There aren’t many cakes out there that work for both the summer and winter months. This thought has got the cogs whirring in the Scrumdiddlyumptious kitchen, where our chefs have pulled out all the stops to create a hybrid dessert for all seasons. Going by outside appearances alone, the following floating creation wonderfully captures a chilly winter scene with frosty snowflakes and long hanging icicles. Great, but where does the summer come in? Peek inside to reveal our cake’s hidden secret…
Floating Winter Cake with Strawberry Surprise
Equipment
- 7-inch cake pan
- transparent cake stand
- snowflake cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 14 oz flour
- 5 eggs
- 12 oz soft butter
- 10 oz sugar
- 3 oz strawberry pudding powder
- 5 oz diced strawberries
- 8 oz soft butter
- 12 oz powdered sugar
- 6 oz diced strawberries
- 10 oz white fondant
- 8 oz white fondant
- 8 oz powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp water
- 5 oz white fondant
- silver sugar pearls
- white sugar pearls
- small silver sugar stars
Instructions
- For the cake base, beat the sugar and the eggs until the mixture is foamy. Stir in the butter and flour before folding in the strawberries and strawberry pudding powder. Spoon the batter into a greased 7-inch cake pan and bake at 325°F for 65 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave the cake to cool before cutting it diagonally into three equally-sized pieces.
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the strawberry cream. Beat the butter while adding powdered sugar at regular intervals. Stir the strawberries into the cream. Spoon some strawberry cream onto the bottom slice of cake, place the second slice of cake on top and spread on some more cream. Place the final slice of cake on top of this layer of cream.
- Spread the rest of the cream on top of the cake and on the sides. Cool the cake for several hours; the best option is to put it in the freezer for an hour. This will make the cream firm, which is important for the next step.
- For the coating, give the fondant a quick zap in the microwave so that it's easier to shape. Roll the fondant out into a circle with a diameter of about 15 inches. Carefully cover the entire cake with fondant, ensuring that there are no folds; cut away any remaining fondant.
- Place the cake on a transparent cake stand.
- For the icicles, work some fondant into long, thin rolls. The icicles should be long enough to almost reach the bottom of the cake stand. Mix powdered sugar with some water and use the frosting to attach the icicles to the side of the cake.
- Roll out some more fondant and use a cookie cutter to create snowflakes. Decorate the snowflakes with sugar pearls and attach them on top of the cake using the frosting.
VIDEO
So that’s how you combine summer and winter to create eye-catching, great-tasting cake! Were you impressed by the presentation? You might also want to try making our Magic Chocolate Hazelnut Cake from the bonus video.