Pudding Baking

Eton Mess Cake

How about taking the Eton mess, a quintessentially British dessert, and turning it into an impressive showstopper of a sponge cake? It's the ultimate dessert for the height of summer!

30 minutes prep, 2 hours, 30 minutes cook

Serves 14

Ingredients

For the vanilla cake layers:

335g Stork with Butter, or similar

335g caster sugar

6 large eggs

335g self raising flour

2 tsps vanilla bean paste

For the meringues:

1 large egg white

80g caster sugar

For the filling and decoration:

200ml double cream (heavy cream)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

125g raspberries

125g strawberries, hulled and quartered

150g Stork With Butter, or similar

300g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate raspberry glaze:

100g raspberries

100g white chocolate, melted

Method

To make the cake layers, lightly grease 3x20cm round cake tins and line the bases with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 5. Place all of the cake ingredients into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat together until smooth and combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins and place into the oven, baking for 25-30 minutes or until golden and pulling away from the sides of the tins. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Reduce the oven temperature to 90ºC/Fan 70ºC/Gas ¼ .

For the Eton mess meringues, place the egg white into a medium sized bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar whilst whisking, continuing until stiff peaks form.

Place the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pipe the meringue into small peaks. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour, 40 minutes-2 hours, or until dry and firm. Allow to cool fully before using.

To assemble the cake, whisk cream and vanilla until it holds stiff peaks. Spread half of the cream onto the top of the first layer of cake, leaving the outside 2cm of the cake edge clear. Top with about a third of the fruit and some of the meringue, crushed. Repeat with the second layer of cake.

For the buttercream, beat the Stork, icing sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Spread the buttercream across the sides of the cake, spreading into a very thin layer; the cake should be visible under the frosting. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake.

For the glaze, place the raspberries into a bowl and mash with a fork. Scoop the fruit mixture into a fine sieve and press through with the back of a spoon, discarding the seeds; you should end up with 50g of raspberry juice. Pour the juice into the melted chocolate and mix together until smooth.

Pour the glaze onto the top of the cake and gently spread it to the edge, teasing it over the sides so that it drips down.

Top with the remaining fruit and meringue and serve - it's the ultimate dessert for summer.

Cook's Tip: Due to the meringue the cake is best served on the day it is assembled as the meringue will soften over time, however it will still be delicious for up to three days after baking.