Black Licorice Cake

Black Licorice Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter, sugar, and vegetable oil on high for 2 minutes with the whisk attachment.

3. Add egg whites and mix on high for 2 minutes.

4. Add yogurt, vanilla extract, and star anise extract and mix on high for 2 minutes.

5. Combine all the dry ingredients into the mixer and mix on low

6. While the mixer is on low slowly pour in the milk and mix until combined. Be careful to not overmix the batter.

7. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.

8. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then invert on a cooling rack to fully cool.

Raspberry Filling

1. In a medium pot combine the raspberries, sugar, and cornstarch together.

2. Heat over medium until the raspberries begin to let out their juice and the mixture begins to thicken. Approximately 5-7 minutes.

3. Once the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon remove it from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

4. Strain with a fine-mesh sieve if you do not like raspberry seeds and pour the raspberry filling into a shallow dish and cover the surface directly with plastic wrap.

5. Allow to fully cool to room temperature before using it.

Orange Buttercream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and shortening on high speed with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, approximately 5-10 minutes.

2. Add the icing sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and orange emulsion/extract and mix on low until combined.

3. Turn the mixer up to high and let mix for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl when necessary.

Cake Assembly

1. Place one leveled layer of black licorice cake on a cake board or plate. Top with approximately ¾ cup of buttercream.

2. Pipe a buttercream border along the edges and fill with ½ cup of raspberry filling.

3. Repeat with the remaining layers and apply a thin coat of buttercream all over the cake. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

4. Colour the remaining buttercream blue if desired.

5. Cover the cake with another layer of buttercream and smooth the sides with the fancy cake comb. Make sure to clean off the excess buttercream from the cake comb after each pass.

6. Decorate as you please. I left the top edge raw and used all-sorts candies on top for a quick, easy, and tasty decoration. Enjoy.