Summer Berry Layer Cake with Lavender Petals

July 18, 2015 Kiran Soni

Serves 8-10

Method

Using 25g of the butter, grease two 22cm shallow cake tins and line with baking parchment.
Whisk the eggs with the caster sugar in a bowl, until the mixture is thick and creamy and the whisk leaves a trail.
Put the remaining butter with the cream into a pan and bring to the boil.
Allow to cool for a couple of minutes and stir into the egg and sugar mixture.
Sieve the flour and baking powder and fold it carefully into the egg and sugar mixture making sure that their are no lumps.
Divide the mixture between the two cake tins.
Bake in the oven (170º celsius fan assisted or equivalent) for 15 minutes or until they are cooked and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Remove the cake tins from the oven.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the cakes from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cakes are cooling, whip the double cream with the vanilla sugar until it is lightly whipped.
Prepare and clean the fruit and hull the strawberries.
Once cooled, place one cake onto a cake serving plate, or a cake stand.
Place half of the whipped cream onto the cake and arrange half of the fruit on top.
Put the second cake on top and then place the remaining cream on top. Arrange the fruit and finally sprinkle over the petals from the two sprigs of lavender.

I make the vanilla sugar by placing a vanilla pod into a container of caster sugar.
Instead of whipping the cream with vanilla sugar, it can also be whipped up with a tablespoon of lavender sugar.
If you don't have any lavender petals you can omit them, or sprinkle over dried rose petals.
Don't overdo it with the lavender, as it will start to taste rather soapy.