Tag: Cake

Sprinkle Celebration Cake


This fun celebration cake is adapted from my Victoria sponge recipe with the addition of festive sprinkles throughout the cake.

As with any Victoria sponge recipe, the proportions of ingredients are based on the weight of the eggs (without their shells), so you can use whichever size eggs you prefer.

Makes one 4-layer 6” (15cm) cake. All ingredients, except the double cream, should be room temperature

Ingredients

Cake – single layer so you need 4x for the full cake

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 eggs weight of golden caster sugar
  • 2 eggs weight of margarine, plus extra for greasing
  • 2 eggs weight of self raising flour
  • 20g bake stable sprinkles (I use these sprinkles)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp Elmlea plant based double cream

Buttercream (x2 – one portion for filling and crumb coat, then same again for the final decoration)

  • 80g margarine
  • 80g solid cooking oil (I use Trex, but other solid oil can be used)
  • 330g icing sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Assembly/Decorating Stuffs

  • Sprinkles
  • Strawberry jam

Cake Process

  1. Preheat the oven at 170C fan assisted and prepare a 6″ (15cm) sandwich tin with margarine, baking paper on the bottom, and dust with flour
  2. Beat the sugar and margarine together at a medium speed until light and fluffy
  3. Using a spatula, scrape down any mixture from the sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs individually at medium speed. Add the vanilla extract
  4. Scrape down any mixture from the sides again. Sieve the flour into the mixture, add the bake stable sprinkles, and fold in
    • If the batter is feeling a bit thick add the double cream
  5. Pour into the prepared tin and put in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the top of the cake is springy. Put on a cooling rack in the tin for 30 minutes, then take out of the tin and continue to cool on the rack
  6. Repeat steps 2-5 until all four cakes are baked and cooled. Once cooled, level each cake

Now to make the buttercream for the crumb coat! Just follow the process for my Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

And now we decorate.

  1. Grab your cake drum/board and put a small dollop in the centre. Place your first cake layer centre on the board
  2. Cover the top of the layer with a thick layer of buttercream and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Make a small well in the middle and scoop in 1-2 tsp of the jam. Place the next cake layer on top and repeat until the last cake layer is on
    • I found that I had to put some bamboo dowels in to keep the cake from slipping with all the weight of the four layers
  3. Cover the top and sides with buttercream and smooth with a side scraper
  4. Pop in the fridge for at least 2 hours, better if overnight, until the buttercream has hardened
  5. Make some more buttercream using the same amount of ingredients and with the same process
  6. Cover the top and sides again with this extra buttercream and make sure it’s nice and thick. Smooth with a side scraper
  7. Pop in the fridge again until this layer of buttercream has hardened
  8. Push your sprinkles of choice into the buttercream. I found it easier to wear a vinyl food safe glove while doing this

Ta da! Enjoy!

Victoria Sponge

I love a good Victoria sponge, they always make me think of warm weather and sunshine. The addition of fresh summer fruits can elevate a regular Victoria sponge to something more delectable and decadent.

Victoria sponge recipes are based on the weight of the eggs, so egg size doesn’t matter and you can use whatever you have to hand. Weigh these without shells first so that the weight of the other ingredients is correct.

This recipe will make a single 8″ (20cm) sponge layer. You will need to bake two to make the fully assembled cake. All ingredients, except the double cream and fresh fruit, should be room temperature.

Ingredients

Cake – single layer

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 eggs weight of margarine, plus extra for greasing
  • 2 eggs weight of caster sugar
  • 2 eggs weight of self raising flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract – NOT vanilla essence
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • 1 tsp orange liqueur, like Cointreau (optional, for adults)
  • 1 tbsp plant based double cream (I use Elmlea plant based double cream, available at most UK supermarkets)

Cream Filling

  • 150ml plant based double cream
  • 1 tbsp orange liqueur, like Cointreau (optional, for adults)
  • 1 tsp orange extract

Assembly

  • Good quality berry jam
  • 250g fresh summer berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc)
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar, to dust

Process

Cake

  1. Prepare an 8″ (20cm) cake tin (I prefer to use a springform tin) to ensure your cake doesn’t stick
    • Lightly grease the inside with margarine. Cut a circle of non-stick baking parchment the size of the tin and use it to line the bottom – the margarine on the bottom of the tin will keep the parchment in place. Dust the sides with some flour, making sure to knock off the excess
  2. Set oven to 170C fan assisted and put a shelf in the bottom middle
  3. Put margarine and caster sugar into a bowl and beat them until light and creamy (at a medium speed if using an electric mixer)
  4. Add eggs slowly, making sure to keep the speed the same. Add a tablespoon of the flour once the eggs are added to stop the mixture from curdling
  5. Add vanilla and orange extract, and orange liqueur if using, and mix until combined
  6. Sift in flour and fold mixture together until combined. If the mixture feels stiff, add the cream and continue to fold until combined
  7. Pour mixture into prepared tin and level off with offset spatula or butter knife
  8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
  9. Allow cake to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before removing onto wire rack. For a Victoria sponge, I like to cool the cakes upside-down on the wire rack so that the sponges are flat. Be careful when doing this as the tin will still be slightly warm. Allow the sponge to cool completely on the wire rack
  10. Repeat process for second layer

Cream Filling

  1. Whip the cream with the orange extract, and orange liqueur if using, at a high speed until thick

Assembly

  1. Place bottom sponge on cake board or stand. Cover with a thick layer of jam
  2. Spread summer berries around on the jam. I cut strawberries in half so that they aren’t so bulky
  3. Cover the berries with the whipped cream using an offset spatula, spoon, or by piping it on
  4. Top with other sponge
  5. Dust with icing sugar

Enjoy!

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here

Chocolate Sponge Cake

This recipe will make a single 6″ (15cm) sponge cake. All ingredients, except the double cream, should be room temperature.

Ingredients

  • Margarine for greasing the cake tin
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 105g caster sugar
  • 20g 100% cocoa powder – NOT hot chocolate powder!
  • 30g cocoa nibs
    • Make sure these are small; you may have to put them in a food processor to bring the size down (but don’t powder them)
  • 35g cooled espresso
    • I make this in a Moka pot and let it sit until room temperature, otherwise make a cup of black coffee and pour in about 60ml when cool
  • 65g plant-based Elmlea double cream (or another dairy alternative to double cream)
  • 60g sunflower oil
  • 1 large egg

Process

  1. Prepare a 6″ (15cm) cake tin (I prefer to use a springform tin) to ensure your cake doesn’t stick
    • Lightly grease the inside with margarine. Cut a circle of non-stick baking parchment the size of the base of the tin and use it to line the bottom – the margarine on the bottom of the tin will keep the parchment in place. Dust the sides with some flour, making sure to knock off the excess
  2. Set oven to 160C fan assisted and put a shelf in the middle
  3. Sieve all dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk them to combine
  4. In a separate bowl whisk wet ingredients
  5. Add mixed dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined
  6. Pour into tin and cook for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean
  7. Allow cake to cool for 30+ minutes in the tin before removing from tin

If you’re not using the cake on the day it is made, wrap it in clingfilm once it is out of the tin and put in the fridge. Double wrap in clingfilm if it is going in the freezer to make sure it doesn’t get freezer burn. Allow the cake to return to room temperature completely before decorating.

I always cut the top off the cake using a cake leveller before wrapping in clingfilm so that it is ready to decorate immediately.

Enjoy!

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here