When it comes to fruit fillings, you have several options.  You can use canned “pie” filling, but to fill a cake that tends to be a little too runny- so use it sparingly, and would not recommend it for a stacked cake.  Or you could use a sleeve filling, like the ones you can get made by Henry & Henry.  But those tend to be very sweet (and often a bit artificial tasting).  I have used them in the past, but I added quite a bit of chopped fresh fruit to get a flavor I was happy with…

So I have started to make my own fruit fillings, this way I control the sweetness and quality!  Here is my recipe for a great raspberry filling, though you can use just about any fruit in place of the raspberries!

*I should mention, that fruit fillings in general are a bit “slippery” so be sure you don’t add a very thick filling layer (this is a great place to torte your cake, it makes it pretty and you get more filling because of the layers) and also use a nice thick icing damn to avoid your cake “bulging”.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Cups Raspberries (fresh if available, but frozen work just fine!)
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
• 3 Tbsp Corn Starch

Directions

1. Add 2 Cups of raspberries to a pot, add 1/4 Cup of water and all of the sugar and lemon juice, Stir to combine…
2. Cook the mixture on med-low to low until the berries all burst and the mixture looks mostly liquid, about 5-10 minutes
3. Remove the mixture from the heat and push through a sieve to remove the seeds, I like to really work to get as much pulp through as I can
4. Add the mixture back to your pot and return to med-low heat.  Simmer another 5 minutes or so to reduce slightly then add reserved berries…
5. Add the corn starch to the remaining 1/4 Cup of water and whisk with a fork to make a slurry, stir the slurry into your simmering berry mixture and stir constantly for 5-10 minutes.  The mixture will go from runny and opaque to translucent and thick, almost like a melted jam.  When the mixture is thick and all of the berries have burst, remove your mixture from the heat.  (At this point, if you would like a seedless filling, you can push the mixture through a sieve again… I like to leave the few remaining seeds so it has the “look” of a raspberry filling.)
6. Allow your filling to come to room temperature, and then you can put in a container and refrigerate until ready to use
7. Makes about 2 Cups of filling

It sounds like a lot of steps, but this filling is really quick and easy to make.  You can add more or less sugar if you prefer a more tart or more sweet filling… It’s really delicious and you can feel proud that you made a fruit filling from scratch!  Enjoy!

Happy Caking 🙂