Celebrate with an ombré rose cake
Who's in the mood to celebrate? Master pâtissier Eric Lanlard's modern twist on the classic Victoria sponge cake is a great way to get the party started!
You will need to prepare two 20cm (8inch) sandwich tins by greasing them thoroughly and lining the base with non-stick parchment. Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Ingredients
For the Victoria sponge
225g unsalted butter225g golden castor4 large eggs225g self raising flour1 tsp baking powder2 tblsp of milk2 tsp vanilla bean paste
For the filling
425ml whipped cream, whipped with XX vanilla sugarStrawberry preserve2 x 20cm (8 inch) sandwich tins
Cream cheese frosting
450g cream cheese,softened125g butter, softened250g sieved icing sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extractFood colouring of choice
Method
For the Victoria sponge
Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat it until it is pale and light. Add the sugarand continue beating until it's light and fluffy. Break the eggs into a separate bowl and beat them lightly and add the milk. Add the eggs a spoon at a time to the batter mix, beating in each addition thoroughly before adding the next. Add the vanilla bean paste.
Sift the flour and baking powder together. Use a large metal spoon, fold in the sievedflour to the egg and butter mixture.
Divide the mixture equally between the twoprepared tins. Tap the tins down gently to expel any large air pockets and level the cakes. Place into the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and the point of a knife come out clean.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack. When completely cool, slice each cake in half and fill then alternating between the cream and preserve. Keep in the fridge for a couple of hours to set before decorating.
For the cream cheese frosting
In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and then gradually stir in the icing sugar. Divide the frosting into four small bowls and colour it in degrading shades with your preferred food colouring. Transfer into four piping bags fitted with large star nozzle.
To finish the cake cover the naked cake with a small layer of frosting using a palette knife and then start piping the roses starting with the darker colour at the base and swapping the colour every time you reach a new row so that colour gradually turns lighter towards the top of the cake.
Keep in the fridge and remove an hour before serving