Next Sunday is Mother’s Day, I am hoping to be totally spoilt and hopefully not have to do any cooking or baking for myself, but I have made a very special Mother’s Day cake for my Mum that I would like to share with you. It is fairly simple, but really has that WOW factor if you really want to spoil your Mum.

I will take you through it, step by step.

Firstly you need to make a very simple sponge, now I made two lots of batter and created 4 layers of sponge, one lot of the batter I added a little yellow food colouring, so that when the cake was cut you had alternate layers of beautifully coloured sponge, but if you want to keep it simple, just do the one batch of batter

This amount makes two 7 inch sponges, make double the amount if you want 4 layers and don’t forget to add colouring, if you want the cake to look pretty when sliced. I used yellow, but use what ever colour your Mum likes and just coordinate the ribbon & flowers to match.

Mothers Day Cake

For the sponges:-

175g English butter
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
175g self-raising flour

Butter two 7 inch sandwich tins and line the base of each with a round of buttered greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in half the flour, using a metal spoon, then fold in the rest.

I always sieve the flour and I must admit that I don’t fold the flour in, I just gentle mix it in using the Artisan.

Place half the mixture into each tin and level gently with a spatula or knife.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160c, for about 18 minutes, until they are well risen, lightly golden and coming away from the sides.

Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

 
 
 
When your sponges are cooled, layer them up with your chosen filling in between each layer, I whipped double cream until stiff and then gently folded through some lemon curd to give a ripple effect. You could use cream and raspberries if you are going for a pink theme, butter icing, american frosting, cream cheese frosting, again, just tailor make it to what ever your Mum likes best.
Next I mixed up a batch of butter cream.

240g icing sugar
125g good quality soft butter (unsalted)
Splash of whole organic milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place soft butter and 1/3 of icing sugar into a bowl and beat on low for 10-15 seconds in a free-standing mixer. Once partially mixed, turn up the speed to high and beat until well combined. Repeat this process until all sugar has been incorporated, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often.
Scrape down a final time and turn the mixer up to medium speed. Add your vanilla extract, wait until combined and then add the milk to blend all the ingredients together. The milk also helps to loosen the mixture and make it light and fluffy.

Then I used the butter cream to cover the top and sides of the sponge, this gives it a nice clean finish and something to adhere your fondant icing to.

 
 
Next you will need a large packet of ready to roll fondant icing, knead until pliable, roll out until you have enough to cover your cake and to your desired thickness, then carefully lay over your cake, smooth down from the top, down the sides, until you have covered your sponge and smoothed out any lumps, bumps or creases. If your fondant sticks to your work surface, dust the work top, your hands and rolling pin very lightly with corn flour.
When you are happy with the finish of your cake, you are now ready to decorate. I chose a pretty yellow & white gingham ribbon, which I attached to the bottom of my cake with a crystal pin. I handmade Daisies with the left over fondant and a few little green leaves, these I attached to my cake using edible glue. If you don’t have the equipment to make your own flowers, why not use fresh or buy some pretty ready made ones.

 
 
 
 
If all that seems like a lot of hard work, why not just make a very simple Victoria Sponge Cake and on your chosen cake stand or plate, decorate with some pretty fresh flowers.
 
 
 

I am pretty sure, what ever you decide to bake, however you decide to decorate it, your Mum will love it.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mum’s out there.