Big Bake Off - White Chocolate & Strawberry Cake

Englishmum has set a bake-off competition which is open to everyone and anyone who can bake! All you need to do is make and bake a cake, tart, pie or bun and take a photo and then email it to her. The best photo wins a hamper filled with Green & Blacks chocolate.

So as I am always open to an excuse to bake a cake, I decided to take up the challenge and on Saturday I made a Strawberry & White Chocolate Cake. It comprises of a vanilla sponge with white chocolate chunks, sandwiched together with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream and decorated with pink vanilla buttercream, fresh strawberries and white chocolate shavings.

Here it is

If you would like to recreate this yummy cake here is how you can!

Strawberry & White Chocolate Cake

You will need:

For the sponge:

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
12 squares of good quality white chocolate

For the filling & topping:

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g icing sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla ext rat
Red food colouring
Good quality strawberry jam
White chocolate shavings
A handful of fresh strawberries sliced (keep 1 whole)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 160oC (fan) 180oC/350oF/gas mark 4
Grease and line two 20cm cake tins

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale in colour.
Put all of the dry sifted ingredients in a separate bowl
Add 1 egg at a time with a 1/4 of the dry ingredients and mix for a few minutes after each addition until all mixed.
Finally add the vanilla extract and milk beat again but do not over beat
Divide the mixture between the two tins. Then divide the white chocolate squares between the tins and sink each square just below the cake mixture surface.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until golden brown and cooked.

For the buttercream, whisk together the sifted icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract and butter until smooth and creamy.

Once cooled down put half the buttercream on the underside of one of the cakes and on the other cake add enough strawberry jam to generously cover the surface.
Sandwich the two cake halves together. Then add a squirt of the red food colouring to the remaining buttercream and once well mixed in add to the top of the cake. Then decorate with the fresh strawberries and white chocolate shavings.

Strawberry & White Chocolate Cake – done!

Recipe loosely based on a recipe taken from the book Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas, but with my own added extras!

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Thank you xx