full with water and bring it to the boil. Put the egg whites in a grease-free, heatproof glass bowl and sift in the icing sugar. Take the pan from the heat and put the bowl over the pan. Whisk the egg mixture over the hot water using an electric beater until you have stiff peaks.
7. Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk until completely cold. At this point begin to add the butter, one piece at a time and whisking in before adding the next. This will take about 5 minutes. Once you have added all the butter, whisk in the melted and cooled white chocolate.
8. Put one of the sponges on a cake stand and spread over half the strawberry conserve. Carefully spread one-third of the buttercream over that, being careful not to mix it up with the jam. Put another sponge on top and repeat with the remaining jam and another one-third of the buttercream. Put the final sponge on top and spread over the remaining buttercream.
9. Arrange the strawberries around the outside of the cake, cutting larger ones in half, but leaving some whole. Pile the chocolate curls into the middle of the cake and add a few fresh flowers. Dust the cake with icing sugar and serve.
In the summer when berries are at their best, this is one of my favourite cakes to bake. There’s something so fun about cooking the berries in a pan over the hob and then just pouring the batter over the top and popping the whole thing in the oven. Turned out, the mixture of berries makes the most beautiful ready-made topping, so there’s no need to worry about icing – it’s all ready to go. Team it with cream or ice cream and it makes a brilliant dessert warm from the oven, or allow it to cool and serve a slice with a cup of tea the next day.
Serves 8
50g (1¾oz) butter
200g (7oz) caster sugar
75g (2½oz) raspberries
75g (2½oz) blueberries
75g (2½oz) strawberries, hulled and cut into halves
200g (7oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (bread soda)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200ml (7fl oz) buttermilk
75ml (2¼fl oz) sunflower oil
softly whipped cream, to serve
25cm (10in) ovenproof frying pan
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas mark 4. Melt the butter in the ovenproof pan over a medium heat. Stir in half the sugar and cook over a gentle heat for 2 minutes. Add the fruit and set aside.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the vanilla extract, the remaining sugar, the buttermilk and oil to the eggs. Mix together to combine.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk to form a batter. Pour the batter over the fruit in the pan. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30–35 minutes until the cake feels firm in the centre.
4. Leave to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out by putting an inverted plate over the top of the pan and turning the pan and plate over in one quick movement. Serve warm or at room temperature with cream.
Light as air, this Genoise-style cake is perfumed intensely with lemon and lavender. Those refreshing flavours are just what is needed to cut through the rich, fluffy meringue frosting on the top. If you don’t have the sandwich tins specified, you can make the cake in a deep 18cm (7in) cake tin instead and slice it in half. Increase the cooking time to about 20 minutes – although the cake won’t rise as much as it would when cooked in separate tins.
Serves 8–10
25g (1oz) butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
3 large eggs
90g (3¼oz) caster sugar
zest of 2 lemons
½ tsp culinary lavender, plus extra for sprinkling
75g (2½oz) plain flour
For the candied lemons
1 small lemon, thinly sliced
150g (5½oz) caster sugar
For the meringue buttercream
2 large egg whites
120g (4¼oz) icing sugar
240g (8¾oz) unsalted butter, cut into large dice and left to soften a little
½ tsp vanilla extract
two 18cm (7in) sandwich tins
1. Make the candied lemons in advance, as they will keep for a while. Boil a pan of water and drop in the lemon slices. Blanch for 1 minute, then lift them out carefully with tongs and leave them to drain.
2. Heat 150ml (5fl oz) water in a saucepan over a medium-high heat and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Drop in the lemon slices and leave them to simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the skin is softened and sweet. Remove from the syrup using tongs and leave to dry on a piece of baking parchment.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas mark 4. Grease the sides of the tins, and line the bases with baking parchment. Pour water into a saucepan to about 4cm (1½in) deep and bring it to the boil. Put the eggs and sugar in a large heatproof glass mixing bowl. Take the pan off the heat and put the mixing bowl over the pan, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
4. Using an electric beater, whisk the mixture until light and frothy. This will take 4–5 minutes, and when you lift the beaters out of the mixture, the batter dripping off the beaters should leave an impression for 3 seconds. At this point, take the bowl off the hot pan and continue whisking until the mixture is completely cold.
5. Sprinkle in the lemon zest and lavender, then sift half the flour directly over the top of the mixture. Fold in, then add half the melted butter. Repeat to add the remaining flour, then butter, folding carefully so that you don’t knock too much air out of the mixture.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared tins. Bake for 12–13 minutes until the cakes are shrinking away from the sides of the tins and are golden and firm to the touch on top. Remove from the oven and put a clean tea towel over the tins. After 5 minutes, turn them out on a wire rack and leave them to cool completely. If you aren’t decorating them immediately, wrap them in cling film once they are cool – they will go stale quickly as they don’t have much fat in them.
7. To make the meringue buttercream, prepare a saucepan of hot water as before. Put the egg whites in a clean grease-free glass bowl and sift in the icing sugar. Whisk over the hot water until you have stiff peaks. Remove from the pan and whisk until completely cold. At this point, begin to add the butter, one piece at a time, whisking in before adding the next. This will take about 5 minutes. Once you have added all the butter, whisk in the vanilla extract.
8. Spread about a quarter of the buttercream on top of one cake and put the other cake, base-side up, on top. Spread the remaining buttercream around the sides and on top of the cake. Lay the candied lemon slices on top and sprinkle with a little lavender.