Summery white choc strawberry cake

It's July. It might be peeing it down with rain outside, with a rumble of thunder and flash of lightning every few minutes; I might be wearing a jumper and socks; I might be contemplating a hot chocolate later....but dammit, I will make summer come into the kitchen, with a slice of this delicious White Chocolate and Strawberry Cake. This fits very nicely into the Alphabakes 'W' challenge for July, and also into the Tea Time Treats summer cake stall challenge. There's nothing like a fabulous cake and a couple of cakey challenges to make you forget about how pants this UK summer is turning out to be.

White Chocolate and Stawberry cake

I made this cake for a friend's 30th birthday. We got him a couple of nice gifts, but these days I love to give a cake too. It's such a personal touch, and really cheers people up - everyone loves that extra bit of effort and care that a cake takes, and it's great to share it out amongst friends and family too. A bunch of cupcakes were made for the party too, with elaborate pink frosting, but I only had half. The frosting made me feel a bit sick, and I think a whole bottle of red food colouring was used to try to get a real red colour - it turned out pink anyway, and there are supposed to be limits to how much of that liquid colouring you use!! Sometimes only a cake will do.

I haven't made a cake with melted chocolate incorporated into the batter before - sure, I've used cocoa powder a million and one times, but this recipe was a bit different and I didn't know how it would turn out. It was delicious - sweet and chocolatey without being overpowering, allowing the sweetness of the fresh strawberries to really sing on their own.

Happy birthday cake!

I did whip the cream too much. I set it off in my Kitchenaid mixer, and was busy arranging the strawbs on the base of the cake when I heard the sound change - I didn't reach it quickly enough and it was overwhipped a little. But no one noticed apart from me.

I scoffed two pieces. One at the alloted cake eating time, and another at about midnight, after a few glasses of vino. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I credit late-night cake to my lack of hangover the next day. I'd recommend it.

This recipe comes from 'The Great British Bake Off - How to Bake' that accompanied series 2. 

150g white choc
200g marg
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
zest of 1/2 orange
200g self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180C (160 fan).
Melt the chocolate. This has to be done very delicately, as too much heat and the choc will go lumpy. I stopped just as it started to melt, and stirred manically for a while, until the residual heat melted it all.
Add the marg and stir until melted. 
Whisk eggs until frothy. Add the sugar and orange zest and whisk until very thick and mousse-like.
Add the chocolate mix to the egg mix and stir briefly.
Sift flour in and fold with a metal spoon.
Divide mixture between two 20.5cm tins (As usual, my tins are too small - 18cm - so I also made some fairy cakes with the mixture).
Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes.

For the filling and topping, whip 200ml double cream.
Slice 2/3 of a 400g tub of strawberries, and mix with zest and juice of half and orange and a tablespoon of caster sugar. Leave for about 10 minutes to marinade.
Spoon the sliced strawbs on to the bottom cake layer. Top with half of the whipped cream. Place the other cake half on top. Spread rest of cream over the top, and decorate with the remaining whole strawberries.
To finish, grate some white chocolate over the top.
Eat. Eat some more. Maybe have another slice. Enjoy.

Tea Time Treats is hosted in alternative months by Karen at Lavender & Lovage (this month's host) and Kate at What Kate Baked. The Alphabakes challenge is hosted in alternative months by Caroline Makes (this month's host) and Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker. 

Fairy cakes too