Don’t forget to go through the baking tips first, CHECK IT NOW!
This is a perfect tea time cake. The cake itself is soft and fluffy, and the icing sweet. You can cut down the sugar if you don’t have an overly sweet tooth. Put in a little bit of sugar at a time as you’re making the frosting, until you get the desired level of sweetness. The strawberries give that added fresh taste with each bite.
Prep time: 20 mins – Cook time: 30 – 40 mins – Total time: 50-60 mins
Ingredients:
Cake
- ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Equipment:
| Measuring cups and spoons |
| Two 6 inch / 15 cm round cake pans lined with parchment paper or buttered and floured |
| Electric whisk (handheld or standing) |
| Small bowl |
| Large bowl (if you’re using a handheld electric whisk, you will need two large bowls) |
| Turntable (optional) |
| Offset spatula |
| Metal smoothing tool |
See recipe for vanilla buttercream frosting HERE.
How to…..
Preheat oven to 350 F/176 C.
Cake
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until slightly fluffy and well mixed. Add the egg and vanilla and mix with the electric whisk. Then add the flour mixture and milk alternating between the two and ending with the flour. Don’t over mix – just until well combined. Pour into the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.
Assembly:
Take one of the cakes and trim off the top of the cake so you get a nice flat top of the cake. This helps you get a nice flat cake after you ice it. Put this cake aside as you will use this one for the top layer. Place the other cake on the turntable or plate.
Put ½ cup of frosting on top and smooth out with an offset spatula. Place the next cake on top of it and repeat with the frosting. Now do the cookie crumb frosting. Starting with the sides, take the frosting with your offset spatula and spread over the sides. Frost the top of the cake next. This is the cookie crumb layer and it will be thin and won’t look pretty (so don’t use much frosting) – you just want to hold the crumbs in. Put it in the fridge to cool for about an hour. Remove from the fridge and frost the cake. Repeat by starting with the sides. Smooth out the frosting with the offset spatula around the cake. Then frost the top of the cake also using your offset spatula. Take the metal smoothing tool (if you don’t have one use the spatula or knife) and hold it against the cake, with the bottom touching the plate. Then go around the cake softly so you smooth out any excess buttercream and you get a smooth finish. Serve with strawberries.
See the video on how to frost a cake! HERE.