Bits and pieces came together in a cake to share with family and friends.

I had a cupful or two of leftover ganache, 250g cream cheese that needed using before next week, ample limes from the tree and raspberries from the garden. Oh yes, and a bowl of whipped cream (probably a cup and a half to 2 cups).

How to bring all these together?!

So it went like this – I made a chocolate cake layer from a recipe in “Sweet!”, baking the mixture it in a 25 x 35cm baking tin instead of the usual 18 or 20cm round tin.

This was covered, once cooled, with a layer of melted ganache and left to set for a bit

Next, a kind of cheesecake later. I used limes instead of lemons – because of the abundance and also because I always think it pairs better with chocolate than lemon does. Half the cream was folded into this, along with a tin of condensed milk

Some of the raspberries were pressed into that, then another thin layer of ganache and once more left to set.

I flavoured the last of the whipped cream with a little lime juice and spread that over.

Then there were scraps of chocolate in the pantry – a Neapolitan one and also dark chocolate. Little chocolate curls were made with these and sprinkled over the lime cream, and lastly a generous layer of raspberries..

So there it is – turned out as not too bad a use of bits and pieces I had at hand.

Here are two slices of the finished cake ready to serve to friends.