- Makes a double-layered 7 inch cake - 2.5 hours (including cooling time) - best made and decorated on the day it will be eaten -
Gather together…
175g butter (warmed slightly in the heating-up oven until soft, but not fully melted).
175g white sugar (caster sugar or granulated sugar both work), sieved.
175g self-raising flour, sieved.
1.5 tsp baking powder, sieved.
3 large eggs (or 4 medium eggs), beaten slightly.
Decorate with...
EITHER (if your mascarpone has a 'high' 43%+ fat content)...
3 tbsp (50g) icing sugar, SIEVED.
250g tub full-fat mascarpone, it must have a fat content of at least 43% (Morrisons and Tesco mascarpone works well) or else it will split and go liquid-y when it is mixed with the icing sugar.
OR (if your mascarpone has a 'lower' i.e. under 43% fat content)...
125g mascarpone cheese.
300ml double cream (MUST be double cream as it needs to whip up, DO NOT use Elmlea).
1 tsp vanilla extract.
2 tbsp (30g) icing sugar.
and...
3 tbsp (45g) strawberry jam.
48 blueberries (200g).
12 raspberries.
6 large strawberries (halved).
Get cooking…
1. Preheat the oven to 170 C (150 C fan) or Gas 3.
2. Meanwhile, warm the 175g of butter in the heating-up oven for 3 minutes (set a timer so you don’t forget it!) - use a small, robust ceramic or metal bowl, and be careful when removing the hot bowl.
3. Butter-grease and base-line with baking paper (and then re-grease) two circular 18cm (7 inch) baking tins. Or better still, use re-usable cake tin liners (cut-to-size liners are available from Lakeland).
4. In a medium / large mixing bowl (for instance the one from an electric mixer) cream together the 175g of softened butter and the 175g of (sieved) white sugar for 2 minutes.
5. Sieve in the 175g of SR flour and the 1.5 tsp of baking powder, from a great height to incorporate air. Don't mix yet.
6. In a jug, beat the 3 large eggs for 30 seconds, until the whites and yolks are well mixed.
7. Add the beaten eggs to the other ingredients.
8. Mix until just combined, over-mixing will make the cake chewy and tough!
9. If the mixture is too dry to drop from an upheld spoon within 5 seconds, then add 2-4 tsp milk. Mix after each addition until the mixture is loose enough to drop off a spoon within 5 seconds. Be careful not to add too much milk.
10. Divide the mixture between the two greased and lined 18cm (7inch) tins and gently spread and level the mixture.
11. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes on the MIDDLE shelf. DO NOT OPEN DOOR to check on them until AFTER 20 minutes of baking time.
12. Once the cakes look golden brown and feel springy when poked, plus when you see that the edges have shrunk slightly away from the tin, test the cakes with a skewer - the skewer will come out clean from the middle once they are cooked.
13. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in their tins for 10 min. Cover the tins with a clean tea towel to keep insects away.
14. Turn out each cake onto a wire rack to fully cool. (If you are not intending to decorate the top of the finished cake, use a folded tea towel when tipping the 'best looking' cake - i.e. the one to be used as the top layer - onto the rack, so the top of it is unmarked by the wire criss-cross pattern.)
15. You MUST allow the cakes to cool completely (for 1 hour in a cool room on a wire rack) before decorating, or else the topping will slide off!
16. Meanwhile, check the fat content of your mascarpone...
16(a). If your mascarpone has a 'high' 43%+ fat content: Into a medium bowl, SIEVE the 3tbsp of icing sugar (otherwise your filling will have unsightly clumps). Add the 250g mascarpone and stir VERY gently for up to 30 seconds. This simple two-ingredient filling ONLY works if your mascarpone has a very high fat content to stabilise the mixture, a lower than 43% fat content will mean the filling quickly becomes runny and leaks out of the cake.
16(b). If your mascarpone has a lower than 43% fat content, add double cream to stabilise it: In a medium bowl, place the 125g mascarpone, the 300ml of double cream and the 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix with a handheld whisk for about 30 seconds. Sieve in the 2 tbsp of icing sugar and stir until fully mixed, this will take about 1 minute. It will be very runny at this stage - fear not. Then use an electric whisk for 2 - 5 minutes, until firm peaks form.
17. Once the cakes are cool, mix the 3 tbsp of strawberry jam in a small bowl, to give a smooth consistency and then sandwich the cakes together with the jam.
18. Spread the mascarpone-mixture icing over the top layer of the cake and decorate with the berries, as shown in the photo.
19. If the cake isn't entirely devoured when first served, then keep it in the fridge (due to the mascarpone and fresh berries) and eat it up within 3 days.
Adapted from Kirstie Allsopp’s Union Jack Celebration Cake recipe.