I made this cake to celebrate the 2nd birthday of my blog. I put a post out on social media asking people for suggestions of what cake I should make. I had lots of great suggestions and some I will be making for my blog.
This cake was a mystery to me and I was chatting to my eldest son about it and he googled a Moss cake to see what it was. He showed me this photo of a bright green cake! I said "oh no - I hate food colouring in cakes" he investigated further and to his delight he said "Mum it's made of spinach!" So that was it I had to develop my own moss cake and here it is!!!
The cake is made in the food processor with fresh baby leaf spinach and has a hint of lemon! The cake is lovely and light and the creamy filling and fresh fruit are the perfect accompaniment!
It really is a stunning cake and certainly very fitting for my birthday cake.
Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) then grease and line two 8” cake tins.
Put the spinach and half the vegetable oil in a food processor and mix until smooth. Keep adding more oil as necessary until it is all used and it is nice and smooth.
Then add the sugar, eggs and lemon zest and mix together.
Then add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix until fully incorporated.
Divide the mixture equally between the two tins.
Place in the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins.
Next to make the icing - put the marscapone, icing sugar and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.
Whisk until fully combined and then add the cream.
Whisk until it thick enough to make soft peaks.
Take the cakes out of the tins and with a sharp bread knife slice a few millimetres of the top of each cake.
Put the crumbs into a bowl for later. Make sure the cakes are nice and flat. You need enough crumbs for the top and sides of the cake.
Place one of the cakes on a plate or cake stand and spread half of the icing on top and level.
Sprinkle a layer of mixed fruit on top of the icing then place the second cake on the top.
Spread the rest of the icing evenly around the sides and on the top of the cake.
Sprinkle the cake crumbs over the top and round the sides of the cake.
Decorate the top with the mixed berries.
Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Sarah's Moss Cake
Sarah’s servings: 10-12
Sarah’s skill: Medium
Baking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
Cake
250g Fresh Baby Leaf Spinach
275g Vegetable Oil
4 Large eggs
275g Caster Sugar
275g Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Zest of a Lemon
Icing
250g Tub Full Fat Marscapone Cheese
60g Sieved Icing Sugar
Juice of a lemon
200ml Double Cream
200g Fresh Mixed berries
A few Sprigs of Fresh Mint (optional)
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan).
Grease and line two 8” cake tins.
Put the spinach and half the vegetable oil in a food processor and mix until smooth. Keep adding more oil as necessary until it is all used and it is nice and smooth.
Then add the sugar, eggs and lemon zest and mix together.
Then add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix until fully incorporated.
Divide the mixture equally between the two tins and place in the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins.
Next to make the icing - put the marscapone, icing sugar and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.
Whisk until fully combined and then add the cream until it thick enough to make soft peaks.
Take the cakes out of the tins and with a sharp bread knife slice a few millimetres of the top of each cake and put the crumbs into a bowl for later. Make sure the cakes are nice and flat. You need enough crumbs for the top and sides of the cake.
Place one of the cakes on a plate or cake stand and spread half of the icing on top and level.
Sprinkle a layer of mixed fruit on top of the icing then place the second cake on the top.
Spread the rest of the icing evenly around the sides and on the top of the cake.
Sprinkle the cake crumbs over the top and round the sides of the cake.
Decorate the top with the mixed berries.
Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Sarah’s extra slice……
The cake will last for 3 days in the fridge.
The spatula and parchment circles I used were