I have been completely blown away by all your lovely comments about Part 1 and Part 2 of the Abbeville Styled Shoots, thank you so much it’s so flattering to hear that you love the shoot as much as we do - I have one more post to come, it’s a little round up of everyone involved! Before then, I thought that I would share the recipe for the Vanilla and Raspberry Jam Layer Cake that I made for the shoot, it’s the perfect cake for any celebration - plus it’s easy peasy to make and incredibly delicious! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. x
Recipe
Vanilla Cake
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper then butter and flour the sides. Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a mixing bowl, whisk to combine then make a well. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave, make sure it doesn’t separate you don’t want the oil to rise! Add the vanilla to the milk and add to the flour mixture, start mixing the batter on a low speed add the eggs one at a time and then the melted butter. Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 30-35min or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10min before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Follow the vanilla cake recipe and make two batches of cake - you can double it if you like to save time. Divide the cake mixture evenly between three bowls – 770g of cake mixture per bowl. You can make cupcakes with the left over mixture or add a fourth layer to the cake.
If you are like me and only have one cake tin (not four of the same size) make sure you throughly clean the cake tin after each use and run it under cold water to cool it down between uses – you will also have to prepare the cake tin each time for each cake.
Once the cakes have been cooked and they are completely cool. Using a bread knife gently cut the top of the cake off so that it is level and turn it over to ice.
vanilla buttercream icing
Beat together the butter, milk, vanilla essence and half of the icing sugar until combined. Gradually add in the remaining icing and beat until smooth and creamy – the longer you mix it the whiter and smoother it will get.
Assembling your cake
Layer cakes are all about being patient and having all your ingredients ready to use. While your cakes are baking, I suggest making the icing to save time – otherwise you can make it the day before.
Using the Vanilla Buttercream Icing, lightly crumb coat sides the first cake but add a thick layer of icing to the top and place in the fridge for 10min to cool. Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam onto the bottom of the next cake and gently place on top of the first cake, lightly crumb coat the sides and add a thick layer of icing to the top of the cake and refrigerate again. Repeat until you have either three or four layers with a light crumb coat. Refrigerate your cake for a further 10 minutes before adding a thicker layer to the outside of the cake.
To get the rustic effect of the cake, ad a thick layer of icing to the sides and then gently pull the pallet knife up the cake in straight lines. For the top add a thick layer of icing and then start from the outside and work your way in with short sharp circular motions to create the rustic look.
follow made from scratch On