Behold, the cake I baked a few years ago for Prince Charles himself for a charity function. The cake at the time was approx 4 x as big as this, as it needed to feed a room full of people. I also made a lot of fruit cake ready to be wrapped for guests to take home with them.
Incase you're wondering, he loved the fresh cream and said not enough people use fresh cream in cakes and shook my hand. A good result!
As the Queen's Jubilee is fast approaching, I thought i'd write a scaled down version of the recipe for you:
Need 4 x 6 inch baking tins
Makes 1 massive celebration cake, enough for 15 people
Sponge ingredients:
200g unsalted butter, soft
50mp neutral oil
250g golden caster sugar
5 eggs
1tbsp vanilla bean extract
1 lemon, zest
Pinch of salt
250g self raising flour
Or 250g plain flour and 2.5tsp of baking powder
Buttercream ingredients:
220g caster sugar
5L egg whites
50ml water
450g unsalted butter
Cream ingredients:
400ml double cream
Pinch of salt
1tbsp caster sugar
1tsp vanilla bean paste or half a vanilla pod scraped
To assemble:
150g raspberry jam
Cake method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan/180 oven
Line 4 x 6 inch baking tins with parchment paper and butter the sides
Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with an electric whisk
Beat the butter until soft, add the sugar and the oil and beat for 5 minutes until soft pale and fluffy
Scrape down the sides and mix well
Add in the vanilla, lemon Zest and salt and mix well
Beat in the eggs one at a time
Finally add the flour and mix or add the flour and baking powder and mix
Divide the mixture evenly between 4 tins
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until when a skewer is inserted it comes out clean
Leave the cake to cool completely before removing from the tins
Buttercream method:
First, make an Italian meringue, put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment
Whip the egg whites until frothy
In a pan mix the sugar and water
Heat it until it reaches 119 degrees C
Pour this over the whipping egg whites until cool
Add in the butter and mix well until it’s smooth
Chantilly cream method:
Whip the cream with the salt, vanilla and sugar until soft peaks
To assemble:
Layer up the cakes with the Chantilly cream and jam
Allow to set in the fridge for an hour before covering in buttercream
Set in the fridge for 1 hour before cutting and serving
This cake will keep for 3 days in the fridge
It’s best eaten from room temperature
