Butterscotch Flower Cake

Directions

Sponge

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan. Lightly grease and line three 6 inch round cake tins with baking paper.

2. Cream together the sugars and baking spread in a bowl for 2 mins, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between each.

4. Mix in the vanilla extract.

5. Fold the flour into the mixture with the milk, using a spatula/metal spoon.

6. Add equal amounts of the mixture to each tin and bake in the oven for approx. 25 mins.

7. Leave the sponges in the tins for 5 mins, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

Butterscotch Filling

1. In a saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and sugar together until smooth.

2. Add the condensed milk and cream and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

3. Lower the heat and stir for 15-20 mins, until the mixture thickens slightly.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt.

5. Transfer the butterscotch filling to a separate bowl and set aside to cool.

Buttercream

1. With a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for 3-5 mins until pale and fluffy.

2. Add a third of the icing sugar and beat again until combined.

3. Mix in the next third of icing sugar, along with the vanilla extract and half the milk.

4. Then mix the final third of icing sugar and beat the buttercream for 5 mins. If the buttercream is too stiff, add more of the milk.

5. Fold the buttercream using a silicone spatula, pressing out the air bubbles. This will make the buttercream nice and smooth.

Decorating

1. Assemble the cake by spreading a thin layer of buttercream on top of the first sponge. Then add a thick ring of buttercream around the edge and fill the centre with half the cooled butterscotch. Add the next sponge and repeat, then place the third sponge on top.

2. Cover the cake with a very thin layer of buttercream (crumb coat). You will cover the cake later with more buttercream so this layer doesn’t need to be neat.

3. Place the cake in the fridge for at least half an hour to chill.

4. Take approx. two thirds of the remaining buttercream and colour it green.

5. Cover the cake with the green buttercream and smooth the edges with an angled palette knife or straight edged cake scraper. Pop the cake back into the fridge for half an hour.

6. Colour two thirds of the remaining buttercream pink and colour the rest yellow.

7. Pipe your flower design onto the cake using a round piping tip (we used a Wilton 2A). For the petals, pipe 5 dots of pink buttercream in a circle and use a small palette knife to spread each dot of buttercream into the centre. Then pipe a yellow dot of buttercream in the middle of each flower.

8. With the left over buttercream, pipe a border around the bottom of the cake (we used a Wilton #21 tip).

9. Add sprinkles to add to the decoration (optional).