It's a hard choice, but this might be my favourite summer cake. We're slap bang in the middle of strawberry season at the moment - they're at their most abundant/juicy/inexpensive so I tend to hoard them like they're going out of fashion. Strawberry tarts, eton mess, roasted strawberries and yoghurt, strawberries eaten plain and fresh off the plant. And strawberry and rosewater cake. Ahh this one is super fresh and tasty, as well as being sweet and satisfying. Layers of bouncy, fluffy sponge sandwiched between a whipped, rose flavoured buttercream, homemade strawberry and rose compote (not too sweet) and pieces of fresh strawberry. Frankly this cake is just as lovely just layered up with the buttercream and compote but I've been having fun experimenting with handpiping and wanted to crown my cake with a little ring of buttercream roses - not actually that hard to do and perfectly explained in this video (and he does it much better than I). The cake itself is surprisingly easy to do - using a few tips along the way - and is clearly a bit of a showstopper, perfect for any garden soiree/picnic you've been invited to this summer! My top tip is to use cake strips! You get such an even bake with them, nice flat layers with no domed/cracked tops that are so easy to stack together, a light golden colour around the outside with no dark crust or trimming down necessary. Ingredients. For the cake: 3 eggs, warmed slightly 155g softened butter 155g caster sugar (I used golden) 190g self raising flour, sifted 1/4 tsp rosewater 1 tbsp milk 1 tbsp natural yoghurt For the compote: Handful/eight strawberries, sliced Handful/eight strawberries, diced 1/4 tsp rosewater 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp sugar For the buttercream: 250g softened butter 450g icing sugar, sieved 1-2 tbsps double cream 1/4 tsp rosewater Method. - Preheat an oven to 170 degrees celcius and line 2 x 6 inch cake pans (I used the butter and flour method, you can use parchment paper/non-stick spray if you wish). - To make the compote, put a handful (around 8 strawberries) of sliced strawberries, rosewater, lemon juice and sugar into a small saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove to cool completely before adding in another handful of diced strawberries. - For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar for 7 minutes using a hand mixer until it's really light, whipped and fluffy, longer if by hand! I think this is the key to a light sponge! - Fork through the eggs before adding in 3-4 stages to the creamed butter and sugar, mixing thoroughly after each stage. (Gently warming the eggs slightly first in a microwave helps my mixture not to split.) - Add in the flour, scarcely mixing with a metal spoon/spatula until almost combined - the bare minimum amount of folding! - Mix together the rosewater, milk and yoghurt in a small jug/jar before adding to the cake batter. Gently fold, again a bare minimum, until all the ingredients are uniformly incorporated. - Split evenly between the two cake pans. Wrap a cake strip around each pan to ensure an even bake and pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the pans before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Decoration. - To make the buttercream, whip the butter until light and fluffy, then fold in the icing sugar in two stages with a spatula (I just prefer this technique to stop the sugar from flying everywhere). - Whip thoroughly with an electric mixer for around 5 minutes until smooth, light and fully incorporated. Add the rosewater and mix to combine. - Separate 1/3 of the mixture for the piped roses (I definitely recommend watching the video I've linked above!) before adding 1-2 tbsps cream to the remaining 2/3, which will be for the layers/top/outside of the cake. - Once cooled and ready to decorate, split each cake into two layers (I just score around the middle before cutting through with a long serrated knife). - Place a layer onto a cake stand/board, spread over a thin layer of buttercream (I like to be scant because there are quite a few layers and therefore quite a lot of buttercream going on with this cake!), and then 1/3 of the strawberry compote mixture. Repeat for the remaining layers. - After the final layer is on, spread a little buttercream around the side of the cake and scrape off with a flat edge/cake scraper for a 'semi-naked cake' effect. Spread buttercream on the top of the cake and place on the piped roses and some leaves to finish things off! And voila! A cake to impress at any occasion. Or just to have (on your own is definitely condonable) with a cup of tea - make mine an Earl Grey. The delicious taste of an abundantly fruitful summer. Due to the bits of fruit inside the cake, it doesn't last too well so I went with 6 inch cake pans - easily eaten within a day ;) but you could omit the chopped strawberry pieces and it'll last for a good few days in the fridge. I hope you enjoy! xx