MY LILY OF THE VALLEY CAKE
My cake is inspired by the wedding cake I made for Prince William and Kate in 2011. My brief was to reference the Language of Flowers, made famous by Queen Victoria, as a way of expressing emotions through specific blooms. This version is simpler, with a cascade of piped lily of the valley (sweetness, humility) flowers and an orange blossom (eternal love) delicate sponge – perfect for a wedding or summer celebration.
Serves 20
● 700ml (1¼pt) orange juice
● 300g (10½oz) unsalted butter
● 350g (12oz) caster sugar
● A pinch of fine salt
● 4 medium eggs
● 400g (14oz) self-raising flour, sifted
● 100g (3½oz) ground almonds For the syrup
● 1tsp icing sugar
● ½tsp orange blossom water, or Fotrothtaesbteuttercream icing
● 400g (14oz) unsalted butter, softened
● 600g (11b 5oz) icing sugar, sifted
● 2-3tbsp milk
● Spring green food colouring paste
To decorate
● 100g (3½oz) white sugar paste
● Blossom cutter, medium size (we used PME, available online)
● A small ball tool (or use the end of a small paint brush)
● 2 small piping bags fitted with No 1 fine piping nozzles
● 1 small piping bag fitted with a Wilton Leaf piping nozzle No 70
● 50g (1¾oz) ready-made royal icing
Boil the orange juice in a pan for 15 minutes until reduced by half to 350ml. Pour into a jug and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/gas 3. Line the base and sides of 2 x 20cm round sponge cake tins with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a pan, pour into a bowl then stir in the sugar, salt and 300ml of the orange juice (keep 50ml for the syrup). Using a balloon whisk, gradually beat in the eggs, then the flour and almonds until just combined. You will need four cake layers, so will bake two at a time. Divide the batter in half and set one half aside. Divide the other half equally between the two sponge tins and bake for 20-25 minutes in the centre of the oven, until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the tins and divide the remaining half of the batter between the tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes as above.
Meanwhile, mix the reserved juice with the icing sugar and orange blossom water to make the syrup. As soon as each cake comes out of the oven, pierce all over with a skewer and pour some of the syrup over.
To make the buttercream, place the butter in a bowl. Beat in the sugar until smooth, adding a little milk if needed. Add green food colouring to make it a very soft green, then take around 200g of the buttercream, tint it a slightly stronger green, cover with clingfilm and set aside.
Sandwich the four sponges together with some of the soft green buttercream, making sure the top layer of cake is placed upside down to give a flat top. Once assembled, lightly trim the layers to neaten. Spread a little more soft green buttercream over the top and sides, spreading thinly and evenly. Chill for 10 minutes, then give a thicker coat, spreading as evenly as possible.
To make the lily of the valley, roll out the white sugar paste to 3mm thick on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Cut out 48 flowers using the blossom cutter. Press a ball tool (or rounded end of a paint brush) into the centre of each. Place some of the stronger green buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a No 1 fine nozzle and pipe a dot in the centre of each. Leave to dry for a few hours or overnight.
To pipe the lily of the valley leaves, place the remaining stronger green buttercream into the piping bag fitted with a Wilton leaf nozzle No 70, and pipe long leaves on top of the cake and some trailing down the sides. Pipe stems using the No 1 nozzle. Place lily of the valley on the stems and pipe tiny buds with white royal icing, using the remaining piping bag fitted with a No 1 fine nozzle.