Wednesday 7 August 2013

Sophie's Amazing Summer Fruit Sponge Wedding Cake

The top of the finished cake


I made this beautiful cake for my friend’s wedding, but it would easily suit any other summer occasion. It is very easy to achieve a spectacular centre-piece without needing to be artistic – the sheer profusion of fruit makes this cake truly eye-catching! The cake is made up of 9 layers of egg sponge, making 3 tiers of 3 layers each. You need to make three 4-egg quantities (in a 10’’tin) for the bottom layer, two 3-egg and one 2-egg (8’’ tin) for the middle layer, and one 2-egg and two 1-egg mixtures (6’’ tin) for the top layer. I know this seems odd, but the cake looks best and most-balanced that way! You will need an electric mixer to make the sponges, as it requires an awful lot of mixing. So much, that if you did it by hand, your arm would fall off!



It might take a while...
Sieve in the flour

I recommend lining the bottom of the tins with greaseproof paper – no need to line the sides as it bakes so quickly – and spraying with FryLight. If you don’t have FrylLight (you should!) you can grease with a small amount of margarine. As for baking times, I have a very slow oven, so I baked them all on the maximum temperature. I reckon a good fan oven would bake them at around 180, with approx. 20 mins for 4-egg, 15 for 3, 12 for 2 and 10 or less for 1. This is a very rough guide – you’ll know your own oven best. It takes a long time to bake all the layers for the cake, so this needs to be done the day before you want your cake.


Ingredients

4 eggs, 6oz white caster sugar, 4oz self-raising flour, 1tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, 4 ½oz white caster sugar, 3oz self-raising flour, ½tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, 3oz white caster sugar, 2oz self-raising flour, ¼tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, 1½oz white caster sugar, 1oz self-raising flour, wee drop vanilla extract

Method

Whisk the room-temperature eggs in a warmed bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the sugar a little at a time, whisking thoroughly between each addition. After adding all the sugar, keep whisking until the mixture is very thick and pale. Test for thickness by making a figure of eight in the mixture with the beater. Count to eight, and the figure of eight should still be visible. If it dissolves before then, keep whisking! Sift in the flour, and fold into the mixture, gently and quickly. Then stir in the vanilla extract, pour into your prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven.

Assembly

Putting it all together
You will need a 12’’ cake-board and a thin 8’’ and 6’’ board; 2 pints whipping cream;  freezer jam; 2 punnets large strawberries, sliced; 1 punnet each of small strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries; one large spring of lemon-balm or mint; three or four rosebuds or tearoses; several lengths of narrow pink and cream ribbon; crystallized rose petals. And the cakes.

Place one 4-egg cake on the cake-board. Spread jam evenly over it. Arrange the sliced strawberries evenly over the cake. Make sure you let some strawberries peep just over the edge of the cake. Spoon cream over the strawberries, and lightly press the second 4-egg cake on top. Repeat the same steps for the second cake. Do not put jam or cream on the last 4-egg cake. Instead, place a thin 8’’ cake board on top, and build the second layer on this, placing the 3-egg sponges first, with the 2-egg on the top. This helps to stabilize the cake and spread the weight evenly. Do the same with a 6’’ cake board for the top layer, using the 2-egg cake first. Spread cream over the top cake. Tie the roses together in a posy with the ribbons, leaving a considerable length to drape down the sides of the cake. Nestle the roses into the cream, and heap small strawberries, raspberries and blueberries all over. Make sure you cover the edges of the supporting cake-boards with fruit. Scatter some crystallized rose petals over the whole thing and you’re finished! Step back and enjoy your creation!
The happy couple cutting the cake!


Freezer Jam

1lb strawberries
1 ½ lb caster sugar
Juice of a large lemon

Wash, hull and slice the strawberries. Mash the strawberries with the lemon juice and add half the sugar. Leave for a few hours to dissolve at room temperature. Then add the rest of the sugar, stir well and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. You’ll probably want to stir it up a few times. Put it into wee pots and freeze!


Crystallized Petals

Take some *perfect* rose petals, make sure there’s no bugs on them, and paint with a mixture of egg white whisked with a tiny drop of water. Don’t make the petals too wet. Sprinkle them with sugar and leave to dry in a cool, dry place. I made these during the spell of really hot weather, so having nowhere cool and dry, I left them over-night in a fan oven with the temperature turned to 0. This worked really well. When they’re fully dry, store them in an air-tight container between layers of greaseproof.

Well done, Sophie!




"To glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Creator  
of the universe and spread further abroad His glorious gospel." - Yours Truly