You will need two cake tins (approx 20cm)

Ingredients for the Cake

• 4 eggs
• 225g caster sugar
• 225g softened butter
• 225g self-raising flour
• 2tsp baking powder

Ingredients for buttercream filling (double the recipe if you want to cover the cake as well)

• 75g unsalted butter at room temperature – it should be soft 
• 170g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• Drop of vanilla extract (optional)
• Strawberry jam

Ingredients for fresh strawberries and cream filling

• 300ml double cream
• 3 tsp caster sugar
• Fresh strawberries

Method

Cake

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 5
• Grease the base and sides of your tins with butter and then line the base with baking paper.
• Crack the eggs into a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and use an electric hand mixer to mix until smooth. You can also use a wooden spoon for this.
• Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for about 25mins or until the cakes are golden – check them after 20mins.

Buttercream

• First, beat the butter in a bowl for about 5 minutes until it’s really smooth and lighter in colour.
• Add half of the icing sugar and beat again, then add the rest and keep beating until it’s all mixed.
• Add the milk (and vanilla if using) and beat some more until it’s a smooth almost white paste.

Cream

• Pour the cream and sugar into a mixing bowl and use a whisk or electric mixer to beat them until it thickens into a paste.
• Slice the strawberries.

Cake assembly

• Once the cakes have cooled down, use a bread knife or cake wire to level them out.
• Use a piping bag or icing gun to cover the top of one cake with buttercream or cream mixture. Top that with a layer of jam or make a nice pattern with the strawberries.
• Place the second cake on top and dust with icing sugar.