20 May 2018

Royal Wedding Cake

After watching the royal wedding, it's safe to say that we're feeling a little patriotic (we're also slightly jealous of Meghan). What better way to enjoy the honeymoon phase than to try a slice of their wedding cake! This is an inspired lemon and elderflower cake so you can feel like a true princess. 

(Image credit: Follow the Ruels) 

You will need: 

500g caster sugar 

Six white duck eggs (500g total weight) 

500g very soft and unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing) 

400g of self-raising flour 

Four teaspoons of baking powder

100g ground almonds 

One teaspoon of almond essence

Two teaspoons of edible dried lavender which is removed from the stems and crushed

Six tablespoons of elderflower cordial

One teaspoon of vanilla extract 

Six tablespoons of raspberry jam

One lemon

300g of very soft unsalted butter 

650g of icing sugar

Two tablespoons of custard powder

Four tablespoons of milk 

Fresh flowers and fruit to decorate (or Gookie Dough if that's more your taste!) 

Directions

(Image credit: housebeautiful.com) 

Firstly, preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. We're making four sponges. Grease and line 2 x 20cm loose bottom sandwich tins and line the base with a circle of parchment paper. In a large bowl or mixer, add 250g of eggs, caster sugar, very soft butter, 200g of self-raising flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, 50g ground almonds and one teaspoon of lavender. Beat until the mixture comes together and stir in the almond essence. 

Divide the mixture equally between the tins and level with a spatula. Pop in the oven and cook for 20-25minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. When the cakes are ready, remove them from the oven and place on a wire rack. Once the cakes have been removed from the tins and the tins have cooled down, re-grease and line with fresh paper and repeat the sponge making process. 

Take your elderflower cordial and pop in a saucepan on a low heat until thickened then leave alone. Mix the raspberry jam in a bowl until spreadable. Now it's icing time! Place the butter in a free-standing mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add half the icing sugar and continue to beat for two minutes and then add the remaining icing sugar and custard powder. Mix the vanilla with the milk and add two tablespoons of vanilla milk into the icing. Cover the icing bowl with cling film and pop to the side. 

(Image credit: Vikalinka) 

Trim your sponges the ensure they're level. Use a pastry brush to brush the elderflower syrup. Then spoon the jam over three sponges and ensure it's even. The last sponge will be turned upside down to make the top layer. Place the first layer on a serving plate or board using buttercream to help keep in place. Spread an even layer of buttercream on top of the jam and sandwich the second sponge on top. Repeat two more times. Put the cake in the fridge for around 20 minutes so it sets. 

To ice, the whole cake, spoon a generous scoop of buttercream on top of the cake and use a knife to spread evenly. Ice and shave off excess icing to achieve a 'semi-naked' look. Place the cake in the fridge to set overnight. 

Two hours before serving, take the cake from the fridge so it can get to room temperature and arrange your decorations. *Recipe credit to House Beautiful* 

Congratulations, Harry and Meghan!