As the end of summer approaches here’s a delicious treat to remind you of all things summery right through the year.

The sponge:
120g sugar
120g plain flour
4 eggs
20g melted butter

Make a 7 inch round genoise sponge – click on the link for the recipe.

Soaking syrup:
100g sugar
100g water
Vanilla extract or 30ml Grand Marnier/Cointreau

Heat the sugar and water together till the sugar dissolves. Once cool, add the flavouring of your choice.

Creme Chantilly icing:
500 ml whipping cream (Look for cream with at least 35% fat. Anything lower will not whip easily & hold as well)
50g icing sugar
vanilla extract (1-2 tsp as per your taste)

Decoration
strawberry jam
A punnet of fresh strawberries – some diced and some whole.
Dark chocolate decorations (optional)

Method:
1. Whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl placed in another bowl of iced water. Whisk until the cream gets medium firm peaks in it. Leave in the iced water bowl so it stays cold while you work on the cake.

2. Cut the genoise sponge horizontally into three equal layers. If slicing a cake makes you nervous just do two layers. You would need to use more soaking syrup on each layer to make them more moist.

3. Place the bottom layer on a cake board or plate. Brush well with soaking syrup.

4. Spread some strawberry jam on it. Scatter the chopped strawberries in the centre, an inch from the edges. (To get more flavour in the strawberries, I often soak them in Grand Marnier for a couple of hours. This also makes them taste fresher for a longer time.)

5. Spread some of the whipped icing on this layer until it covers all the strawberries.

6. Place the next layer of sponge on it. Brush well with soaking syrup, spread jam and icing as described in steps above.

7. Place the topmost layer, press down on the cake gently and brush with soaking syrup. Coat the top and sides lightly with icing.

8. Leave the cake in the fridge for about 10 mins to allow the icing to firm up a bit.

9. Remove from the fridge and spread more icing on top. Smooth it out with a palette knife or scraper.

10. Scatter some fresh strawberries on top. Decorate with piped icing. (and dark chocolate decorations for some extra flavour).

Enjoy with some sunny smiles & pots of tea.