Bake Off finalist and podcaster Laura Adlington has created this delicious cake recipe to celebrate that Samaritans have been here to listen for 70 years.
If you think someone is struggling, ask them if they’re OK. You’re not going to make them feel worse. You don’t need to have all the answers. A phone call is such a small thing, but it can mean the world to someone.
As a former Samaritans volunteer, Laura knows the power of listening
Try baking the cake yourself and don’t forget to share your photos with us!
Equipment
- 2 x 8in cake tins
- Piping bag
- Round piping nozzle (not essential)
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 160g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 160g white caster sugar
- 3 large free range eggs
- 160g self raising flour
- Zest of 3 unwaxed lemons
- 3 tbsp elderflower cordial
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
For the lemon & elderflower syrup
- Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
- 130ml elderflower cordial
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
For the mascarpone cream filling:
- 250g mascarpone
- 125ml double cream
- 120g icing sugar, sifted
- 2-3 tbsp elderflower cordial (to taste)
- Juice 3-4 lemons (to taste)
To decorate:
- Edible flowers
- Macarons
- Chocolates
- Mint leaves
- Pre-heat your oven to 160°C fan
- Grease and line two 8in cake tins
- Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until it’s a very pale in colour and has a light consistency. This should take about five minutes. Don’t scrimp on this step as it’s essential to getting a lovely light sponge. A stand mixer is ideal for this but you can use an electric hand whisk if not.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Add them in three stages into sugar/butter mixture until combined. Don’t worry if it looks curdled at this stage
- Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined and you can’t see any pockets of flour. Be careful not to over mix. You want to fold the flour in.
- Add the vanilla extract and elderflower cordial and combine. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the mixture between the tins (I recommend weighing your cake tins so you get even layers)
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, take the cake tins out of the oven, leave them for a few minutes and then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely
- Once cooled, trim the cakes so the layers are flat
For the lemon & elderflower syrup
- Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Do not let it boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, let it cool slightly, then use a pastry brush to apply the syrup to the cut side of each cake layer
For the mascarpone cream:
- To a large bowl, and double cream. Use an electric hand whisk until it forms soft peaks, then add the mascarpone cheese. Combine them until you get a thick, dropping consistency. Don’t over mix or it will become runny. Then add the icing sugar, elderflower cordial and lemon juice. Mix again until just combined, then pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to use. You can add more lemon juice and elderflower to taste.
Assembly:
- Place a dollop of the mascarpone filling onto your plate or cake stand, then add your first cake layer on top (this will help secure it)
- Place a round piping nozzle in your piping bag followed by the filling and snip off the end with scissors. If you don’t have a piping nozzle, just snip off about 3cm of the end. Pipe little blobs of the mascarpone mixture on the top of the first layer, then add the top layer, making sure it’s placed cut side down so the top is flat
- Decorate by piping on more of the mascarpone filling. Then you can add whatever toppings you like. I added macrons, Lindt balls, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, some buttercream swirls and some fresh flowers to mine.
