Spring bouquet cake
Serves: 16
Prep time: 1 hrTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Spring bouquet cake
Three layers of fudgy white chocolate cake adorned with buttercream blooms
Serves: 16
Prep time: 1 hrTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
831Kcal
Fat
50gr
Saturates
31gr
Carbs
89gr
Sugars
69gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.6gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
For the cake
- 375g soft unsalted butter
- 200g white chocolate, chopped
- 375g golden caster sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 375g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream
- 450g soft unsalted butter
- 600g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tsp rose water, or according to taste
- 40g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
- gel food colourings, we used pink and purple
Step by step
Get ahead
The sponge layers can be frozen, un-iced. The assembled cake keeps in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 3 x 18cm round cake tins. Put the butter and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and heat until melted and combined. Set aside to cool until just tepid.
- Put the white chocolate mixture in a freestanding mixer and beat in the caster sugar. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition, then add the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract, plus a pinch of salt. Mix until just combined then divide equally between the prepared tins. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- For the decoration, beat the butter until very soft and smooth then add half the icing sugar. Beat until combined, then add the remaining icing sugar and beat again. Remove around a third of the buttercream to another bowl and then add the rose water to the remaining two-thirds, tasting as you go to ensure it’s at the right strength for you. Whisk the cooled melted chocolate and cocoa into the separate bowl of buttercream, until completely combined.
- To decorate, sandwich the three cakes together with some of the rose water buttercream, then use more to cover the top and sides, making sure to leave enough icing for the piped flowers.
- Spread the chocolate buttercream around the lower half of the sides, coming no more than half-way up from the base. Use a palette knife to smooth the surface and give a neat line around the top edge of the cake. Using a chopstick or the end of a knife, carve lines up the sides to resemble stems.
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Divide the remaining buttercream in half and stir a few drops of different gel colouring into each portion. Put into 2 piping bags fitted with different-size star nozzles, then pipe flowers around the top of the chocolate rim. Vary the shapes and sizes, to create the effect of a bouquet of flowers.TipUse vegetarian food colourings if required.
