Indulge in this rich, traditional English turned Bostonian cake made with a fantastic combination of yellow cake, raspberry cream and chocolate ganache. Serve as a special after-dinner delight with a steaming cup of cappuccino or British tea.  Heaven!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or 1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, room temperature

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

Preheat over 350*

Spray round cake pan with baking spray with flour or butter and flour

In a large bowl, beat all cake ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, stopping to scrape batter from side and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape bowl. Pour batter into pan; use a rubber spatula to scrape batter from bowl, spread batter evenly in pan and smooth top of batter. Bake approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a cooling rack 20 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack to finish cooling completely, about 1 hour.

Raspberry Creme Filling

1 small package instant French vanilla pudding

1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk

1/2 cup raspberry preserves.

Mix pudding and milk– follow package directions. Allow to set up in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Whip in preserves and refrigerate another 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 ½ ounces semi sweet chocolate morsels or chopped chocolate

3 to 4 tablespoons milk or cream

1/4 -1/2 cup powdered sugar

Melt butter and chocolate in microwave for 2 minutes; stirring after 1 minutes. Stir in powdered sugar and milk; stir until icing is smooth and thin enough to spread.

Split cake horizontally in half using a back-and-forth motion with a long serrated knife. On a serving plate, place bottom layer with the cut side up. Spread filling over bottom layer. Top with top of cake, cut side down.

Spread ganache over top of cake, using a metal spatula or back of a spoon. Allow some to drizzle down side of cake. Refrigerate uncovered until serving. Garnish with whipped cream, extra chopped or shaved chocolate, chopped nuts and a few maraschino cherries or fresh raspberries.  Store any remaining cake covered in the refrigerator. Serves 8