John's express naked birthday cake
Naked Baking is very on trend - but don't worry it doesn't mean baking without any clothes on. It's about stripping back a lot of the faff that goes with decorating cakes and getting back to the beautiful sponge of a simple cake recipe.
John Whaite's is here to create himself his own simple birthday cake that's so quick to make it will be ready by the end of the show!
Love baking? Get our winning Taste Off cakes and bakes
Ingredients
For the cake
225g butter225g caster sugar225g plain flour1 tsp baking powder2 tbsp soured cream4 eggsZest of 1 lemon3g salt
For the buttercream and jam
125g unsalted butter 225 icing sugar½ jar of raspberry jam (seedless if possible)
For the topping
Punnet strawberries thinly slicedPunnet of blueberriesIcing sugar to dust
Equipment
2 x 20x30cm Swiss roll tins
Method
Make sure the Swiss roll tins are pre-lined and well greased and preheat the oven to 190C.
Put all the ingredients for the cake into a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat for a few seconds until smooth – if you don’t have a stand mixer, this cake is really easy to beat by hand using a wooden spoon.
Divide the cake batter between the two tins, even out, and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until gently golden and the cakes spring back when touched. Cool out of the tins on cooling racks, in the fridge if you really are rushing.
Whilst the cakes bake make the buttercream –whisk the butter in a freestanding mixer with whisk attachment until very pale and fluffy. Then add the icing sugar, gently beat together, then whisk again until very pale – almost white. If a little thick, slacken with a teaspoon or so of milk.
When the cakes are cooled trim off the dry edges using a sharp serrated knife. Then cut each cake in half lengthways, so you endup with four long rectangles of cake.
Place one layer of cake onto a serving platter and spread it with strawberry jam. Add another layer, spreading that with someof the buttercream. Add a third layer and top with jam, then add the final layer and spread on more buttercream. If needed, trim the edges of the cake to neaten and accentuate the contrasting layers. Finish by arranging the strawberries and blueberries on top, dusting them with icing sugar.