Jubilee Vanilla Sponge Cake

My final Jubilee Bake which was supposed to be one thing but turned out to be another. Never waste good cake is all I can say :) I planned to make a Jubilee checkerboard cake with red, white and blue. I bought the checkerboard pan from America and it feels like I'm destined not to make one as the first time I used it I failed and this is an epic fail too ....hmmm... maybe third time lucky? 

If you want to make a proper checkerboard cake without fancy equipment, check out this awesome cake by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. Pure genius! That was what I imagined in my head but let's just pretend I set out to make exactly this cake in the first place :) 

I used a basic vanilla sponge and divided the cake batter evenly into 3 - I left one plain, coloured one red and the other blue. So far so good.

Got my nifty checkerboard cake pan out and starting filling the batter. When I got to the second pan, I only managed to fill half the tin so clearly this was not going to work (you need to fill 3 tins). I scooped out the batter from the second tin and made 6 large cupcakes which I filled with strawberry jam and added to the street party cupcakes. 

I did however bake the first cake and ended up with this....

I debated what to do with the cake and in the end decided on this simple yet effective decoration. I've seen them everywhere and had wanted to make a traybake but ran out of time. Do you believe that things happen for a reason? 

Cover with vanilla buttercream... 

 Decorate with strawberries and blueberries in the Jubilee spirit :)

I was really impressed with the cake slice! Special thanks to J who bought me this cool cake board - thanks :)

Jubilee Vanilla Sponge cake - enjoy!

As this is a vanilla cake with vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract and a vanilla buttercream, I am entering it to this month's Alphabakes hosted by myself. I'm sure you can guess that the letter is "V" 

If you want to join in, make sure you email your entries by the 25th June.

As Karen has pointed out, these would also be perfect for this month's Tea Time Treats table as they are covered in berries. The theme is 'summer fruits'.  Tea Time Treats is a monthly blogging challenge hosted this month by Kate from What Kate Baked and on alternate months by Karen from Lavender and Lovage.

For the vanilla sponge
(makes 1 large 23cm cake and 6 large cupcakes)

500g butter
500g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
500g caster sugar
6 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food colouring - I used paste colouring - red and blue

For the vanilla buttercream


250g butter
500g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate


Fresh strawberries (or raspberries)
Fresh blueberries

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at time.
• Stir in the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract.
• Add the flour and baking powder.
• Divide the cake batter evenly into 3 (I weighed them out on a scale).
• Colour 1 red, 1 blue and leave the third portion plain.
• Bake using a checkerboard pan as shown.
• Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely before decorating. 
• To make the buttercream, mix all the ingredients in a mixer until smooth.
• Spread the buttercream on top of the cooled cake and decorate with fresh fruits as shown.