Raspberry Cloud Cake

I have been dreaming about this recipe for a while. It started out as a concept in my upcoming cookbook, but ultimately wasn’t the right fit for the cake chapters. But it was still floating around in my head so I decided to make it for you!

This cake is a bit unconvential as it’s a baked layer of vanilla cake that is topped with fruit and meringue and then baked again. I was inspired by Lousie cake—a classic New Zealand tray bake (sheetcake) that has a sponge cake, raspberry jam, and a coconut meringue topping. My version is a bit more of a marriage between sponge cake and pavlova!

The base is a vanilla cake that leans a bit towards classic yellow cake using only egg yolks. After baking, mash fresh raspberries are spread on top. Then, the egg white are whipped up into a French meringue with sugar and a bit of cornstarch, spread on top, and baked again. The meringue turns pavlova-like with crisp top crust and a soft, bouncy center.

The cake looks complicated in technique, but it’s just two classic baking components coming together in one! It’s elegant enough to serve at a celebration or dinner party, but easy enough that you could make it one afternoon to share with friends stopping by.

If you want to jazz it up more, you could macerate more fresh berries with sugar and lemon juice and spoon them on top of each slice, or spread a spoonful of lemon curd on the plate before setting the slice on top.