Today I bring you… Cake. Not just any cake, but a pink cake! How cool is that? For those who don’t know, I love pink. In fact, I’m a bit obsessed with pink… When I was 16 my sister and I got to redecorate our rooms and since we were 7 all we’d had were blue matching rooms, so of course we wanted something as different as possible to express ourselves and show our personalities! Alex chose a sparkly green, which is her favourite colour, and of course I chose pink. Even as I sit here now I’m still in my pretty pink room and I still love it! ?
This pretty in pink cake was for my mum’s birthday as she loooooves white chocolate. She was having a hard time choosing what sort of cake she wanted me to make and then when she came across this combination in my new Bluebell’s Cakery cookbook, she just couldn’t go past it. She loves both white chocolate and strawberries and hates dry cake so this was the perfect birthday cake for her! I think the strawberries on top are a nice finishing touch, don’t you? They are certainly very summery and are easy to decorate with, making for a pretty cake without much effort!
This cake would also be perfect for Valentine’s Day which I can’t believe is right around the corner! I mean, where is February going? I feel like this year has already been a blur and it’s only month two! Do you guys have any plans for Valentine’s Day yet? If not, baking this cake for your significant other would definitely get you in their good books! The boyfriend and I are going out for brunch and I might even cook him dinner, which would be a nice change… Usually I spend all my weekend doing baking and then can’t be bothered cooking so he cooks, which is great but I feel a bit mean not helping out very often…
Luckily this cake is super easy, which means that even if you’re feeling a bit lazy it can still be whipped up pretty quickly. It’s nice and dense and not at all dry, which can often happen with a white chocolate cake. The strawberry powder in the icing and the strawberries on top also stop the cake from being too sweet, instead it’s lovely and fruity and the flavour combination of the white chocolate and strawberry is perfectly delicious.
This cake also pairs excellently with a cup of tea (so I’m told, I don’t actually drink tea… Shock horror!!), especially tea that’s served in the super fancy china that’s only reserved for when the Queen comes round. Trust me, this cake deserves your best and it’s probably best to clear the dust off, you never know when the Queen might come a knocking!
Everyone needs a recipe that looks impressive and difficult but is actually deceivingly simple, and today I am giving you yours. Happy baking!
- [b]White Chocolate Mudcake[/b]
- 250g (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 150g white chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 cups caster sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 tspn baking powder
- 1 tspn vanilla essence
- 2 eggs[br]
- [b]Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting[/b]
- 125g (1 stick) butter, softened
- 175g (6 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 tspn vanilla essence
- 5 Tbspn freeze dried strawberry powder[br]
- 1 punnet fresh strawberries
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line two 20cm cake tins.
- Place the butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk all in a microwave proof bowl and melt together in the microwave in short 30 second bursts. Stir after each burst until all melted together.
- Add the flour over the top of the melted chocolate mixture before adding the vanilla and eggs, whisk well to combine until smooth.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the tops of the cakes are golden.
- Cool in the tins for 15 minutes before turning the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the strawberry cream cheese frosting (below).
- Once the cakes are completely cool, frost how desired. In order to get the same smooth and level frosting as the pictures, follow my [url href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp41fHz23tA” target=”_blank”]video tutorial on how to frost layer cakes[/url].
- Lastly, hull the strawberries and slice them thinly. Dry them off with a paper towel.
- Arrange the strawberry slices around the outer edge of the cake in a circle and keep moving into the centre of the cake until the whole top is covered in strawberries.
- The cake will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container but tastes best on the day it’s made.[br]
- Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and using a hand beater) and beat on medium speed until light in colour and whipped looking.
- Add the cream cheese in small pieces, beating well after each one. Once it’s all incorporated, beat for a further two minutes to make sure the mixture is lump free.
- Add the icing (powdered) sugar cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and the freeze dried strawberry powder then beat on high for 3-5 minutes, or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- The frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container, just make sure to bring it back to room temperature on the counter before using.
