Raspberry and coconut dessert on red velvet cake

A wonderful coconut dessert with raspberries on a red velvet cake. Light, delicious and elegant :). Perfect for finishing a summer lunch or for an afternoon treat. First, we bake the red cake, then top it with a coconut cheesecake layer studded with raspberries. Ideally, leave the whole cake in the fridge overnight so it has plenty of time to set. Delicious!

Ingredients for the red velvet cake:

• 4 large eggs
• 100 g caster sugar
• 40 g light muscovado sugar
• 30 ml oil
• 30 ml kefir or buttermilk
• 1 tsp wine vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp (or more) red gel food colouring (I used Wilton colouring in a tub: half “Red Red” and half “Burgundy”)
• 130 g plain flour
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Line the base of a 24–25 cm springform tin with baking paper.

Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk using the whisk attachment until you have a very light and fluffy egg mixture that has tripled in volume. Continue whisking while gradually adding the oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract and food colouring. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder directly into the mixture. Gently fold in with a spatula, taking care not to deflate the egg mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake at 175°C for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Ingredients for the coconut cheesecake layer with raspberries:

• 1 cup Greek or natural yoghurt, at room temperature
• 250 g mascarpone, at room temperature
• ½ cup icing sugar
• 3 tbsp coconut liqueur
• 250 ml coconut cream, chilled*
• 50 g desiccated coconut
• 15 g (5 tsp) powdered gelatine + 75 ml cold water
• 250 g raspberries

Place the yoghurt, mascarpone, icing sugar, liqueur and desiccated coconut in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whip using the whisk attachment until smooth and uniform.

Sprinkle the gelatine over 75 ml cold water, stir and leave for 10 minutes to bloom. Place over low heat and warm, stirring, until the gelatine has completely dissolved, or heat briefly in the microwave. Do not allow it to boil, as this will destroy its setting properties. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Add 1 tbsp of the cheesecake mixture to the still slightly warm gelatine and mix thoroughly. Add another 2 tbsp and mix again, checking that there are no lumps. Add the tempered gelatine to the cheesecake mixture and immediately mix until combined. Place the chilled coconut cream in a separate bowl and whip (it will not become as stiff as double cream). Add it to the cheesecake mixture in two batches and gently fold in. Add the raspberries and gently fold them through.

Spread the coconut and raspberry mixture over the red velvet cake. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight.

Additionally:

• desiccated coconut, for sprinkling
• fresh raspberries, for decoration

Remove the dessert from the fridge, take it out of the tin and transfer it to a cake stand. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and arrange the raspberries on top.

*Instead of coconut cream, you can use canned coconut milk. Chill the can in the fridge for 24 hours. Carefully remove it from the fridge, turn the can upside down, open it and pour the coconut water into a separate container (you won’t need it). Scoop out the remaining thick coconut cream from the can. You can also use double cream instead of coconut cream.

Enjoy!