Summer Berry Cake

I baked this cake last week for a birthday at work. It was so good I made the same cake again at the weekend and it's all gone! It's a vanilla sponge cake filled with fresh berries topped with creme fraiche and more fresh berries. The birthday girl wanted something with fresh fruit so I loaded the cake with lots of it! I used fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  The sponge was really light and moist and the vanilla flavour really lifts the fruits. Everyone enjoyed the creme fraiche topping which was flavoured with ground vanilla beans as it was lighter than cream and helped cut through the sweetness of the cake and fruit. 

As fresh berries are still in season, I'm entering this to Simple and in Season hosted this month by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary for Ren from RenBehan.com.

I'm also sending this to Celebration Cakes & Bakes hosted by Mummy Makes Cakes as this was made for a birthday celebration and it's perfect for any celebration. 

And to Bake of the Week run by Casa Costello which is guest hosted by Kirsty from Hijacked By Twins. 

And to Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.

I think it will also fit in with with month's Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and co hosted by Jane from Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Picnic Food and Picnic Treats. When I think of picnics, I think of summer and this cake definitely screams summer! 

 adding vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract 

 toss the berries in flour 

 press a few fresh berries on top

 ground vanilla beans in the creme fraiche

 fresh from the oven - you can clearly see the berries

 add a layer or sweetened vanilla creme fraiche

 top with fresh summer berries

 add a sprinkling of vanilla dusting sugar 

 I love how you can still see the berries inside the sponge 

I used my usual weigh your egg method for the sponge - use the same weight for your butter, sugar and flour

For the cake

4 large eggs = 266g in weight 

266g butter

266g caster sugar

266g self raising flour

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

60mls milk

366g fresh summer berries tossed in 2 tablespoons of flour

For the topping

300mls creme fraiche

ground vanilla beans

2 tablespoons icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

selection of fresh berries

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 
• Add in the eggs, one at at time, mixing well between each addition. 
• Add in the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract.
• Add in the flour and then the milk. 
• Toss the berries in 2 tablespoons of flour and stir them into the cake mixture by hand. Set aside a small handful of berries. 
• Pour the batter into a 23cm cake tin. Press the reserved berries into the cake before baking. 
• Bake for approximately 45 - 50 minutes or until it's golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. It's a large cake so may even need an hour to cook!
• Allow the cake to cool completely before decorating. 
• Use a vanilla bean grinder to grind vanilla beans into the creme fraiche. 
• Add in 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• Spread the creme fraiche on top of the cake.
• Pile lots of fresh berries on top. 
• Sprinkle with vanilla dusting sugar or plain icing sugar.