Michelle Darmody: How to bake a raspberry traybake — and the mistakes to avoid

Pic: iStock

Traybakes are handy, they are simply a flat cake baked in a square or rectangular tin then cut into whatever size slices you like. 

They are a good choice when you want to feed a crowd, and there is also flexibility with ingredients and flavours.

You can make savoury traybakes such as cornbread and puff pastry tarts but the recipe here and all the variations are sweet ones that work well with the bounty of summer fruit.

When baking traybakes, I use a tin that is about two inches deep, which allows the cake to rise and gives a nice chunky slice.

Sheetcake is another word used to describe a traybake, but this American phrase usually refers to a flat cake topped with a layer of icing or ganache. 

You can of course add a layer of ether of these if you wish. 

A coconut butter cream would work particularly well with the pineapple and coconut version, or a rich ganache would make a great topping for the cherry traybake. 

As with a lot of baking recipes once you keep the core recipe and ratios you can experiment with the other elements. 

For the main raspberry recipe, a thin layer of white chocolate ganache, which is made with one part cream and three parts white chocolate drops, would work well, freeze dried raspberries sprinkled on top will add tartness and colour.

Raspberry Traybake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Traybakes are handy, they are simply a flat cake baked in a square or rectangular tin then cut into whatever size slices you like.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 250g soft butter

• 220g of caster sugar

• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

• 3 eggs

• 200g self raising flour, sieved

• 50g ground almonds

• 200g raspberries

Method

1. Line a 12 x 8inch tin with parchment. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

2. Whip the butter and sugar until light and creamy.

3. Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla. Add this a third at a time to the butter mixture making sure to combine it well, scraping all the mixture from the sides. This can be done by hand with a spatula.

4. Add in the sieved flour a third at a time, then the ground almonds.

5. Scoop the batter into your prepared tin and sprinkle the raspberries on top. Bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes then remove it and cover with tinfoil and bake for a further 20 minutes until the top is turning golden.

6. Allow to cool in the tin, then slice into whatever number of pieces you like.

Tips to make the perfect Raspberry Traybake 

• If you see the mixture curdling or separating when you are adding the eggs, add a large spoon of the flour. This will help to bind the mixture and prevent the cake becoming tough.
• As mentioned in the recipe it is important to use a spatula or an implement that get all of the sugar and butter mixture from the sides of the bowl and blend it all in with the eggs and flour. If you do not you will get hollows in the traybake, and it will rise unevenly.
• The raspberries tend to sink into the batter in the cake, if you would like to prevent this toss the raspberries in flour before adding them, and this should help. You could also half the fruit, smaller pieces tend not to sink as much.
• If using fresh raspberries make sure you dry them well, pat them dry with a clean tea towel. This will prevent any excess moisture getting into the batter and making the cake squishy.
• You can substitute the fresh raspberries for frozen ones, use the berries from frozen rather than defrosting them. If you do so it is best to increase the baking time by five minutes as the traybake will be colder to begin with. It is also good to toss the frozen berries in flour. It will not only prevent them sinking but will absorb a little of the extra moisture and help to stop the colour from the berries bleeding through the traybake.
• A tip to get even size slices when cutting the tray bake, is to first slice the whole tray in two, then cut each half in two, then again cut each remaining segment in two, and repeat until you have slices that are the size that you want.

Variations 

Apricot traybake 

To make this version replace the 200g of raspberries with four small ripe apricots. 

Each one should be sliced into 8 segments and the stones discarded; you can leave the skin on. 

Dot the pieces of apricot on top of the traybake before placing it into the oven. 

If you think that your apricots are on the sour side, you can sprinkle some soft muscovado sugar over the top before baking.

Cherries and almond 

At this time of year cherries are delicious. Stone your cherries and cut each one in half. I use 200g after they are stoned. 

I think cherry pairs very well with almonds, so I add a teaspoon of almond extract into the egg in place of the vanilla. 

You can also sprinkle the top of the traybake with flaked almonds before baking.

Coconut and pineapple 

This is a slightly different take as I replace the 50g of ground almonds with the same weight of desiccated coconut. 

In place of the 200g of raspberries, I add 200g of fresh diced pineapple and sprinkle this over the batter in the same way you would the raspberries.

Topping the cooled cake with coconut butter cream and handful of toasted coconut flakes adds a nice crunch and sweetness.