Strawberry and Elderflower Cake

It was the boys (paternal) Granma's 60th birthday last Monday and we threw a party for her to celebrate this special birthday. I wanted to make a very special birthday cake for her and I knew she liked a Victoria Sponge, cream, strawberries and elderflower cordial. So I decided to combine all these things and make a Strawberry and Elderflower cake!

It had 3 layers of delicately flavoured elderflower sponge, filled with strawberry conserve, fresh whipped cream flavoured with elderflower and then covered the entire cake in the elderflower scented cream and decorated with sliced fresh strawberries. It was light and fresh and very summery in its flavour and here is how I made it.

Ingredients

 250g butter, softened

 250g caster sugar

 5 eggs

250 self-raising flour

 5 tbsp elderflower cordial

250ml double cream
strawberry conserve

1 1/2 punnets of strawberries

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160oC (fan) / 180oC
Grease and line 3 x 20cm cake pans
Beat the eggs and butter until pale and creamy
Add the eggs and a spoonful of the flour and beat until combined
Fold in the sifted flour until all the flour has been absorbed

Then fold in 3 tbsp of the elderflower cordial

Divide the cake batter between the 3 cake tins and cook in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until cooked all the way through

Remove and allow to cool completely

To make the cream, simply whisk until thick but not rigid and then fold in 2 tbsp of the elderflower cordial.

Once fully cooled down, begin assembling your cake 

take a sponge, spread some jam, then some cream followed by another sponge until the final layer is complete

Then spread the cream all over the cake like a frosting and smooth as best you can

Then add slices of strawberries around the sides and arrange prettily on the top

and it is done!

The sponge is very light and the delicate hint of elderflower which comes through with every mouthful makes for a very fresh tasting cake. It is a really lovely flavour combination.

Just bear in mind that although the sponges could be made the night before, don't add the cream, jam and strawberries until a couple of hours before the cake is needed. The finished cake will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days after but it is at its best on the day it is first served.