Strawberry Lemonade is a fancy term for lemon sponge with strawberry frosting! The two flavour combo's go together so perfectly so I would really recommend giving this a go. I made this pom-pom cake for my friend's 26th birthday - its so versatile as it can be completely personalised by changing the colour of the frosting and pom poms.
The pom poms and confetti add a fun touch to the cake and I feel its appropriate for all ages!
Ingredients:
Sponge (3 Tiers)
-300g Caster sugar
-300g Softened butter
-6 Eggs
-400g Self-raising flour
-2 Tsp Baking powder
-3Tbsp Milk
-2Tsp Vanilla extract
- Juice and zest from 4 large lemons
Internal Strawberry Cream Filling
-1 Family pack of full-fat cream cheese
-100g Caster sugar
-1 Tsp Vanilla extract
-300ml Double cream
- 4Tbsp (or flavour to taste) Freeze dried strawberry powder (Amazon)
-1 Tsp Strawberry food flavouring
-Strawberry Jam (to add on top of frosting once decorating)
External Cream Frosting
-1 Family pack of full-fat cream cheese
-150g Caster sugar
-1 Tsp Vanilla extract
-600ml Double cream
- A few drops of teal food colouring (I used Wiltons)
Lemon Flavoured Simple Syrup
-150g caster sugar
-150g water
-Lemon juice (a bottle)
Decoration
-Multi-coloured cake confetti (Amazon)
Pom Pom Cake Topper (make in advance - see below)
-Pink yarn (Amazon)
- 2 wooden skewers
-Gold glitter card (Amazon)
-Pom Pom maker (or you can make a DIY one)
-Pink thread (I used embroidery floss)
-Print out of a name / number
Method:
Sponge:
1) Heat the oven to 190C / 170C Fan / Gas 5. Butter and line three 20cm sandwich tins.
2) In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter together. Then add the eggs one at a time, followed by milk, the remaining dry ingredients and lemon juice and zest. Mix together until the batter is smooth and soft.
3) Divide the mixture equally between the tins and smooth the surface with a spatula or spoon, then bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Check to see if the sponge is cooked through by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake - if it comes out clean the sponge is ready.
3) Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
Lemon Flavoured Simple Syrup:
1) While the cakes are in the oven, place the sugar and water into a pan and heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Place in the fridge to cool entirely. Once cool, add in lemon juice to taste (I used a few 'glugs' of lemon juice). Set aside.
Internal Fresh Cream Filling:
1) Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, strawberry flavouring and strawberry powder. Beat together on a high speed until fully incorporated and smooth.
2) While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in the double cream. Stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times while you continue whipping. The cream should hold a stiff peak. Set aside in the fridge.
External Cream Frosting:
1) Follow the same steps as above, but do not add the strawberry flavouring and powder, but instead add the teal food colouring. Set aside in the fridge.
Building the Cake:
1) Cut the top of the cakes off so that they are all level. Then, poke holes into the top of the cake and pour the simple syrup over the sponges.
2) In order to fix the first sponge to the cake board, place a teaspoon of the internal strawberry cream filling onto the board and place the sponge on top.
3) Using a piping bag, pipe the internal fresh cream filling in a thick layer covering the top of the first sponge. Then, dollop 2 spoonfuls of strawberry jam on top of the filling. Repeat with the second layer and place the third layer on top of this. Fill in any gaps on the outside with fresh cream, and smooth the entirety of the cake with a cake with an icing scraper. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
4) Crumb Coat the entire outside of the cake with the teal frosting and place in the fridge for a further 20 minutes.
5) Once the cream is cold on the cake, spread the teal frosting in a relatively thick layer around the entire cake and again, smooth with an icing scraper. Using an off-set palette knife, gently run the knife up the cake and repeat all the way around the cake. Next, using the same palette knife and a revolving cake stand, hold the palette knife above the cake in the centre and spin the board as you bring your knife out gradually - this should create a spiral effect.
6) Sprinkle the cake confetti around the outside top of the cake. Place in the fridge to firm up.
Pom Pom Cake Topper (make in advance):
1) Using a store bought pom pom maker, or your own DIY pom pom maker, create two large pink pom poms. DO NOT chop off the ends of the pom pom as you will need them for the next step. Once made, stick the sharp end of a wooden skewer through each pom pom and tie the ends around the skewer so that the pom pom stays firmly in place.
2) Print out your desired message onto a piece of paper and cut it out to make a template. Then, place these the wrong way round on to the back side of the glitter card and draw round the template. Cut the template out and you should have your letters the correct way round!
3) Using a needle and embroidery floss / cotton thread, sew through the card on each letter. This should create a banner that you can then tie to the wooden skewer just under the pom pom.
4) Insert into the cake. This will also make the cake sturdy!
This cake will last for 3 days if stored covered in the fridge.