A low sugar jelly cake with watermelon, cherries and berries. This recipe is a real treat during summertime. It’s light, fruity and very creamy. Basically, everything that screams an amazing dessert. If you haven’t made a jelly cake before, now’s the time to do it.
Berries are the ultimate ingredient during the summer months. They are fragrant, sweet and full of flavour. It’s no surprise, but making desserts with these summer-goodies is the best thing you can do during this short period of time.
Back in Lithuania, jelly cakes are very popular during celebrations… and the more layers you add, the more impressive cake you’ll end up with. I took this idea and incorporated it into this summer jelly cake with mascarpone, cherries and watermelon layers.
Now I’m not going to lie, this jelly cake isn’t the quickest recipe. You’ll need some planning and preparation, and need to start at least 48 hours before serving. Unfortunately, there are no big shortcuts. You need properly chill each layer before adding a new one. But guys… this recipe is worth the effort, believe me! My Fussy Easter was quite sceptical about the cake, but the moment he tasted it, he was blown away by the flavours.
Another advantage of this cake is it’s very low in sugar. All the berries and fruits are in season, so they’re full of natural sugars with lots of sweetness. Due to this, there’s no need to add loads of additional sugar to this recipe.
How to Make Jelly Cake with Watermelon
This four layered jelly cake is a real summer celebration, but in order to nail this recipe, you’ll need to pay attention to each individual layer.
Here’s some advice on each…
Crust layer
Let me tell you a secret. I don’t use biscuits for my base. I use the leftover bits from baking tart cases. Every time I bake a tart, I keep the leftover cuts and store them. The moment I have a full jar of scraps – it’s time to bake a cheesecake.
So, for this recipe, I used my lovely tart leftovers, blitzed them in a food processor with melted butter and added the base to a cake case. Simple!
Cheese layer
This layer is like making a silky and creamy panna cotta (I took inspiration from this recipe). Mix all the ingredients, dissolve the gelatine sheets and pour the mixture on top of the crust layer.
Cherry and strawberry layer
Similarly to the cheese layer, you’ll need to heat and mix all the ingredients. After that, blitz the mixture in a food blender and pour it through a sieve to get a silky texture. Add the soaked gelatine sheets and heat with the berry mixture to dissolve them.
Watermelon layer
Make the watermelon juice – cut the fruit, blitz in a food blender, pour the flesh through a sieve and remove all the seeds and pulps.
Heat the juice, add the gelatine sheets, dissolve them and pour the mixture on top of the cherry layer (just be sure the previous layer is completely set first!).
Jelly Cake with Watermelon FAQ
- How long can this cake be stored in the fridge?
This cake can stay in the fridge for up to a week.
- Can you freeze this cake?
Unfortunately, you can’t freeze the jelly layers of this cake. The moment you make this recipe, you’ll need to eat it within one week.
- Can I change the fruits in the cherry-strawberry layer?
Yes, of course! You can swap the fruits and use blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, etc. Really, anything and everything works.
- Can I use lemonade instead of watermelon juice?
Yes, feel free to do it. You’ll need the same amount of gelatine.
- Can I swap gelatine for vegan agar agar?
Feel free to do this, just follow the instructions on the pack for quantities.
If you love creamy desserts, try out these recipes:
Homemade Zingy Lemon Curd
Vegan Panna Cotta with Strawberry Jam
Chocolate Tiramisu with Amaretto Liquor
No-bake Cheesecake with Kiwi
Check out my favourite baking equipment:
Baking Parchment Paper Roll
Ice Cream Scoop
Baking Tray
KitchenAid Hand Mixer
Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
150g biscuits
50g melted butter
Cheese layer:
3 gelatine sheets
250g mascarpone cheese
150g double cream
30g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cherries layer:
2 gelatine sheets
200g cherries
100g strawberries
Watermelon layer:
4 gelatine sheets
1kg watermelon
50g cherries
50g strawberries
Method
Prepare the crust:
- Prepare a cake tin – line it with a baking sheet and add an acetate sheet around the tall-edges of the tin (this will help you to build a higher cake – I used this product from amazon).
- Add the biscuits to a food processor and blitz them until you get a crumb-like texture. Then add the melted butter and mix together.
- Add the crust to the prepared tin. Press firmly down with a glass.
- Leave in the fridge for an hour.
Prepare the cheese layer:
- Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl with cold water for a couple of minutes.
- Heat the mascarpone cheese, double cream, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a saucepan.
- Add the gelatine sheets and heat everything together until the sheets are completely dissolved.
- Pour the mixture onto the crust and leave it in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Prepare the cherry layer:
- Take out the stones from the cherries and add them to a saucepan.
- Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl with cold water for a couple of minutes.
- Heat the cherries and strawberries with 200ml water until the fruits start breaking apart.
- Add the fruits into a blender and blitz them. Pour the mixture through a sieve to remove all the bits.
- Add the soaked gelatine. Heat the fruits again until the gelatine is dissolved.
- Pour the mixture onto the cheese layer and leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Prepare the watermelon layer:
- Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl with cold water for a couple of minutes.
- Cut the watermelon flesh and add it into a food processor. Blitz everything.
- Pour the mixture through the sieve and discard all the pulp.
- Add the juice into a saucepan with the gelatine sheets. Heat until the gelatine is dissolved.
- Take the cake out of the fridge and arrange the remaining cherries and strawberries on top of the cherry layer.
- Pour the watermelon jelly on top and leave the cake in the fridge overnight.
