WEEKEND
Paul’s celebration cake Paul’s berry sponge Serves 10 PREP 45 mins COOK 25 mins Moderately easy unfilled
Paul Hollywood, judge on BBC Two’s Great British Bake Off, makes the most of British summer berries by piling them onto a stunning sponge
Making a whisked Génoise sponge takes more time and skill than a classic Victoria, but is well worth the effort as it has a much lighter, more airy, texture. I’ve used summer berries for this one but it works just as well in the autumn using a compote of gooseberries or poached plums and, of course, lots of whipped cream! 50g/2oz butter, melted, plus extra for greasing 250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting 250g/9oz caster sugar plus 1 tbsp 8 medium eggs 600ml pot double cream 400g punnet strawberries, halved 180g punnet blueberries 150g punnet raspberries icing sugar, to dust
1 Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Brush 2 x 20cm cake tins with melted butter, line the bases with baking paper, then dust well with flour tipping out any excess. Set aside. 2 Put the sugar and eggs in a large heatproof bowl, then set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk with an electric hand whisk for about 7 mins or until the mixture is pale and has trebled in volume. Remove from the heat, then slowly pour in the butter folding it in as you pour until it is completely mixed in. 3 Gently fold the flour and a pinch of salt into the egg mixture, then pour into your prepared cake tins. Cook for 25 mins until the cake is golden and risen – a skewer pushed into the cake should come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for a few mins in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. 4 Meanwhile, whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then set aside. Whizz about a quarter of the strawberries with 1 tbsp sugar until smooth, then fold this purée through the cream so you get a ripple effect. 5 To assemble the cakes, cut each one in half horizontally. Put one sponge on a serving place, spread a quarter of the cream mix on top, then
dot a quarter of the blueberries and raspberries around the edge. Repeat this step two more times, put the last layer of cake on top (save a top half of cake for the top layer), spread the remaining cream over, then put the blueberries and raspberries around the edge and pile the strawberries in the centre. Dust with icing sugar just before you serve. PER SERVING 621 kcals, protein 9g, carbs 55g, fat 42g, sat fat 22g, fibre 2g, sugar 35g, salt 0.26g
Tip If you’d prefer a slightly smaller cake, make a double-layered version. Simply whip half the amount of cream, then stir through the strawberry purée, as left. Spread half of this on top, dot with half the blueberries and raspberries, then sandwich with the second sponge. Use the remaining cream for the top of the cake, dot the berries round the edge, then pile the strawberries in the middle before dusting with icing sugar.
September 2011 BBC Good Food Middle East 81