I posted an uncut, enticing, teasing picture of this lovely fresh pansy covered cake in September. Back then I didn’t tell you what was beneath the frosting because it was a trail of my top-secret October Cake.
But now you all know… October’s recipe is a malted wattle seed cake!
This was a late stage trial. I had the cake recipe down but I was still playing with filling and icing combos. The homemade sour cherry compote in this worked fabulously. The vanilla bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream not so much - too heavy. Hence my change in the end to a cream cheese and raw honey frosting and filling that gives a diary tang balanced with a natural honey sweetness.
I always recommend filling cakes with fruit jam or compotes. Go for homemade where you can or grab a jar of locally made stuff from a school fete, farmers’ market or whole food/organic/green grocer type store - it contains WAY less sugar and no nasty preservatives and you’ll actually be able to TASTE the fruit.
It is also a super easy way to get fruit that is out of season into your cakes (i.e. sour cherries).