Recipe: Strawberry Milkshake Sponge Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream

I went to a friend's barbecue yesterday, and took along this gorgeous cake! It's super easy to make, looks and tastes like the perfect summer cake and went down an absolute treat! Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
200g caster sugar (you can use granulated if you don't have caster to hand)
200g plain flour
200g butter (if you leave it out to soften a little at room temperature it's much easier to mix)
4 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk
3 tbsp strawberry milkshake powder (I used Nesquik)
dash of vanilla essence
dash of red food dye
and for the buttercream:
80g butter
200g white chocolate
250g icing sugar
and a large punnet of strawberries to decorate

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170C (fan)/190C and beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl
2. Beat the eggs together in a separate bowl
3. Add the baking powder, 1/2 of the flour and 1/2 of the eggs to the butter and sugar, and mix together
4. Add the remaining flour, eggs, milk, milkshake powder, vanilla and food dye to the mixture and mix together thoroughly
5. Line two cake tins with butter and greaseproof paper, then pour the mixture evenly into them
6. Bake for about 20 minutes
7. While the cake is baking, melt the white chocolate
8. Beat the butter and 1/3 of the icing sugar together
9. Add the melted chocolate and 1/3 of the icing sugar and mix together
10. Beat the rest of the icing sugar into the mixture until it is mixed thoroughly. You may need to add more icing sugar depending on the consistency of your buttercream: it should be stiff enough to hold its shape
11. When the sponges are cooked, let them cool, then spread half the buttercream on top of one of the sponges, and place halved (or quartered if they're large) strawberries in a ring around the edge
12. Place the other sponge carefully on top, spread the rest of the buttercream on the top and place the rest of the strawberries all over the top

Tips:

Use an electric mixer if you have one, as this gives the cake a lighter texture, makes it rise a little more and is a lot easier on your arms!

My favourite method for melting chocolate is to boil water in a saucepan, then place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl on top of the saucepan, and stir until it's all melted. It's a lot safer than risking it burning in the microwave, and gives a more even consistency

This cake is perfect for a garden party or barbecue, it looks so summer! I'm thinking of making a strawberry and blueberry version for my family's Jubilee party!