Strawberry Ruffle Cake
This is my idea of the perfect summer celebration cake. It’s so pretty, perfect for tea or as a pudding and a real crowd pleaser. I actually made this one for my lovely photographer Kit’s birthday!
If you’re making it for children just miss out the Fraise des Bois stage, you could a tbsp of hot water to some strawberry jam and paint that on instead!
If you’re in a rush miss out the crystallised blueberries and just cover with strawberries and dust with icing sugar for an equally great effect.
What you'll need
225g Butter (softened)
225g Caster Sugar
225g Self Raising Flour (sifted)
4 Large Eggs
2 level tsp Baking Powder
284ml Double Cream
3 tbsp Icing Sugar (sifted)
1 tbsp Vanilla Paste (or 1 tsp of vanilla essence)
⅓ cup Fraise des Bois
1 punnet of blueberries following the crystallising method
1 punnet of strawberries sliced into three
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC .
- Grease and line two cake tins (20cm is perfect).
- Place the butter in a mixer with the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. See my before and after of the colour change you will be looking for in the mix.
- Then add the eggs one at a time beating them into the mix, followed by the sifted flour and baking powder, beat until well combined.
- Divide into the cake tins evenly and level out the mix.
- Bake for about 25mins or until the top is well risen and golden and the cake springs back to a light press.
- Place the cakes on cooling racks and brush the tops and sides with half the Fraise des Bois, then allow to cool.
Build the Cake
- Sift the icing sugar into the cream in a large mixing bowl and then add the vanilla.
- Whisk until you have soft peaks, then rest it for a minute or two (cream continues to stiffen after you stopped whisking and the last thing you want is yucky over beaten cream – when it starts to separate).
- Prepare your cakes for decorating, slice each in half and then paint each middle with the remaining half of Fraise des Bois.
- Check on the cream, if it is still a bit loose whisk it slowly till you get nice formed but not stiff peaks.
- Layer the cake, cream and fruit in this order… cake, cream, strawberries, then repeat all the way to the top. Only use the middle flat sliced of strawberries in the layers before the top or you will get too much wobble!
- On the top, after the cream it can be pretty to sift some icing sugar down the edges of the cake, then I like use the side edges of the strawberries to make a border and then fill the centre with my crystallised blueberries.
