Guest Recipe: Tom's Strawberry & Elderflower Cream Cake

This simple to make and delicious-to-eat cake peps up the cream with the addition of another summertime essential - elderflower. Tom uses an alcoholic liqueur in his version, but the recipe is just as effective with a booze-free cordial instead. So why not give this impressive cake a go next time you invite friends over for a relaxed afternoon under the summer sun?!

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 25 min
• Total Time: 35 min

Serves: 8 generous servings

Category: Dessert,Cakes

Ingredients

For the cake
• 3 large eggs - separated
• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 150g plain flour
• 50g cornflour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1.5tsp vanilla bean paste
• Small pinch of salt

For the filling

• 400ml double cream
• 2 tsp icing sugar
• 45ml elderflower liqueur or cordial
• 100g strawberry jam
• 600g juicy, ripe strawberries

Method

1. Grease and line two 20cm loose-bottom cake tins. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven)/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Cream the sugar and unsalted butter in the bowl of a freestanding mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean paste and egg yolks and beat to combine.
3. Sift together the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder and add to the butter mixture a spoonful at a time.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk together the egg whites with a small pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Beat a third of this egg white mixture into the batter to slacken it off before carefully folding in the remainder - ensuring everything is evenly combined.
5. Split the mixture between the two tins and level off with a spatula. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes until the cakes are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Allow to rest in the tins for around five minutes before turning out onto racks to cool thoroughly.
6. To make the filling, pop the cream and elderflower liqueur or cordial into a clean bowl. Sift in the two tsp icing sugar and whisk to form soft peaks which hold their own weight.
7. Top and hull half of the strawberries before slicing into the same thickness as a £1 coin.
8. Place one half of the cake (top down) onto a plate and spread over half of the cream. Arrange the strawberry halves in circles all over the top of the cream.
9. Spread the strawberry jam over the top of the second cake before gently placing face down onto the lower cake - leave the flat side upwards. Finally spread the remainder of the cream over the top of the cake before decorating with the remaining strawberries.
10. Serve with a glass of bubbly and enjoy a bite of summer.

Tom Frizell-Shackley is a food writer, recipe developer and freelance PR consultant, based in the North of England. He lives with his partner, son and three spaniels. Since 2019, he has published recipes and kitchen tips for his Kitchen Notes food blog.