Today I have a really delicious strawberry layer cake recipe to share with you. This recipe is made using the Tefal Cake Factory, a brilliant new baking product from Tefal that takes the guesswork out of baking and makes it super easy to whip up yummy sweet treats.
To accompany the Cake Factory, Tefal have also created a free app with over 200 recipes and ideas, and they challenged me to give it a try it by baking their strawberry layer cake recipe from the app. You can see how it went in my recipe video below:
I must admit, I’m something of a lazy baker – I do love making cakes but I tend to go for quick and easy over fancy. At first glance, this layer cake felt like it might be at the fancy (and therefore possibly difficult!) end of the spectrum, but as it turned out, it was actually super easy to make!
The cake itself baked beautifully in the Cake Factory machine, coming out moist and evenly cooked. Once cool, I sandwiched the layers together with strawberry jam and coated the cake in a gorgeous creamy vanilla topping before piling on fresh strawberries to finish. It was a massive hit with all the family and would be a real showstopper for any special occasion!
I do have a little confession to make though – I misread one of the instructions and split my cakes the wrong way, so my cake ended up rather too tall and I only used 3 of the 4 layers. It still tasted amazing though and I’ll definitely be making it again very soon – hopefully cutting and stacking it the correct way next time!
The recipe was really easy to follow on the app, with a full list of ingredients and step by step instructions – it even includes a timer, though the Cake Factory machine has a timer inbuilt too – its five intelligent baking programs adjust temperature and time control to make sure you get perfect results every time, whatever type of cake or sweet treat you are baking.
I was really impressed to read that the Cake Factory uses 6 times less energy than a conventional oven, so it’s perfect for eco-conscious bakers. I also think it’s great for the hot summer months when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen with a hot oven and it’s brilliant for multitasking too – being able to bake cakes whilst the oven is already in use for preparing a meal is definitely a bonus!
Strawberry Layer Cake
Ingredients:
- zest 2 lemons
- 450g caster sugar
- 360g softened butter
- 680g self raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 500ml whole milk
- 10 egg whites
- 1 vanilla pod
- 300g mascarpone
- 300ml whipping cream
- 30g icing sugar
- 300g fresh strawberries
- 1/2 jar strawberry jam
Method:
In a large bowl, mix the lemon zest with 150g caster sugar. Add the softened butter, and use a whisk to cream them together. Add the rest of the caster sugar and whisk again until well combined.
Gradually add the flour and milk, whisking in between until completely combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites, then gently fold them into the cake batter.
Divide the cake batter in two, then pour one half into the baking tin and smooth over the top with a spatula.
Place the baking tin inside the Cake Factory and close the lid. Switch it on and set it to the single ‘cakes to share’ mode and adjust the timer to 45 minutes. Press start and leave the cake to bake.
Once the cake is baked, carefully tip it out of the baking tin onto a cooling rack, wipe out the tin and bake the second batch of cake batter in the same way.
Whilst the cakes are baking, make the vanilla cream topping:
Split the vanilla pod in half and extract the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife.
Whisk the mascarpone, whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds together until the mixture is stiff. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
Hull the strawberries and slice them all in half.
Once both cakes are completely cool, trim the sides and split each cake in half widthways so you end up with 4 equal layers (note, as you’ll see in my video, I misread the instructions here and ended up cutting my cakes the wrong way, oops! My cake turned out extra tall but it still tasted delicious!).
Sandwich the layers together with strawberry jam (tip, try heating the jam for 30 seconds in the microwave first to make it easier to spread).
Cover the cake with the vanilla cream topping then decorate with fresh strawberries to finish.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
As I mentioned above, I baked this yummy cake in the Cake Factory in response to a fun challenge from Tefal. I really enjoyed the experience and I can’t wait to try some more recipes from the app! It’s my turn to issue a challenge now, so I’m challenging Briony May to try baking the Sticky Toffee Pudding in the Tefal Cake Factory!
Do watch this space for more Tefal Cake Factory recipes coming soon!
Grace
Disclosure: This blog post and video was commissioned by Tefal. I received a Tefal Cake Factory along with a selection of branded products to use in this challenge and was compensated for my time and the cost of ingredients, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Equipment
- Tefal Cake Factory
Ingredients
- zest 2 lemons
- 450 g caster sugar
- 360 g softened butter
- 680 g self raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 500 ml whole milk
- 10 egg whites
- 1 vanilla pod
- 300 g mascarpone
- 300 ml whipping cream
- 30 g icing sugar
- 300 g fresh strawberries
- 1/2 jar strawberry jam
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the lemon zest with 150g caster sugar. Add the softened butter, and use a whisk to cream them together. Add the rest of the caster sugar and whisk again until well combined.
- Gradually add the flour and milk, whisking in between until completely combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites, then gently fold them into the cake batter.
- Divide the cake batter in two, then pour one half into the baking tin and smooth over the top with a spatula.
- Place the baking tin inside the Cake Factory and close the lid. Switch it on and set it to the single 'cakes to share' mode and adjust the timer to 45 minutes. Press start and leave the cake to bake.
- Once the cake is baked, carefully tip it out of the baking tin onto a cooling rack, wipe out the tin and bake the second batch of cake batter in the same way.
- Whilst the cakes are baking, make the vanilla cream topping:
- Split the vanilla pod in half and extract the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Whisk the mascarpone, whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds together until the mixture is stiff. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Hull the strawberries and slice them all in half.
- Once both cakes are completely cool, trim the sides and split each cake in half widthways so you end up with 4 equal layers
- Sandwich the layers together with strawberry jam (tip, try heating the jam for 30 seconds in the microwave first to make it easier to spread).
- Cover the cake with the vanilla cream topping then decorate with fresh strawberries to finish.
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