Cake

Serves 10–12 Blackberry and Honeycomb Ombré CakeCAKE:Butter, for greasing250g plain flour450g caster sugar100g cocoa powder2 tsp bicarbonate of soda½ tsp salt250ml buttermilk, or 200ml milk plus 1 tbspof lemon juice120g butter, melted2 eggs250ml coffee (or water)JAM:150g blackberries100g caster sugarHONEYCOMB:100g caster sugar4 tbsp golden syrup1½ tsp bicarbonate of sodaBUTTERCREAM:250g unsalted butter, softened600g icing sugar1 tsp milkTO DECORATE:12 blackberriesMint leaves (optional)You will also need three 18cm round tins andan electric hand-held whisk.1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas4 then grease three 18cm tins and line withbaking parchment.2. Make the cake: Put the plain flour, castersugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda andsalt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine.3. If you don’t have buttermilk, pour the milkinto a large jug and add the lemon juice. Leaveto stand for five minutes until thickened.4. Whisk the buttermilk/acidified milk intothe melted butter and eggs followed by thecoffee or water.5. Pour the wet mixture into the dryingredients, whisking until a smooth batterhas formed. It will be very runny, so the bestway to divide it between the three tins is totransfer the batter to a large jug. You can thenuse either the markings on the jug to measurethe amount going into each tin, or put a tinon the scales and measure by weight. It isimportant to do this so that the layers are thesame height and cook at the same rate.6. Bake for 25–30 minutes until risen and askewer inserted comes out clean. Leave tocool in the tins for ten minutes before turningout onto a cooling rack.7. To make the jam, put the blackberries,sugar and 50ml of water into a small saucepanand simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often, gentlycrushing the blackberries so they release theircolour. Drain the purple syrup into a smallheatproof jug using a sieve, and reserve thepulp 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 Bakingby Martha Collison (HarperCollins), £16.Available now10. Take the cooled sponges and sandwichthem together with a little of the white icingand the pulp leftover from making the syrup.Cover the top and sides of the top layer of thecake with the white icing, applying it thickly asa lot will be scraped off later.11. Cover the bottom third of the cake with athick layer of the darkest icing, then fill in thegap between the two colours with the palepurple. Use a large palette knife, set at a 45°angle to the cake, to scrape off the excess icingand create a smooth finish. The colours shouldblend together slightly, creating the ombréeffect.12. Transfer the leftover icing into a piping bagfitted with a closed star nozzle. You can gentlymix all the colours together to get a rippledeffect. Pipe a wiggly border around the topof the cake, then decorate with honeycomb,blackberries and a few mint leaves, if you like.