Lilac and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich Cake with Lilac Honey and Mascarpone Frosting
This Lilac and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich Cake is early summer on a plate! It tastes wonderful – creamy, buttery and floral – and looks beautiful with its decoration of edible flowers. I made my Lilac Cake for a special family tea, which thanks to recent surprisingly sunny weather, we were actually able to eat in the garden, close to the tree that had provided the blossoms.
This is a simple Victoria Sandwich cake, which is flavoured with lilac through the use of Lilac Sugar in the cake mix and Lilac Honey in the frosting. It is really easy to make both the flavoured Sugar and Honey but you need to do this around a week before you plan to make your Lilac Cakee to allow the lilac flavour to be absorbed. If you don’t have the time, inclination or opportunity to do this, you can make the cake without the lilac flavour – just use ordinary sugar in the cake mix and ordinary honey in the frosting. The cake will still be delicious but, personally, I think it is worth going down the lilac route as the taste is unusual and results in a beautiful floral cake (to taste and to look at!) which captures the spirit of an early English summer.
Equipment
2 x 21 cm [amazon_textlink asin=’B002G35WFC|B00K5ZK81G|B002G35WFC|B014J9VFOC|B002G35WFC’ text=’Victoria Sandwich tins’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’tastebotanica-21success|tastebotanica-20|tastebotani0c-21success|tastebotani0a-21success|tastebotani01-21success’ marketplace=’UK|US|IT|FR|DE’ link_id=’936725f8-6890-11e8-ac41-2f4f94c5f60d’] or containers
PrintLilac and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich Cake with Lilac Honey and Mascarpone Frosting
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: for 10 people 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: English
Description
This is a fabulous Lilac Cake which celebrates the taste of English lilac. It looks and tastes amazing and would be fantastic for an early summer birthday or special party.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 450 g butter (softened)
- 450 g Lilac Sugar (or caster sugar)
- 8 eggs
- 450 g self-raising flour
- 7 tablespoons of milk
- 2 teaspoons of [amazon_link asins=’B00DUF3D9C|B0046EJ570|B00DUF3D9C|B00DUF3D9C|B007TA9ONI’ text=’Vanilla Essence’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’tastebotanica-21success|tastebotanica-20|tastebotani0c-21success|tastebotani0a-21success|tastebotani01-21success’ marketplace=’UK|US|IT|FR|DE’ link_id=’9c5499ff-68a6-11e8-a321-8188ded5e5dd’]
For the frosting:
- 500 g mascarpone
- 2 tbs of Lilac Honey (or ordinary honey)
- Fresh lilac flowers from two flower heads
Instructions
Method: Cake
- Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
- Cream the butter with the sugar. (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
- Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
- Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
- Add the milk and the vanilla extract. It really makes a difference if you use a good quality vanilla extract – as opposed to vanilla essence – as this will give it a much more intense flavour.
- Grease your Victoria Sandwich tins or containers and then add the cake mixture.
- Bake your cakes in the oven for around 35 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown, springy to the touch and have shrunk away from the edge of the tin. You can test this by inserting a skewer in the middle of the cake – if it comes out cleanly with no mixture attached, your cake is done.
- Allow your cakes to cool on a rack before removing them from the tins or containers.
Method: Frosting
- Beat the mascarpone and honey together in a food processor or using a hand blender until the mixture has thickened slightly.
- Use a third of the frosting to sandwich together your two cakes.
- Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the assembled Lilac Cake.
- Take the small lilac flowers off the flower heads and wash them in cold water. Allow to dry off on kitchen towel and then use them to decorate the top of the cake. You need to complete this part of the decoration just before you are ready to serve the cake to ensure that the flowers look fresh and lovely!
- In the (unlikely) event that there is any Lilac Cake left over, this needs to be stored in the fridge due to the mascarpone icing. It will keep for a couple of days but, like all sponge cakes, it tastes better when it is freshly made.
Notes
Make sure that the lilac you use has not been treated with chemicals. The best place to get it is from your garden or that of a friend or neighbour. Shop-bought lilac is not suitable for this recipe.
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