12.03.2021- Adventures in Baking: Vanilla Flower Cake

Another week down! Time seems to being going simultaneously really quickly and also crawling by just at the moment, and I for one am really struggling to figure out which day is which. Lockdown brain, hey?! It's definitely a thing. I also can't quite believe that it's been nearly a year since everything changed, but there we go. There's so much still to try and digest about everything which has happened over the last twelve months, am I'm hopeful that being able to reconnect with our friends and families over the coming weeks will allow us all to get a sense of comfort, much like those little rituals which have kept us ticking over since March 2020. 

As regular readers will know, for me, baking has been a real saving grace, and it's something which I've really loved having more time for during lockdown life. I've had a chance to try new recipes, and get a bit creative- as I did with a recent cake- a vanilla sponge festooned with flowers- an ideal treat for Mother's Day, to welcome in the weekend, or to have ready to go for the next episode of celebrity Bake Off. As always, BBC Good Food is my go-to for this recipe: 

Ingredients

For the sponge

200g caster sugar

200g softened butter

4 eggs, beaten

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp milk

A few drops of vanilla extract

For the filling and buttercream

200g butter, softened

280g icing sugar

A few drops of vanilla extract

Jam of your choice

Edible flowers to decorate

Method

1) Heat your oven to 190 degrees / 170 fan. 

2) Line two sandwich tins with baking paper and grease.

3) Mix the caster sugar, softened butter, eggs, self-raising flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and milk together until the cake mix is smooth.

4) Spoon the mixture between the two tins, filling each evenly. Smooth down and bake for twenty minutes. 

5) Turn the sponges out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.

6) Make the buttercream by mixing the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. I also find that adding a little bit of water helps too!

7) Once the sponges are cooled, spread the buttercream and jam on the bottom of one of them and place the second sponge on top. 

8) Spread the buttercream around the outside of the cake, using as much or as little as you like. Add the edible flowers to decorate!

9) Serve and enjoy!

There you go! A lovely sweet treat for the end of the week!

Have you baked anything new recently?

(Image credit: Sarah Farrell, please do not reproduce without permission.)