A quick Baking Around the World disclaimer before we get into the recipe:

While I have done/will do extensive research for each of the recipes in this series, the recipes are unlikely to be 100% authentic because of differences in ingredient availability, variations within families/regions and multiple other reasons. I'm so sorry if I absolutely butcher your favourite childhood treat (and please let me know in the comments if I have made any unforgiveable errors), but please do give me the benefit of the doubt here- I am just a baker with a serious sweet tooth, trying to broaden her baking (and cultural) horizons through tasty snacks :)

Table of Contents

• Jordgubbstårta: Explained
• Ingredients
• Making Vanilla Pastry Cream
• Making the Sockerkaka
• Assembling the Jordgubbstårta
• Final Thoughts
• Recipe
• Sources Used

Jordgubbstårta: Explained

Jordgubbstårta is a classic Swedish cake that is traditionally served on Midsommar, when the Swedish strawberries are at their best (and, I gather, at their most expensive, but I guess that’s supply & demand for you!). Because of this, jordgubbstårta is also sometimes called midsommartårta (and gräddtårta med jordgubbar, but that’s unrelated to the festival). Admittedly, I made this cake after Midsummer’s Eve, so mine is definitely a jordgubbstårta, but it’s such a lovely, summer-y cake either way (plus, it’s very Wimbledon-coded, so I think it would be a perfect treat to make to watch this year’s finals!)

Like any popular cake, jordgubbstårta comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and variations. The basic elements, however, are a vanilla sponge cake (known in Sweden as a sockerkaka, or ‘sugar cake’: from what I can tell, this is a foam cake similar to, but not exactly the same as, a French genoise sponge), a vanilla pastry cream filling, whipped cream and, of course, fresh strawberries! Some variations contain lemon, elderflower or even cardamom, and are sometimes decorated with additional touches like mint leaves and edible flowers!

Flowers are an important part of Midsommar traditions in Sweden (apparently, there’s a custom where you are supposed to silently pick 7 different types of flowers and place them under your pillow, so that you’ll dream about your future spouse!), so edible flowers would make such a lovely, fitting decoration!

Ingredients

To make a jordgubbstårta, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Vanilla

Aside from the strawberries, vanilla is the main flavour in this cake. The pastry cream is flavoured with a vanilla bean, so you get all of the delicious flavour of vanilla plus the pretty, speckled-y appearance of the beans themselves. The cake is flavoured with good vanilla extract. Many Swedish recipes tend to call for substituting a small amount of the sugar with ‘vanilla sugar’ to impart the flavour, but this isn’t a readily available product here in the UK (and the sugar you infuse yourself is unlikely to provide enough of a vanilla hit!), so the bean & extract combo is your best bet!

• Whole milk

It’s important to use whole milk for this recipe (even if, like me, you live in a mainly skimmed milk household), for the creamiest, moistest, most delicious results.

• Caster sugar

You can use either golden or white caster sugar for this recipe (I used golden). Some recipes do call for granulated sugar instead (which I believe is more readily available in the US), but I find caster sugar works better for foam cake.

• Cornflour (or cornstarch)

A small amount of cornflour (or cornstarch, as it’s also known) is added to the cake to give it a delicate, tender crumb. You’ll also use cornflour to thicken the pastry cream filling.

• Eggs

Whole eggs are used in the sponge cake, while egg yolks are used in the pastry cream. You don’t need the remaining egg whites for this recipe, so you can either use them for another recipe straight away (perhaps some macarons!) or freeze them for another time.

• Salted butter

In my research, I discovered that butter is more commonly found in its salted variety in Sweden, unlike here in the UK where you would expect to find an array of both salted and unsalted butters in the supermarket. Unsalted butter is available in Sweden, but it tends to be more of a specialist item. Because of this, I’ve used salted butter throughout this recipe: for the sponge, the pastry cream and even greasing the cake tin!

• Baking powder

Baking powder is added to give the cake a little extra lift and fluffiness.

• Plain flour

Don’t use self-raising flour here, as you’ll end up with too much raising agent in the cake batter. Plain, or all-purpose flour, is what you want here.

• Breadcrumbs

This was a new technique to me, but the majority of sockerkaka recipes that I found lined the cake tin with melted butter and breadcrumbs, instead of just butter/greaseproof paper. This makes it super easy to remove the cake from the tin, but also gives the cake something to cling to as it rises, which is super important for a foam cake like this (often, genoise recipes recommend not greasing the sides of the tin at all!). I admit, I was sceptical about this technique (because… breadcrumbs?), but it was so easy to do and worked SO well! Plus, you genuinely couldn’t tell the breadcrumbs were there when you looked at the cake/ate it.

You do need to use a specific type of breadcrumb for this: dried and very finely ground. You can buy these kind of breadcrumbs in the supermarket or you can make your own.

• Double cream

You could use whipping cream here instead, if you prefer.

• Icing sugar

A small amount of icing sugar is added to the cream to help stabilise it AND give it a gentle sweetness. I also like to dust the cake with a little icing sugar just before serving, to make it extra pretty!

• Strawberries

The star of the show: you need strawberries for a strawberry cake! It’s best to make this cake when strawberries are in season, when they’re at their most delicious!

Making Vanilla Pastry Cream

This was actually my first time making pastry cream (crazy, right?), so it was a bit of a learning curve for me. The first time I made it, I undercooked the custard, which led to a very thin pastry cream that, bafflingly, just kept getting thinner in the fridge! Luckily, the second time worked much better and I was able to make the perfect, vanilla-y pastry cream to fill my jordgubbstärta with!

Start by infusing the milk with the vanilla bean. To do this, run a small, sharp knife down the length of the bean, then scrape out the seeds.

Add the bean halves and the seeds to the milk in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat.

Allow the milk to come to just below a simmer (small bubbles will be starting to form around the edge of the pan and the milk will be steaming slightly), then remove the pan from the heat, cover with a lid and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes.

While the milk is infusing, place the sugar into a medium bowl. Sift in the cornflour (I like to do this just to remove any lumps, so that my pastry cream is super smooth!), then add the egg yolks.

Whisk these ingredients together, just until they are smooth and combined. You don’t want to incorporate too much air at this stage, so try to use a stirring action rather than a whipping action. The mixture will seem very thick and stiff at first, but it will loosen up a little as you mix it.

Once the milk has finished infusing, remove the vanilla bean halves (I like to strain it through a heatproof sieve here, just in case there are any errant bean shards!) and place it back on the heat, bringing it back up to just below a simmer.

Gradually add the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously as you do so.

Pass the custard back into the saucepan through a fine, heatproof sieve, just to remove any little pieces of cooked egg/unincorporated ingredients and ensure your pastry cream is silky smooth.

Return the pan to a medium heat, switch to a spatula (I prefer to use a spatula here, rather than a whisk, to keep the pastry cream silky smooth, as opposed to frothy) and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.

Once the mixture thickens, set a timer for one minute and continue stirring it over the heat. This is really important, as it ensures that the eggs are cooked enough to keep the pastry cream thick and creamy (this is where I went wrong the first time around: I didn’t cook it long enough and ended up with a runny mess, so learn from my mistakes!).

After that, remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, stirring (or whisking, if you prefer) until it is fully incorporated.

Transfer the pastry cream to a shallow bowl, cover the surface directly with clingfilm, then allow it to cool to room temperature before placing it into the fridge to chill fully (at least 2 hours), before using.

Making the Sockerkaka

With the pastry cream made, you can get on with the sockerkaka: the cake itself! This is a foam cake, where you whip the eggs with the sugar until they reach the ribbon stage, before carefully folding through the other ingredients.

Start by preparing your baking tin. You’ll need an 8-inch, circular, springform tin for this recipe (the cake is baked in one, deep layer, then sliced horizontally into two thinner layers after it has been baked and cooled). Brush the bottom and sides of the tin with a thin layer of melted butter, then line the base with a circle of greaseproof paper (this might not be strictly traditional, but it gives you much more peace of mind!). Then, add 2-3 tbsp of dried breadcrumbs and turn/rotate the tin so that they stick to the butter and coat the sides of the tin. After a bit of manoeuvring, you’ll have a fully-lined, breadcrumb-y tin, ready for your cake! Tap out the excess breadcrumbs and discard them, then set the tin aside for now.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional oven, not fan), then you can get on with making the batter.

Start by preparing the wet ingredients. Warm the milk and butter together until just melted (you can do this in the microwave or on the hob: I used the microwave). Set this aside to cool to room temperature before you add it to the batter.

I like to make foam cakes using an electric hand mixer, as opposed to a stand mixer, because I find it easier to ‘feel’ whether the egg/sugar mixture is ready that way. If you’re used to using a stand mixer (or find a stand mixer easier/more accessible), feel free to use that instead! I wouldn’t recommend making this with a regular hand whisk though, because it requires a lot of whipping!

Place the eggs and the sugar into a large bowl and whisk on high speed until they reach the ribbon stage. At this point, the mixture should be thick, pale and creamy . Most importantly, you should be able to draw a quick figure of eight with the batter before the shape disappears back into the rest of the mixture. This takes longer than you might expect, so be patient!

In a separate bowl, mix together the plain flour, cornflour and baking powder just to combine them. Sift these ingredients right over the egg/sugar mixture, in a relatively even layer across the surface (this helps to prevent too much air being knocked out of the batter).

Using a large, metal spoon, fold the dry ingredients into the egg/sugar mixture.

Add the vanilla to the cooled milk/butter mixture and stir to combine.

Gradually add the butter mixture to the cake batter, folding it in as you go.

Once you have a smooth batter, it’s ready to go! Pour it into the prepared cake tin, aiming for the centre of the tin as you pour, so that you don’t disrupt the breadcrumb coating on the edges of the tin.

Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cake is pulling away from the sides of the tin. The cake might still seem very soft when you first take it out, but it will firm up as it cools.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin before running a knife around the edge of the tin and removing it, making sure to peel off the baking paper from the bottom!

Assembling the Jordgubbstårta

The jordgubbstårta is best eaten straightaway once it is assembled, so, if possible, wait until the last minute to assemble it. You can store the unfilled/decorated cake in an airtight tin for a day or so, if necessary, and you can store any assembled leftovers in the fridge for around 2 days (depending on the best before date on the cream/strawberries), just be aware that the cake can get quite dry in the fridge.

When it’s time to assemble the cake, start by splitting the cooled cake into two separate layers. I like to use a large, serrated palette knife for this, running it around the edge of the cake to score a guideline for myself before running it back and forth right across the cake to cut through it.

Next, prepare the strawberries. I like to chop the strawberries two ways: a fine dice for filling the cake (about 1/3 of the berries) and a thick slice for topping the cake (the remaining 2/3 of the berries), but you can do this however you would like: it’s just personal preference!

Sift the icing sugar into the cream and whisk it until it just holds it shape. Cream can over-whip so quickly, so err on the side of caution: it should be holding its shape, but still be soft and billowy.

Finally, remove the pastry cream from the fridge and give it a good stir to bring it together and make sure it’s nice and smooth. With that, you’re ready to assemble!

Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate (making sure the plate will fit in your fridge, just in case of leftovers!).

Spread the pastry cream on top of the cake layer, reserving a small spoonful for later. Don’t push it all the way to the edges, because this might cause it to ooze out at the sides and cause problems later.

Cover the top of the pastry cream with the diced strawberries.

Then dot the reserved pastry cream on top of the strawberry layer, just to help the next cake layer stick.

Place the second cake layer on top, making sure it is level and lined up with the layer below. If your cake is a bit unsteady at this point, you might want to put it into the fridge to chill for 5-10 minutes, otherwise you can press on!

Generously cover the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream, using an offset palette knife (or a regular knife, spoon or spatula, if that’s what you have!). I like to make this purposely messy: there should be a thick enough layer of cream here that you don’t have to worry too much about being perfect.

Pile up the sliced strawberries in the middle of the cake, then, if desired, dust the whole thing with icing sugar just before serving.

Final Thoughts

This jordgubbstårta took me a couple of tries to nail, but it was SO worth the wait: it’s such a simple, classic, summer-y and fresh treat, perfect for this time of year (and, as I mentioned, very Wimbledon-esque, strawberries & cream-y, so it’s right up my alley!).

This is definitely a cake where the ingredients/elements are very simple, but they require a specific technique to get them right: the pastry cream is straightforward once you get the hang of it, but you need to cook it thoroughly and pass it through a sieve during the process to make it silky smooth. The sockerkaka is a pretty simple foam cake, but you need to whisk the eggs/sugar long enough to ensure they reach the ribbon stage, you need to be very gentle when folding in the other ingredients and you need to line the tin correctly! It’s a simple cake, but a slightly temperamental one (luckily, it’s also a delicious one!).

I do feel that my pastry cream was quite sweet: there’s only a thin layer and the other ingredients do temper it, but I wonder if I could decrease the sugar a little without affecting the consistency? Vanilla is a naturally sweet flavour, so this cake is always going to be sweet, but I think I could work on the balance a little.

Recipe

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Swedish Jordgubbstårta

A vanilla sponge cake, filled with homemade vanilla pastry cream and fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream and EVEN more strawberries: this classic Swedish cake is traditionally served at midsommar, but makes for a delicious treat throughout the whole summer season!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Swedish

Keyword Foam cake, Pastry cream, Sockerkaka, strawberry, Vanilla, Whipped cream

Prep Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Chill Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours

Servings 10 slices

Equipment

• 1 8-inch springform pan

Ingredients

For the vanilla pastry cream:

• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 170 ml whole milk
• 80 g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp cornflour, sifted.
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp salted butter

For lining the tin:

• 1 tbsp salted butter, melted.
• 2-3 tbsp dried breadcrumbs (see note 1).

For the vanilla cake:

• 50 ml whole milk
• 75 g salted butter, diced.
• 200 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 150 g plain flour
• 10 g cornflour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

To decorate:

• 250 g strawberries
• 300 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted.

Instructions

Make the vanilla pastry cream:

• Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add the bean halves, seeds and milk to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to just below a simmer, remove from heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, cornflour and egg yolks together until smooth and combined, but not aerated.
• Remove the vanilla bean halves from the milk and bring back to just below a simmer. Add the hot milk gradually to the egg mixture, whisking all the time, until incorporated.
• Pass the custard through a fine, heatproof sieve back into the saucepan, then cook over medium heat, stirring frequently with a spatula, until thickened. Once thickened, continue cooking for 1 more minute.
• Remove the pastry cream from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter. Transfer to a shallow bowl, cover the surface directly with clingfilm and allow to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill completely (at least 2 hours), before using to fill cake.

Prepare the cake tin:

• Brush the tin with a thin layer of the melted butter. Line the base with a circle of baking paper, then add the breadcrumbs and turn/rotate the tin until the crumbs have stuck to the butter and the sides are completely coated. Tap away any excess crumbs and discard, then set tin aside while you make the batter.

Make the vanilla cake:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional oven, not fan).
• Gently heat the milk and butter together until just melted (you can do this in the microwave, if you want). Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Place the sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Using an electric whisk, beat until thick, pale and creamy (the ribbon stage). You should be able to draw a figure of eight with the beaters before the shape settles back into the rest of the mixture.
• Mix the baking powder, flour and cornflour together in a separate bowl. Sift over the egg mixture, then use a large metal spoon to fold through.
• Add the vanilla extract to the cooled milk/butter mixture and stir to combine. Gradually add the butter mixture to the cake batter, folding through gently as you go.
• Once the batter is homogenous, pour it into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until the cake has started to pull away from the sides of the tin. It will still seem quite soft, but will firm up as it bakes.
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin, then run a knife around the edge and remove from the tin, removing the baking paper from the bottom of the cake too.

Assemble the cake:

• Use a serrated palette knife to split the cake in half horizontally, so that you have two, thin layers.
• Dice about 1/3 of the strawberries to go in between the cake layers, then thickly slice the remaining berries for the top of the cake.
• Place the double cream and icing sugar into a large bowl and whisk until the cream is holding its shape, but still soft, smooth and billowy.
• Take the chilled pastry cream out of the fridge and stir to smooth it out.
• Place one of the cake layers onto a serving plate. Top with the pastry cream (reserving a small spoonful for later), spreading it out across the surface of the cake but leaving a small border around the edge, so that it doesn't ooze out later.
• Add the diced strawberries over the top of the pastry cream, then dot the reserved pastry cream across the surface of the berries, to help the next cake layer stick.
• Place the remaining cake layer on top, making sure it is level and lined up with the cake layer below. If the cake feels a bit unsteady, you can chill it at this stage for 5-10 minutes to help it firm up.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with a thick layer of whipped cream, then pile the sliced strawberries up in the middle of the cake. Just before serving, dust with icing sugar, if desired.
• This jordgubbstårta is best served immediately. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a day or two (provided the cream/strawberries remain in date), but the cake will quickly start to dry out/toughen up. You can make the cake itself a day or so ahead of time, storing it in an airtight container before splitting, filling and decorating.

Notes

Notes:

1. These must be finely ground and dried: fresh breadcrumbs will not work. You can buy dried breadcrumbs in the supermarket, or you can make your own.

Sources Used

Books:

Patisserie: Mastering the Fundamentals of French Pastry, Christophe Felder.

ScandiKitchen: Fika & Hygge, Brontë Aurell.

Websites:

Cecilia Tolone: Midsommartårta

Halsa Nutrition: Swedish Sockerkaka (Simple Vanilla Cake)

Home Sweet Sweden: Sockerkaka – Swedish Sponge Cake

Linnea Lund: The Famous Sockerkaka Recipe

Norr Table: Swedish Strawberry Cream Cake (Jordgubbstårta)

Skandi: Jordgubbstårta: Swedish Strawberry Cake

Sugar and Wool: Sockerkaka (Swedish Cardamom Cake)

Swedish Food: Butter

Swedish Food: Sponge Cake (Sockerkaka)

Swedish Food: Strawberry Cream Cake

Visit Sweden: Classic Strawberry Cake (Jordgubbstårta)

Vogue Scandinavia: Jordgubbstårta Recipe

Vogue Scandinavia: The Ultimate Jordgubbstårta Recipe

We have already established here on the blog that I am a big tennis fan. Being from the UK, I am also, inevitably, a big Wimbledon fan. With Finals Weekend kicking off today, I wanted to make a cake to celebrate (& snack on while I’m watching the matches!).

You may have noticed that this cake, which I am fondly dubbing my ‘Wimble-cake’, features carrots, rather than the iconic strawberries. Do not fret! I did not get my fruits & vegetables mixed up! The decoration for this cake is inspired by this photo:

The Carota Boys are the (very devoted) fan club of the Italian tennis player (my favourite!), Jannik Sinner. They have been going to tennis tournaments around the world, dressed as, well, carrots, to show their support (it’s a long, bizarre and very niche story). Anyway, they make me laugh and I love them. When they attended Wimbledon last week, they took this photo outside the Lavazza flagship store. Obviously, my immediate reaction to seeing the photo was: “I could cake that!”. So I did.

As always with my cakes, taste comes first. I put a lot of effort into making my cakes look nice, but I never want to make a cake that is all style over substance! My Wimble-cake, therefore, is a 4-layer, strawberries & cream cake, decorated with macaron tennis balls & marzipan carrots. Quick note though: if you did want a more traditional Wimble-cake, you could absolutely replace the marzipan carrots with marzipan strawberries for a more classic Wimble-vibe.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

Table of Contents

• Making the Macaron Tennis Balls
• Making the Marzipan Carrots
• Making the Vanilla Cake (All-In-One Method)
• Making the Strawberries & Cream Filling
• Assembling the Wimble-Cake
• Making the Whipped Cream Icing
• Decorating the Wimble-Cake
• Recipe

Making the Macaron Tennis Balls

These macaron tennis balls are just plain macarons, topped with coloured white chocolate & gold lustre dust, then filled with a milk chocolate ganache. For this cake, I made 6 standard-sized macarons (about 3.5cm diameter) and 1 large macaron (about 4.5cm diameter). To make these macarons, you will need the following ingredients:

• Ground almonds (macarons are almond cookies, so almonds are a must!).
• Icing sugar (one of the two types of sugar in Italian macarons).
• Egg white (for the amount of macarons you need to decorate this cake, you only need 2x15g portions of egg white. This works out to be just a little less than 1 egg’s worth of white in total. I find the easiest way to divide an egg white is to separate your egg slowly into a bowl that is set on a digital scale. When you hit 15g, switch in a new bowl and repeat the process. If you go a bit over, you can use a fork to take out a little white at a time, until you have the perfect amount!).
• Caster sugar (the second of the sugars! You need both, because they are used for different elements. The icing sugar is mixed into a paste with the almonds, while the caster sugar is combined with water and used to make a sugar syrup).
• White chocolate (you don’t need a lot of this, because we’re just adding a thin layer onto the top of each macaron, but I’d still recommend using a chocolate you like the taste of! We’ll be tempering this chocolate to ensure a snappy, shiny coating on each macaron).
• Purple and green food colouring (because we’ll be using these colourings to tint chocolate, you need to use an oil-based colouring. With other colourings, you won’t get an even colour and the consistency of your chocolate may be affected (it might even seize, if you use a liquid colouring!). I used the Colour Mill colourings and they worked perfectly. They achieved the most even colour I have ever managed with tinting chocolate!).
• Gold lustre dust (I used this lustre dust, from Sugarflair. When mixed with alcohol, lustre dust turns into a watercolour-esque ‘paint’, which can be applied directly onto baked goods).
• Vanilla extract (you need some sort of alcohol to mix with the lustre dust. While you can get special alcohol mixing solutions from specialist cake decorating stores, you can also use the much more readily available vanilla extract, which is made by macerating vanilla pods in, you guessed it, alcohol! Don’t bother using a super good quality extract though- it would be a bit of a waste, seeing as you don’t taste it and vanilla extract can get expensive!).
• Milk chocolate (we’ll be using the chocolate to make a ganache to fill the macarons with. If you prefer a dark/white chocolate ganache, go ahead and switch this milk chocolate out! You could also fill the macarons with cream, buttercream, jam, whatever takes your fancy.).
• Double cream (the other key ingredient for ganache- if you’re in the US, use heavy cream instead).

You will also need the following specialist equipment:

• 4x piping bags (you’ll need 1 piping bag for making the macaron shells, 1 for each colour of the white chocolate decoration and 1 for the chocolate ganache filling).
• 2x round piping tips (1x very fine, 1x medium) (you’ll use the medium tip for making the shells and filling the macarons, and the fine tip for decorating the shells with the chocolate. If you have multiple tips, you won’t have to do quite so much washing up as you go, but it’s not a requirement. If you do wash the fine tip between the chocolate colours, though, use warm water (cold water will set the chocolate!) and a reusable straw/piping tip cleaner brush, and make sure the tip is completely dry before you use it again- remember: chocolate hates water- it makes it seize!)
• Fine, food-safe paintbrush (we’ll use this to add the gold lustre dust paint onto the macaron shells. The finer the brush, the more control you’ll have over the placement of the gold line).

I already have a post here on the blog that details how to make perfect macarons, every time. You can find that here. For this post, we’ll focus on how to decorate those macarons to make them into these cute tennis balls. For this cake, I used a 1/2 batch of my macaron recipe, to make a total of 6 standard macarons and 1 larger macaron (12x standard halves and 2x larger halves). Bake up your macarons, as per the instructions in my previous post, and allow them to cool completely before proceeding. Then, you’re ready to decorate!

Melt, temper & colour half of the white chocolate purple: I have an in-depth tutorial for how I temper chocolate here on the blog. You can find that post here. When I’m colouring the chocolate as well, I like to add the oil-based colouring during the cooling stage. That way, there’s plenty of stirring ahead, during which that colour can get really well incorporated. Start with half of the chocolate and one of the two colours (I used purple first, but either is fine!), decorate with it, then we’ll come back and repeat the process for the other colour. That way, your chocolate won’t set before you get a chance to use it!

Put the purple chocolate into a piping bag, fitted with a fine round tip: You need to ensure that there are no unmelted bits of chocolate before you put it into the piping tip! Using a super fine tip will give you increased control and allow you to create more intricate shapes, but it also means that any tiny unmelted piece of chocolate will block the tip- not what you want at all. Make sure your chocolate’s smooth and you’ll have a much less stressful piping experience.

Pipe the purple chocolate onto the domed surface of each macaron shell: Pipe the outline of a curved teardrop shape (think half of the yin & yang symbol) on top of the macaron. Add a little more chocolate inside that outline (I like to zig zag from side to side a couple of times). Then, using the point of a small, sharp knife, or a cocktail/skewer, push the chocolate to meet the outline, so that you are left with a very thin, smooth & even layer of chocolate, covering half of the macaron. Repeat for all of your macaron halves, then set aside while you deal with the green chocolate.

Repeat the process for the green chocolate: Melt, temper & colour the remaining half of the white chocolate green. Put it into another piping bag fitted with the fine, round tip, then pipe it onto the macarons. Follow the curve of the centre line, making sure the green chocolate touches the purple chocolate, the finish off the circle around the edge. Fill in this outline as before. You should now have a full circle of thin chocolate on top of each macaron shell, half purple, half green. Allow these to set at room temperature until hard.

Mix up your lustre dust ‘paint’: Add a generous amount of gold lustre dust to a small bowl. Add the vanilla extract, a few drops at a time, and mix until you achieve a smooth, fluid consistency. Use a fine paintbrush to paint the gold colour directly into the seam between the two colours, following the curve, right across the middle of each ‘tennis ball’. Let this dry before sandwiching your macarons.

After that you just need to fill and sandwich your macarons! I have the best results when I make the ganache the day before and allow it to firm up in the fridge overnight. You can spread it on your macarons with a knife or spoon, but I like to pipe it. If you are piping it, use a medium round nozzle. It will be a little tricky to pipe at first (because it will be quite firm), but you can use scissors to ‘snip off’ the ganache (a bit like a churro!) if you’re struggling to finish it off. The ganache will warm up super quickly under the heat of your hands though, so try to pipe your macarons quickly, otherwise things will get messy!

Once your macarons are sandwiched, keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to decorate the cake.

Making the Marzipan Carrots

As marzipan vegetables go, carrots are one of the most straightforward- they are essentially just a slightly tapered log! To make your own marzipan carrots, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Marzipan (I used store-bought, but you can make your own. Using a white marzipan will give you more control over the final colour, but, because you’ll be dying it orange, you can absolutely get away with a golden marzipan).
• Orange food colouring (I used Colour Mill, in the shade Orange).
• Mint leaves (ideally, you want to pick off the very top of the stems, so that you have several smaller leaves, connected by a single stem: aim to keep the stem about 1-2cm long, so you can poke it into the marzipan more easily).
• Icing sugar, for dusting

You’ll also need the following equipment:

• Baking paper (this will protect your countertop from the food colouring, which can (and will) stain).
• Food-safe disposable gloves (this will protect your hands from the food colouring- trust me, you don’t want to skip them!).
• A dinner knife (you’ll be using the flat edge to make indents horizontally along the carrots).
• A chopstick, or other similar item (this is to make the round indent on the top of each carrot- use whatever you have around that is about the right size! I used the end of the paintbrush that I used for the gold lustre dust).
• A cocktail stick (this will be helpful when you are inserting the mint leaves into your carrots).

When you have everything assembled, you can start making your carrots!

Prep your area and ingredients: You want to start out by spreading a piece of baking paper out on your worksurface. Dust it with icing sugar, then break off enough marzipan for all of your carrots (I made mine about 12g each and made 6 carrots in total, but you can make your carrots smaller/bigger, if you prefer).

Colour your marzipan: Put your gloves on and knead the marzipan, until you have a smooth ball. Make a dent in the centre of the ball and add several drops of food colouring into it. Keep kneading the marzipan, working the colour in as you go, until you have an even colour throughout.

Divide your marzipan into equal portions: Cut your marzipan into 6 equal portions (if you want to make more/fewer carrots, you’ll need more/fewer portions!). Roll each portion into a ball.

Form the carrot shape: Roll each ball into a log. Apply more pressure to one end as you roll, to taper it slightly.

Add some detail: Use the flat side of a dinner knife to make horizontal indents all the way up the carrots, rolling the carrot as you go, so that the marks go around the carrot. Use a chopstick (or similar utensil) to make a round indent in the top of the carrot.

Add the carrot tops: Poke a little sprig of mint into the indent on top of each carrot. This is easier to do while the marzipan is still soft, but the mint will wilt if left too long. I recommend allowing your carrots to harden up for at least a few hours (this will prevent the orange colour from coming off on your hands!), then using a cocktail stick to make an incision in the top indent, which you can then push your mint sprig into.

And there you have it! Marzipan carrots, all ready to go. As I said earlier, if you want a more traditional Wimble-cake, you can absolutely make marzipan strawberries, instead of carrot (though you will need red food colouring, instead of orange!) I would suggest adding sesame seeds (to mimic the strawberry seeds) and keeping the mint leaves on top.

Making the Vanilla Cake (All-In-One Method)

For this cake, I kept things super simple with a plain, vanilla cake. Growing up, my mum always swore by Mary Berry’s All-In-One method for making sponge, and, now that I am older, I can totally see the appeal. It’s quick, easy, and incredibly low-fuss. With this method, I can get a cake in the oven in less than 10 minutes! It’s perfect for when you just want delicious cake, now, but it’s also great for recipes like this, where the decorations take a little while to create and you don’t want to use up too much energy making the cake! For the sponge, you will need:

• Stork (if you’ve read my cake recipes before, you’ll know that I prefer to use Stork baking margarine for a moister, fluffier cake. If you don’t want to use Stork, you can substitute it for the same quantity of softened unsalted butter).
• Eggs (I always use large eggs in my baking).
• Self-raising flour (self-raising flour helps these cakes to rise. If you don’t have any, you can substitute plain flour. You’ll need to add an extra 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder though, to substitute the leavening agent included in self-raising flour).
• Caster sugar (I like to use golden caster sugar, because I like the flavour, but you can use white if you prefer).
• Baking powder (this will help your cake to rise. This is a particularly key ingredient when you’re using the all-in-one method, because there is no creaming stage to incorporate extra air).
• Milk (ideally, you want to use full fat milk for this recipe. However, I usually only have skimmed milk on hand, so I always use that- it works out fine!).
• Vanilla extract (use a good quality vanilla extract- it’s the only flavouring in the cake!).

The method seems like it shouldn’t work, but it really does! You literally put all of the ingredients for the sponge in the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment. You mix on medium-low speed to incorporate the flour (no flour-clouds here, please!), then turn up the speed to high and whisk until you have a smooth, airy batter- about 1 minute. I took some progress photos to show you what you’re aiming for:

After mixing on medium-low speed for about 30-40 seconds, you’ll end up with something a bit like this: the beginning of a batter, with quite a few lumps of butter remaining. Honestly, it doesn’t look particularly appetising at this point, but don’t worry- it’ll be perfect in the end!

Once all the flour has been incorporated, you can turn the speed up to high. This intense beating will break down all those lumps of butter, leaving you with a smooth, but not overly fluffy, batter.

At this point, you’ll want to continue whisking the batter until its smooth, fluffy and holds its shape slightly better. It won’t take long- probably less than 30 more seconds at high speed. And that’s it! Your batter is done. How easy is that?

Here, you can see the difference in colour between the three stages. When the flour has just been incorporated, the mixture is a deep yellow colour (bottom). After a bit more whisking, it lightens up slightly (top). When it’s ready, it’s pale and super fluffy (right)!

Once you have your batter, you need to divide it equally between 2x 6-inch cake tins (don’t forget to grease and line them beforehand!). Bake them at 170°C for about 30 minutes, or until they spring back when touched gently. Allow the cakes to cool for 5-10 minutes in their tins, before carefully taking them out and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Making the Strawberries & Cream Filling

I sandwiched the cake layers with a super easy strawberries & cream filling. It’s only 3 ingredients, but it’s incredibly delicious and very Wimbledon-esque. You’ll need:

• Strawberries (try to find really good strawberries, so they’ll have a stronger, sweeter flavour!).
• Double Cream (again, if you’re in the US, you’ll want to use heavy cream).
• Icing sugar (this helps to stabilise the cream slightly, so it will hold up under the cake layers).

That’s it! All you need to do is hull and chop the strawberries into a small dice. This will ensure every bite of cake gets a piece of strawberry, without it affecting the structure of the layered-up cake.

You then want to sift the icing sugar into the cream, and whip it with an electric mixer until it is just below stiff peaks. Once cream gets stiff, it will keep thickening up, even as you spread it- so you don’t want to overwhip it at this stage. However, it needs to be firm enough that the layers do not slip and slide- it’s a fine line! I found that whipping it to just below stiff peaks was the perfect amount.

Assembling the Wimble-Cake

Because whipped cream, even with the added icing sugar, is significantly less stable than icing, you’ll want to split & layer up your cake with the strawberries & cream filling, then put it into the fridge to firm up for about 20-30 minutes. This will make decorating the finished cake much easier!

This is a 4-layer cake: to make these, I like to make 2x 6-inch cake layers and split them each horizontally, leaving me with 4, thin layers. This is perfect for this cake, because it means the cake:whipped cream ratio is more even! It also means more chance for strawberries, so, really, it’s a win/win. I use a cake leveller to do this, but you can use a large, serrated knife if you prefer. Place one of the cooled cakes on a chopping board, then place your palm on top of the cake and cut straight across the middle- taking care to be gentle! When you reach the opposite side of the cake, be super careful- the cake has a tendency to crumble at this point. If you’re using a cake leveller (these are usually not sharp, but are just a taut wire), go even more slowly and place your hand against the side of the cake, so the leveller meets it (this won’t hurt- you’ll be going too slowly! If your cake leveller has a sharp blade, obviously do not do this). If you’re using a knife, it’s safer to remove the knife and start cutting again from the opposite side.

Once you’ve levelled your cakes, you can start layering up! I like to smear a little whipped cream onto the cake board, so that my cake does not slide off. Then, place a layer onto the board. Top it with 1/3 of the strawberries & cream filling and spread that out into an even layer, right across the surface of the cake, then top that with another cake. Repeat this process twice more, until all of the filling is used up- your final layer should be the 4th layer of cake. Run a palette knife around the sides of the cake, to smooth out any icing that might have smushed out, then pop the whole cake into the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes, before decorating.

Making the Whipped Cream Icing

The whipped cream icing is exactly the same as the filling, minus the strawberries (though you could absolutely use the filling to decorate the sides if you want- just remember you’ll need a lot more of it and your finished cake will have chunks of strawberry visible on it!). I opted to use just plain whipped cream, so I only needed two ingredients:

• Double cream (as before, if you’re in the US you’ll want to use heavy cream).
• Icing sugar (to stabilise the cream slightly).

Much like the filling, all you need to do is sift the icing sugar into the cream, then whip it until you reach just below stiff peaks. Because this icing won’t play any structural role in the cake, it’s just decorative, you can afford to whip it slightly less than the filling- it just needs to be stiff enough to not run off the cake when you ice the sides!

Decorating the Wimble-Cake

By this point, you’ve done all the difficult parts! All that’s left to do is ice the cake with your freshly whipped cream, then you can pile up the tennis ball macarons and marzipan carrots in an organised-yet-chaotic pile. The amount of cream specified in the recipe is enough to generously cover the top and sides of this 4-layer 6-inch cake, so keep that in mind if you’re making a bigger/smaller version.

A few tips for covering a cake with whipped cream icing:

• Embrace the messy look: There’s a trend at the moment for super smooth, perfect cakes. It’s beautiful, but you don’t need to do that to get an attractive cake at home (in fact, I am yet to succeed at it!). If you embrace the messy look, you can get a pretty cake that looks intentional!
• Place your cake on a turntable: This will make it so much easier to ice the cake, because you can turn it as you go! I recommend placing a non-slip mat underneath the cake though- you don’t want it to slide off mid spin!
• Tuck small pieces of baking paper under the cake to protect the board: Icing the sides of a cake can get messy! I find that the best way to prevent icing from falling onto the cake board is to cut small pieces of baking paper and tuck them between the cake and the board. When you’ve finished icing, you can gently pull out the paper (with any icing that has dropped onto it!). I like to run the flat edge of a knife around the bottom of the cake afterwards, just to neaten up the seam between the cake and the board.

Once you’ve covered the cake, you can decorate it with the tennis ball macarons and marzipan carrots! Place the largest macaron at the front, leaning against the cake, then stack up the others, so that you have a cascading pile of tennis balls. If you have any leftover whipped cream, you can use it to help stick the macarons to the cake/board.

Once you have your tennis ball avalanche, you can add the carrots. Press them into the cake, place them onto the cake board and balance them on the macarons in a variety of positions. Marzipan gets sticky when it touches water, so you can use that knowledge (sparingly!) to help them stick, if necessary. And there you have it! Your Wimble-cake is complete!

One quick note here: The cake absolutely has to be kept in the fridge (it is covered in cream, after all). If you’re preparing it in advance, I would stick the macarons on after you ice it, then put it into the fridge without the carrots. You’ll want to balance/stick the carrots on just before you serve it, because the moisture in the fridge will make them sticky and cause the orange colour to bleed. Not the vibe.

Anyway, that’s it (she says after writing an essay on how to make a single Wimble-cake…)! Let me know what you think and if you’ve been watching Wimbledon this year! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

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Wimbledon Cake (Carota Boys’ Version)

A 4-layer, Wimbledon-themed, strawberries & cream cake, decorated with tennis ball macarons & marzipan carrots, inspired by the Carota Boys

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword All-In-One method, Cream cheese, Italian macarons, macaron, marzipan, strawberries and cream, strawberry, vanilla cake, Wimbledon

Prep Time 4 hours hours

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Chill time 12 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 people

Equipment

• candy thermometer
• 4 piping bags
• 1 fine round piping tip
• 1 medium round piping tip
• 1 fine, food-safe paintbrush
• cocktail sticks/skewers
• Food-safe disposable gloves
• Chopstick (or other small implement with a rounded point)

Ingredients

For the ganache:

• 50 g milk chocolate
• 50 g double cream

For the tennis ball macarons:

• 48 g ground almonds
• 52 g icing sugar
• 30 g egg whites (about 1 egg white, split into 2x15g portions)
• 48 g caster sugar
• 15 ml water
• 80 g white chocolate
• purple and green food colouring (see Note 1)
• gold lustre dust (see Note 2)
• vanilla extract (see Note 3)

For the marzipan carrots:

• 72 g marzipan
• orange food colouring
• 6 sprigs mint
• icing sugar for dusting

For the vanilla cake:

• 150 g Stork (see Note 4)
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 150 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp milk

For the strawberries & cream filling:

• 150 g strawberries
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

To decorate:

• 175 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

For the ganache:

• Place the chocolate and cream into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on low, in 30 second bursts, stirring well between each burst, until you have a smooth ganache. Cover with cling film, pressing it directly onto the surface of the ganache to prevent a skin forming, then chill in the fridge overnight before using.

For the macarons:

• Line a baking tray with baking paper. Fit a piping bag with a medium, round nozzle and set aside.
• Place the ground almonds and icing sugar into a food processor. Pulse 10 times, then sift into a large bowl, discarding any bits of almond that do not pass through the sieve. Add 1 of the 15g portions of egg white to the almonds/sugar and mix well to form a paste. Set aside.
• Place the other 15g portion of egg white into the clean, metal bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the syrup.
• When the syrup reaches 112-114°C, start mixing the egg white in the bowl of the stand mixer on high speed. When the syrup reaches 118°C, remove it from the heat and pour it down the side of the bowl, into the egg white (which should be at soft peaks). When you have added all of the syrup to the bowl, turn the mixer up to full speed and whisk until the meringue reaches stiff peaks. When the meringue is ready, the outside of the bowl should only have a slight hint of warmth, when touched.
• Add 1/3 of the meringue to the almond paste and, using a metal spoon, mix it in thoroughly until well combined. Add the rest of the meringue and fold it in, using a figure of eight motion, until the mixture is cohesive and comes off the spatula in ribbons (if you leave those ribbons for 30 seconds, they should settle back into the mixture). Do not overmix at this stage.
• Place the macaron mixture into the piping bag. Hold the piping bag vertically and pipe your shells, leaving plenty of space between each one. You will need 12x 3.5cm diameter shells and 2x 4.5cm diameter shells.
• Once you have piped your macarons, lift the tray slightly and tap it down on the surface a couple of times, to raise any air bubbles to the surface. Use a small, sharp knife or cocktail stick to pop any remaining bubbles, allowing the mixture to fall back on itself. Set the macarons aside to form a skin- about 30-40 minutes on a dry day, longer if it is more humid. The macarons will be ready when you can gently touch the surface of the macarons, without any batter coming off on your finger.
• While the macarons are forming a skin, preheat the oven to 165°C fan. Bake the macarons for 11 minutes, or until you can gently wiggle your finger on top of the shells without them wobbling independently from their feet. Remove the macarons from the oven and let them cool completely on their tray before decorating.

For the tennis ball decoration:

• Melt, temper & colour half of the white chocolate purple. Place the chocolate into a piping bag, fitted with a fine, round tip. Pipe the outline of a curved, teardrop shape (a bit like half of the yin & yang symbol) onto half of each macaron shell. Pipe a little bit more chocolate within the outline, then use a small, sharp knife/cocktail stick to push that chocolate to the outlines, so that you have a smooth layer of purple chocolate on each shell. Leave at room temperature to set while you move on with the next batch of chocolate.
• Repeat the process, colouring the second batch of chocolate green, instead of purple. Pipe the green chocolate up against the set purple chocolate, so there is no gap between the two colours, then finish off the circle and fill it in in the same way. Allow this to set at room temperature, as well.
• When the chocolate has set completely, mix some gold lustre dust with a few drops of vanilla extract in a small bowl, until you have a smooth, fluid 'paint'. Use a fine, food-safe paintbrush to paint the gold colour into the seam between the green/purple chocolate halves. You can do a couple of layers of this, waiting for each layer to dry in between, to get a more opaque colour. Allow this to dry completely before sandwiching the macarons.
• To fill the macarons, place the chilled ganache into a piping bag, fitted with a medium round tip. Pipe a small amount of ganache onto half of the shells, then gently press an unfilled shell on top of each filled shell. Place the macarons into the fridge to chill while you make the rest of the cake.

For the marzipan carrots:

• Cover your work surface with a piece of baking paper. Wear disposable gloves to protect your hands. Knead the marzipan until it forms a smooth ball, then use your thumb to make an indent in it. Add a generous amount of orange food colouring to the indent.
• Knead the colour into the marzipan until it is even. Split the orange marzipan into 6 equal portions (each about 12g) and roll each into a ball. Form one ball into a log shape, applying more pressure to one end to taper it slightly. Use the blunt edge of a knife to press horizontal indents around the carrot, and a chopstick (or similar implement) to press a round indent in the top (the wider end) of it. Repeat for all of the portions of marzipan to make 6 carrots. Poke a sprig of mint into the top indent of each carrot, to act as the leaves. Set the carrots on a piece of baking paper to dry out at room temperature.

For the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (conventional oven). Grease and line 2x 6-inch cake tins and set aside.
• Place all of the cake ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed to incorporate the flour, then increase the speed to high and whip until the batter is smooth, fluffy and pale- about 1 minute total. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Split the batter evenly between the two cake tins. Spread out the batter so that it is even, then bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched gently. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove them from their tins and place onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• When the cakes are cool, split each cake in half horizontally, so that you have 4 thin layers of cake.

For the strawberries & cream filling:

• Wash and dry the strawberries, then hull them and chop them into a small dice.
• Place the cream and the icing sugar into a bowl, then whip to just below stiff peaks. Use a spatula to fold the strawberries into the cream.

To assemble the cake:

• Place one of the cake layers onto a cake board/plate. Add 1/3 of the strawberries & cream filling on top, then spread it out into an even layer, before topping with another layer of cake. Repeat the process twice more, until you have used up the filling and cake layers, finishing with the final cake layer. Place the layered cake into the fridge to firm up for 20-30 minutes.

For the whipped cream icing:

• Place the cream and icing sugar into a bowl. Whisk until it reaches just below stiff peaks.

To decorate the cake:

• Remove the chilled cake from the fridge. Spread the plain whipped cream icing generously over the top and sides of the cake.
• Stick the largest macaron to the front of the cake, so that it is resting on the cake board/plate. Use the 6 standard macarons to create a 'cascade' down the side of the cake- prop them against each other and use any remaining whipped cream to help stick them down.
• Add the marzipan carrots to the cake- prop them against the macarons, stick them to the side of the cake and place them on the board, to finish off your Wimble-cake. The finished cake will need to be stored in the fridge, where it will keep for 2-3 days. Note that the marzipan carrots will absorb moisture from the fridge and start to bleed their colour/become sticky. If you want to make this cake in advance, I recommend adding the carrots just before you are about to serve it.

Notes

1. You need to use an oil-based food colouring to colour chocolate. I used the shades Purple and Green from Colour Mill. 
2. I purchased this gold lustre dust, from Sugarflair, but any edible lustre dust will work. 
3. While you need to use a good quality vanilla extract for the cake, the flavour is barely noticeable when you use it for the lustre dust painting. Therefore, don’t waste a good quality, expensive vanilla extract on this stage- use a cheaper version if you have it. 
4. As always with my cakes, I prefer to use Stork for a fluffier, lighter cake. If you do not want to use Stork, you can substitute the same amount of softened, unsalted butter.