Before I tell you about this cake I have some exciting yet nervous news to share. Remember how on my last post I said I had passed my theory? Well my instructor has booked in my practical test for the 2nd July! That's just under 6 weeks away! It really terrifies me yet excites me and I can leave the bus behind (and people puking on it which happened the other week ick!) I know almost everyone says that you don't pass first time but I hope I do. Not so I can say "look at me, I passed first time," but purely from a time and financial point of view. It will be nice to have my weekends back and I can use the money I had been spending on lessons for nice things and the wedding.
So anyway.... cake!
Wharfedale CCC met up last week (yes I know I still need to do the writeup for it) and our theme was Old Faithful. For me you can't beat a classic Victoria Sponge but I wanted to put a twist on it. I knew I had a load of Sugar and Crumbs icing sugar to use that I had purchased at the Cake and Bake Show back in April and the strawberry milkshake flavour was just crying out to be used. Ok not crying literally but I had wanted an excuse to use it for ages!
I also wanted to create more layers as I'm bored of always opting for a two layer sponge. After a hunt through my cake tin store (the top of the kitchen cupboards) I found I had a set of three 18cm round tins and then I had another one of my lightbulb moments.
As always I use Mary Berry's trusty Victoria Sponge recipe but divided it between three pans instead of two. The Sugar and Crumbs icing worked really well and I had lots of people asking me how I made the buttercream. You all need to check out their icing sugar range, it's amazing!
Strawberry Milkshake Victoria Sponge
225g stork/butter
225g caster sugar
225g SR flour
2tsp baking powder
4 eggs
Mary Berry recommends the all in one method but I prefer creaming the butter and sugar, it's up to you which way you want to do it.
- Preheat your oven to 160C (fan)
- Grease and line three 18cm cake tins
- Whisk the stork and sugar on a high speed until pale and fluffy.
- Stir the baking powder and flour together
- Crack all four eggs into a jug
- Add a tablespoon of flour to the butter/sugar mix and then alternate between adding flour and eggs to the mix, whisking all the time until it is well combined.
- Divide the cake mixture between the three tins and bake in the oven for around 22mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave in the tin for 5mins the tip onto a wire rack to cool.
Buttercream
250g Sugar and Crumbs strawberry milkshake flavour icing sugar
80g softened unsalted butter
A few tbsp of milk
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and whisk together on a high speed for 5minutes until soft and fluffy.
- Add more milk to loosen the buttercream if required.
- My mixer has a plastic guard but if yours doesn't or you are using an electric whisk, cover the bowl with a tea towel to avoid icing sugar going everywhere.
- Once the cake is cool place one layer of sponge on a cake board/plate, spread a generous layer of buttercream and some strawberry jam. Repeat with the other layers and dust the top layer with some icing sugar.
Enjoy!
(Disclaimer: Sugar and Crumbs have sent me products to review in the past but I purchased the icing I used for this cake. As always all thoughts are my own)
