate shavings, or mint leaves. The dessert will look more elegant.

Pavel Berky

Pavel Berky, a finalist of MasterChef Česko, is a passionate chef and designer. His culinary style is innovative, combining traditional recipes with a modern approach, and utilizing high-quality local ingredients. And many of his recipes can now be found on Rohlík Chef!