30 min + 30 min cook tiume | 10 to 12 | holiday and events
Few desserts are more impressive than a towering triple-layer cake. Because it is made with oil (butter-based cakes get hard in the refrigerator), it can be served chilled. The trick of splitting the raspberries may seem fussy, but it helps the berries sit more evenly between the layers, and once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly.
Cake
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly butter three 20 cm round cake pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together in a medium bowl. Beat the granulated sugar, oil, and eggs together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy, about 1 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low. In thirds, beat in the flour mixture, alternating with two additions of the pumpkin, and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, just until smooth. Spread evenly into the cake pans.
Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan on wire cake racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside of each pan and invert onto a rack to unmold the cake. Remove the parchment paper and turn right side up. Let cool completely. (The cakes can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
Cream
Whip the cream, confectioners' sugar, vanilla together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is stiff. (The cream can be refrigerated for up to 8 hours. If it separates, beat until stiff.)
Assembly
Set one-third of the raspberries aside to garnish the cake. Using a small knife, split the remaining raspberries down their sides so they can be opened flat. Put one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with one third of the cream and add one-half of the split berries. Add a second layer and repeat with another third of the cream and the remaining split berries. Top with the last layer of cake and remaining cream, garnish top with the reserved raspberries. (The assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours.) Serve chilled.
