Serves 10–12 Blackberry and Honeycomb Ombré Cake
CAKE:
Butter, for greasing
250g plain flour
450g caster sugar
100g cocoa powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
250ml buttermilk, or 200ml milk plus 1 tbsp
of lemon juice
120g butter, melted
2 eggs
250ml coffee (or water)
JAM:
150g blackberries
100g caster sugar
HONEYCOMB:
100g caster sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
BUTTERCREAM:
250g unsalted butter, softened
600g icing sugar
1 tsp milk
TO DECORATE:
12 blackberries
Mint leaves (optional)
You will also need three 18cm round tins and
an electric hand-held whisk.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas
4 then grease three 18cm tins and line with
baking parchment. - Make the cake: Put the plain flour, caster
sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and
salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. - If you don’t have buttermilk, pour the milk
into a large jug and add the lemon juice. Leave
to stand for five minutes until thickened. - Whisk the buttermilk/acidified milk into
the melted butter and eggs followed by the
coffee or water. - Pour the wet mixture into the dry
ingredients, whisking until a smooth batter
has formed. It will be very runny, so the best
way to divide it between the three tins is to
transfer the batter to a large jug. You can then
use either the markings on the jug to measure
the amount going into each tin, or put a tin
on the scales and measure by weight. It is
important to do this so that the layers are the
same height and cook at the same rate. - Bake for 25–30 minutes until risen and a
skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to
cool in the tins for ten minutes before turning
out onto a cooling rack. - To make the jam, put the blackberries,
sugar and 50ml of water into a small saucepan
and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often, gently
crushing the blackberries so they release their
colour. Drain the purple syrup into a small
heatproof jug using a sieve, and reserve the
pulp to fill the cakes.
8. To make the honeycomb, put the sugar
and golden syrup into a medium saucepan.
Boil until it turns a dark golden colour, then
remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the
bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will froth up
and is extremely hot, so be careful. Pour out
onto a piece of baking parchment and leave to
harden before breaking into shards.
9. To make the buttercream, beat the butter
and icing sugar together until smooth and
light. This takes around ten minutes with an
electric hand-held whisk. Put one third of the
icing into a small bowl and add five teaspoons
of the blackberry syrup. Repeat with another
third in a separate bowl, only using one
teaspoon of syrup this time. If the icing splits,
add a few tablespoons of icing sugar and it
should come back together. Add the milk to
the remaining white icing to loosen it slightly.
You should now have three different shades of
icing that are all the same consistency.
Twist: Creative Ideas to Reinvent Your Baking
by Martha Collison (HarperCollins), £16.
Available now- Take the cooled sponges and sandwich
them together with a little of the white icing
and the pulp leftover from making the syrup.
Cover the top and sides of the top layer of the
cake with the white icing, applying it thickly as
a lot will be scraped off later. - Cover the bottom third of the cake with a
thick layer of the darkest icing, then fill in the
gap between the two colours with the pale
purple. Use a large palette knife, set at a 45°
angle to the cake, to scrape off the excess icing
and create a smooth finish. The colours should
blend together slightly, creating the ombré
effect. - Transfer the leftover icing into a piping bag
fitted with a closed star nozzle. You can gently
mix all the colours together to get a rippled
effect. Pipe a wiggly border around the top
of the cake, then decorate with honeycomb,
blackberries and a few mint leaves, if you like.