Raspberry Poke Cake

A couple of days ago our allotment friend, Arthur, gave me a bowl full of beautiful raspberries.  They were picture perfect and smelled delicious.  

Now I have a little confession to make.  I have a 'thing' about berries.  I love the way they taste.... I LOATHE the seeds.  I sat down to have a think.  What could I do about those seeds? 

Then I remembered an old fashioned recipe my Mom used to make.  It was called a Poke Cake.  The idea is you bake a simple cake, poke holes in it with a skewer and pour liquid Jello over the cake to make it extra moist and flavourful. Now, if there is anything I like less than seeds it's Jello, but the idea is a good one and the inspiration for my version of Raspberry Poke Cake.  

Begin by making a simple raspberry sauce:

Fresh or frozen raspberries

water

Sugar to taste

Place a cup or two of raspberries into a small sauce pan. Add a few tablespoons of water and cook over a low heat until the berries soften and begin to break down. 

Using a fine strainer, drain the juice into a bowl.  Stir gently to extract every last drop.  Add sugar a tablespoon at a time until the sauce is as sweet or sharp as you like.  I used about 3 tablespoons of caster sugar, icing sugar will work, too.  Set this aside while you make the cake. 

To make the cake you will need the following :

2/3 cups caster sugar

1/2 cup room temperature butter or baking margarine

2 eggs - room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups plain flour*

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup milk

*To make the cake extra tender, replace 2 tablespoons of the flour with 2 tablespoons of corn flour ( corn starch).

Heat the oven to 350F/170C.  Butter a 9x5 inch loaf tin and line it with baking paper. 

Pour the milk, yogurt, and vanilla into a jug and stir well to combine.

Place the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, corn flour) into a bowl and stir to combine.

Put the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer set on a medium to high speed, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the dry ingredients.  Gradually pour in the milk/yogurt and continue to mix JUST until the batter is well combined and smooth. 

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out without any wet batter. 

While the cake is still warm and in the baking tin, poke holes all over the top of the cake with a skewer.  Slowly spoon the raspberry sauce over the cake making sure the sauce oozes into the holes.  Allow the cake to sit in the loaf tin until it is completely cool and all the raspberry sauce has been absorbed into the cake.  

There you have it...Raspberry Poke Cake, sweet, saucy, and not a seed in sight!  Thanks, Arthur!