Birthday traycake

Storebought sponge never looked so good. The finishing touches are what make this birthday cake a hip hip hooray moment!

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Sweet Dreams

Watch The Full Episode Here

G

Watch The Full Episode Here

G

Ingredients

Cream cheese icing

• 250 g cream cheese, softened
• 150 g icing sugar mixture
• 600 ml thickened cream
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Butter icing

• 100 g butter, softened
• 200 g icing sugar mixture
• 1 tbsp hot water
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• gel food colouring, in your preferred colour(s)

Cake assembly (see Note)

• 2 round sponge cakes
• 2–3 cups strawberries, roughly chopped
• sprinkles and cake decorations, to decorate

Instructions

1. To make the cream cheese icing, use an electric mixer to whip the softened cream cheese and icing sugar mixture together until smooth. Add the cream and vanilla and whip to stiff peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use. 
2. To make the coloured butter icing, beat the butter and icing sugar mixture together until combined, then add the hot water and vanilla and mix until smooth. Tint with your preferred food colouring and transfer to a piping (icing) bag.  
3. Use a bread knife to cut the cakes into slices. Slicing from the top to bottom, 2 cm thick.
4. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese icing over the base of a serving dish. Cover with a layer of cake slices. You can cut smaller pieces of cake to fill any gaps. Add another layer of cream cheese icing, a layer of fruit, and then another layer of cake. Cover with cream cheese icing and smooth the top. 
5. Scatter the top of the cake with sprinkles and decorate as desired. Finish by piping your preferred pattern of butter icing on top. 

Notes

• Use store-bought or pre-made sponges here. The size of the cake doesn't matter as you will be slicing it into strips and layering it between the icing. 

• You can use any chopped fruits you like instead of strawberries.

• You don’t need a knife to cut this cake. You just scoop out portions with a large spoon, so it’s great for young kids.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

Want more from The Cook Up?

• Stream free here at SBS On Demand.

• Get the show recipes, articles and more here.

• Cook more Adam Liaw recipes here

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Sweet Dreams

Watch The Full Episode Here

G

Watch The Full Episode Here

G