Strawberry and Elderflower Curd Layer Cake

4.50 from 2 votes

A summery strawberry elderflower layer cake the perfect cake for a gathering or celebration.

Prep Time1

Cook Time40

Cooling time1

Total Time2 40

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Servings: slices

Calories: 637kcal

Begin by making the curd. Place the strawberries into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until smooth. Strain into a heatproof bowl.
250 g strawberries
Add the sugar, lemon zest, juice and butter. Set over a pan of simmering water and stir occasionally until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat.
200 g caster sugar, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 100 g unsalted butter
Shake any unwanted friends from the elderflowers and dunk the heads into the mixture. Leave to infuse for 5 minutes or so. Whilst this is infusing, lightly beat the eggs and strain to remove any lumps.
3-4 elderflower heads
Remove the elderflowers from the strawberry mixture - you'll have to give them a good squeeze. Strain again to remove any stray flower heads. Whisk in the eggs and return the bowl to the pan of simmering water. Cook over a low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened. This took me about 20 minutes.
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F. Grease and line 2 6" cake tins (4 if you have them). Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a regular bowl and an electric whisk). Add the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, adding a spoonful of flour between each one.
225 g unsalted butter, 225 g golden caster sugar, 4 large eggs
Mix in the flour and baking powder until just combined - be careful not to overmix! Finish by mixing in the vanilla extract and milk.
225 g plain flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Divide half of the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cakes from the tins and transferring to a cooling rack. Get the tins ready to bake the next two cakes. Pour in the remaining mixture and bake as above.

As the cakes cool, prepare the cream filling. Place the double cream and the sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer (or a regular bowl). Whisk until the cream holds its shape in peaks but is still soft and yielding.
250 ml double cream, 1 tablespoon icing sugar
Once the cakes are cooled, gently prick the tops with a cake tester and drizzle with the elderflower cordial and allow it to soak in.
60 ml elderflower cordial
Place one of the cakes onto a cake stand. Spread with a couple of tablespoons of the strawberry curd but make sure you don't spread it right to the edges - it will spread more when you add the cream. Dollop on some cream and spread it out - go easy, you want the cakes to stand up straight! Repeat until you reach the top layer. Top with cream and decorate with halved strawberries and some elderflower blossoms if you're feeling fancy.
6 tablespoons strawberry and elderflower curd, strawberries

The recipe for the cake layers is barely adapted from Primrose Bakery.

Nutrition is estimated based on all of the ingredients above - you will not be using all the curd made in the cake.