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Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake with ‘Paint Drip’ Icing | Mia Turns One!
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3 from 3 votes

Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake with 'Paint Drip' Icing

I have provided two frosting options below; the first is a simple whipped cream with no added sugar, the second using white chocolate is a little more indulgent and might be a little bit harder to prepare, but holds the drip icing much better. You can use your go-to buttercream frosting but to me, even for an indulgent celebration cake, they are just too sugary. IMPORTANT: Make sure that the cake is really well chilled (overnight perhaps) before dripping the icing on top. Use white chocolate or white chocolate melts such that's real chocolate (I used Cadbury Melts, Nestle won't work as it contains additional ingredients). It serves up to 30 people when slicing small.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time8 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 30 people

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 200 g butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 4 eggs (I used 58g - large - eggs)
  • 200 g self raising flour

For the Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • 450 ml fresh (whipping) cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract
  • 400 g strawberries, washed and diced

Option 1 - Whipped Cream Frosting

  • 300 ml fresh (whipping) cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons icing sugar

Option 2 - Whipped White Chocolate Ganache Frosting

  • 100 g white chocolate melts (see note above, important)
  • 300 ml fresh (whipping) cream

'Paint Drip'

  • 100 g white chocolate melts (see note above, important)
  • 5 tablespoons fresh (whipping) cream
  • chocolate-friendly gel colour paste

Instructions

To make the Cake

  • Preheat oven to 180C (160 fan forced / 375F). Grease the sides of a 20cm springform tin and dust with extra flour. Line the base with baking paper.
  • Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan – do not boil, add milk and set aside to cool slightly. Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Sift flour into a large bowl and the melted butter and syrup mixture. Mix well. Add eggs and fold to combine.
  • Pour batter into prepared tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
  • Note: Allow to cool completely before cutting. To cut, slice the half of the domed top off the cake, so that you'll end up with a flat top. Slice the cake into 2 or 3 layers.

To make the Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • Whip cream with vanilla until stiff peaks, fold in the strawberries. Refrigerate until needed.

Option 1 - To make the Whipped Cream Frosting

  • Whip cream with vanilla and icing sugar until stiff peaks. Refrigerate until needed.

Option 2 - Whipped White Chocolate Ganache Frosting

  • Melt half of the white chocolate in a bowl with half the cream (I used the microwave in 2 x 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts, but you can place the cream in a small saucepan and heat until steaming then pour over half the chocolate). Stir well. Add remaining chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely then chill in the fridge for an hour.
  • Do this step just before icing the cake. Transfer the cooled chocolate to a bowl of a mixer and whip until pale and fluffy. Add remaining cream and continue to whip slowly, increasing speed until the icing is creamy - do not overbeat as the icing will split.

To assemble the cake

  • Place the bottom layer of the cake onto the serving platter. Top with half of the strawberry cream mixture if using two layers of cake, or a third of the strawberry and cream mixture if using three layers of cake. Spread evenly to the edges. Top with the next cake (and strawberry cream) mixture - the last cake layer should be the trimmed off dome, placed upside down to achieve a flat top - the gaps will be filled with icing in the next step.
  • Dollop a third of the whipped cream or whipped chocolate ganache on top of the cake and spread to the edges. Using a palette knife of a cake icing scraping tool, spread remaining icinng around the cake and into the gaps between the cake layers to achieve an even look outside. You can turn the cake to achieve a rendered look - I ended up scraping the icing up for a more textural effect. Place the cake in the fridge for 4-8 hours or overnight.

To make the 'Paint Drip'

  • Note: Your iced cake will need to be chilled for 4-8 hours or overnight before performing this step so that the warm paint drip does not melt the icing.
  • Melt white chocolate in a bowl with the cream (I used the microwave in 2 x 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts, but you can place the cream in a small saucepan and heat until steaming then pour over half the chocolate, mix well and add remaining chocolate). Stir well. Add a desired amount of gel colour, starting with a teeny bit - you can always add more but you can't take away, stir.
  • Using a spoon, run the icing around the top outer most edge of the cake to create single drips, you can help the paint along by pushing streams off the edges. Drizzle remaining paint over the top - ensure it is quite warm and runny and spread evenly over the icing. Return to the fridge for 20 minutes to help it set.
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