Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / Gas Mark 4.
• In a small saucepan, warm the milk over a low heat to bring to room temperature.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light, fluffy and pale.
• Add the beaten egg to the mixture a little at a time, beating the mixture until smooth between each addition.
• Add the vanilla extract to the mix and beat until combined.
• Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl and gently beat until combined.
• Pour the milk into the batter and gently beat in until all of the milk has been incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the lined tins and bake for 30-35 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. The top of the cake should also spring back when lightly prodded with a finger.
• Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 mins, before removing and placing onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• To make the jam:
• Place the frozen raspberries and both sugars into a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the fruit has broken down.
• Using a potato masher (or wooden spoon), crush the berries further to release as much juice as possible, before straining the contents into a heatproof to remove any seeds.
• Add the strained juice back into a clean saucepan and continue to cook over a medium-low heat until the mixture reaches 104C. If you don't have a thermometer available, place a plate in the freezer for 15 mins, before spooning a little of the jam onto it. If the jam on the plate sets to the point that it wrinkles when you push your finger through it, your jam is fully cooked!
• Pour the jam into a heatproof bowl, allow it to cool slightly, before placing in the fridge to set completely.
• To make the buttercream:
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until it is light, fluffy and significantly paler in colour.
• Sift 1/2 of the icing sugar into the bowl and beat until the icing sugar has been fully combined. Then repeat this for the remaining 1/2 of icing sugar.
• Add the vanilla extract to the buttercream and gently beat until combined.
• Add the milk to the buttercream, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating between each addition until fully combined. You should now have a smooth, pipable buttercream!
• To assemble:
• Trim off the top of each sponge to level them, then place the first on the board/stand/plate you'd like to display your cake on.
• Using a piping bag fitted with a large round piping nozzle, pipe blobs of buttercream on top of the sponge to form a ring around its edge, then add enough jam to fill the circle you've created. Pipe extra buttercream on top of the jam and gently spread it out to form a flat surface. Lay the next cake layer onto this surface and repeat the filling and icing process described above, stacking the final cake layer onto the cake top-down, so that the top of your cake is nice and level!
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of the cake, then, using a piping bag fitted with a large closed star nozzle, pipe small swirls around its edge. Sprinkle a little caster sugar onto each raspberry to give them a frosted look before adding them to the cake!