Method (compote)

1. Place the raspberries into a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle over the sugar, cornflour / cornstarch and water.
2. Place on top onto the hob over a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. This will take around 5-8 minutes. Keep stirring with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from sticking and burning. It will start to turn thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool before using. As it cools, it will thicken up even more and turn into a jellified sauce.
3. Store in a sealed container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Method (cake)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c fan and line two, 6 inch loose base / push up cake tins with grease-proof paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Mix well to combine.
5. Add the oil into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
6. Fold in the freeze dried raspberries.
7. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
8. Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
9. Swirl a tablespoon of raspberry compote on top of the batter and swirl around.
10. Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch. As the cakes have the compote, they might be sticker than usual when first out of the oven.
11. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully.  Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and add in 3 tablespoons of raspberry compote, whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it. 
3. Pour in the aquafaba and whip for 5 minutes until it turns light and creamy. Don’t over whip it or it can become too soft. If it does, just add in more icing sugar until it’s thick and creamy. The buttercream should be airy and light. You might need to add in some more butter to get it to the right consistency.  Tip- If the buttercream ever looks like its splitting, add chunks more butter at a time while its still whipping on medium / high speed. It’ll come back together within a minute or two.
4. Optional: Fold in the freeze dried raspberries. 

Assemble

1. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off set spatula or pallet knife.
2. Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with 2 heaped tablespoons of raspberry compote. 
3. Optional: Add on some fresh raspberries.
4. Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks.
5. Coat the whole cake with the buttercream, swirling it around to create texture with the spatula.
6. Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle (I use a Wilton 2D), and pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake.
7. Top with a fresh / whole raspberries.
8. Add left over compote into a piping bag, snip off the tip and pipe hearts all around the edge of the cake (watch the tutorial here). Alternatively, you can spread the compote all around the edges of the cake making for an ombre effect.