Strawberry Lemon Cake

Directions

1. Cut the tops off the strawberries.
2. Blitz the strawberries in a food processor, then put them through a sieve to remove the seeds.
3. Pop the strawberry puree in a small saucepan and heat it slowly on the hob until boiling. Once boiling, let the mixture continue to boil and stir occasionally until you have a thick jam like consistency. You should end up with about 3 tbsp of strawberry puree. Set aside to fully cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Lightly grease and line two 6-inch tins with greaseproof baking paper.
5. Cream together the caster sugar and baking spread in a bowl for 2 mins, until light and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice along with 2 large spoonsful of the flour and beat together.
7. Fold the remaining flour into the mixture with the milk, using a spatula/metal spoon.
8. Add the mixture to the prepared tins and bake in the oven for approx. 25 mins.
9. Leave the sponges in the tins for 10 mins, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

Buttercream

1. With a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for 2-3 mins until pale and fluffy.
2. Add a half of the icing sugar and beat again until combined. Repeat for the remaining icing sugar.
3. Add the cooled strawberry puree and milk and beat the buttercream for 5 mins. If you are working in a warm environment, less milk may be required.
4. Divide the buttercream into 3.

Decorating

1. Assemble the cake by adding a third of the buttercream on top of the first sponge. Place the second sponge on top.
2. Using the next third of buttercream, thinly cover the cake. Use an angled palette knife or straight edged cake scraper to smooth it.
3. With the remaining buttercream, pipe swirls on top of the cake.
4. Finish by adding a square of Whitworths Lemon Sherbet Traybake Chocolate on top of each swirl.

Tips

1. By folding in the flour for your sponge mix with a spatula or metal spoon, this ensures the air bubbles in the mixture are retained and it will help make your cake mixture light.
2. You can use unsalted butter instead of baking spread for the sponge, just make sure the butter is at room temperature.
3. Pop the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes before covering the cake with the buttercream. This will make the sponges firmer and it will be easier to cover.
4. If you would rather not use fresh strawberries, you could add 2-3 tbsp strawberry jam to the buttercream instead. The result will be sweeter.