Hello! I thought it would be fun to share a tour of my cake studio a quick snapshot of life behind the scenes of British Girl Bakes. I'll show you:

• my cake studio set-up
• how I film and edit my tutorials
• some upcoming projects and recipes
• other sneak peeks behind the scenes.

My studio

Let’s start with a little tour of my cake studio! This is where I prepare recipes, frost and decorate cakes, and record all of my tutorials and online courses. For the best audio quality and to reduce the echo, I’ve covered almost every flat hard surface with softer surfaces. I have curtains over the windows and doors, rugs on the floor, and sound boards on the walls and ceilings.

My favourite part of the studio is having fantastic light at any time of day. Using artificial lights means that the lighting is consistent throughout videos even if they’re filmed at different times. This works best for me because a lot of filming happens after my kids go to bed.

I have a fridge and two freezers full of cakes! These are cakes I’m still busy decorating or ones that took me so long to decorate that they’re not edible anymore. I’ll frost over them soon and use them for another cake design.

How I make cake videos for YouTube and my online cake school

Let’s take a peek at the process of making a video in my cake studio.

I mix, frost and decorate cakes in here while filming from different angles. On the left you can see what the bigger picture of what’s happening, but I don’t usually film that. Instead, I like to film close-up video like you can see on the right. This shows everything much more zoomed in so you can really see what's happening. It takes at least twice as long to film making a cake than it would without filming it.

Now we need to turn at least an hour of these video clips into a tutorial that’s much quicker and more interesting to watch. My videos and editing projects are stored on 14 external hard drives of 4TB each. The file sizes are HUGE!

I use Final Cut Pro for editing and I drag all of the video clips into a new project. First, I skim through them to check that everything looks good. Then I type out what I want to say to explain the recipe or technique or design I'm demonstrating. By taking time to think about it and write it out, I make sure I include everything I want to say but in the most concise way possible! This way, you don’t have to listen to me rambling about something I could say in a few seconds. I’m a very impatient person and I like to learn things quickly so that’s how I teach, too.

Ok, back to the cake studio for the next step! Now it’s time to record the audio and that’s what this microphone’s for up here. I used to record in my closet because it had the least echo in my house but I definitely prefer this space!

Back on the computer, I drag the audio file into my project. Then I trim the video clips to take out the unnecessary parts. I also time it so that as I’m talking about something, that part of the process is playing in the video. 

Editing the video is REALLY slow. There’s almost always a lot of coffee involved! As an example, the final tutorial footage for slicing this Banana Layer Cake is just over 5 seconds long. How long do you think it took me to edit those 5 seconds? 9 minutes! Slicing shots are some of the most time consuming so it’s not all this slow though.

Ok, final steps! I upload the finished tutorial to my YouTube channel. I schedule it for a Tuesday, which is the day I share new tutorials each week. Then I drag my script onto my website for a written version of the tutorial. I slot in photos to show each step of the process and schedule this tutorial for the same time and date as YouTube. This way, people can read the tutorial instead of watching it. Now it's back to the cake studio to film the next cake!

And that’s the process! Here's how long each part takes:

• One hour to decorate and film each cake
• One hour to script the tutorial
• 10-15 minutes to record the audio
• For the editing, it typically takes me 15 minutes to edit every 1 minute of finished video. For a tutorial of 5 minutes I spend about an hour and 15 minutes to edit.
• One hour to create the website version of the tutorial
• One hour to prepare a much shorter video for Instagram

What's new for British Girl Bakes

Baby Boy #3 will be arriving any day so life is going to get very busy in our house! I’ve been baking and decorating and filming a LOT of cakes over the last few months so I’ll be able to share new videos for the rest of the year. My YouTube tutorials and cake school content will continue as normal even if I don’t make it into my cake studio for a little bit after the baby arrives.

You can expect to see tutorials on some really fun cake decorating techniques like these naked cakes and some mouthwatering recipes for cake and frosting flavours. Also, I’ve just released my brand new MasterCourse on the Basics of Buttercream. You’ll find it on my cake school and it’s included in my ClubPLUS membership.

I hope it’s been interesting to see a bit of what it’s like behind the scenes! Ask me any questions in the comments or just say "hi" and tell me what kind of cakes you like to make!

You can also watch a video of behind the scenes of British Girl Bakes:

Whipped cream frosting is light and refreshing and not too sweet. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make it stable enough for piping and for smooth frosting on cakes. I'll also share how to store it and how to fix it if anything goes wrong!

What is stabilized whipped cream?

To frost or pipe with whipped cream you'll need it to hold its shape. Different ingredients can be added to whipped cream to stabilize it including cream cheese and sugar. My favourite combination is gelatin and powdered sugar or icing sugar. The sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the cream but doesn't make it nearly as sweet as other frostings like my 4 Minute Buttercream. Gelatin thickens the cream so you can pipe textured details that will hold their shape for days.

How to make stabilized whipped cream frosting

To make stabilized whipped cream frosting, the key ingredient is gelatin. Mix it with cold water until there are no big lumps but it will still be very grainy. Leave it to rest, called blooming, while you start on the whipped cream.

It’s best to chill your mixing bowl and whisk in the fridge, which will give you the thickest whipped cream. Pour heavy whipping cream or double cream into the mixing bowl and add powdered sugar or icing sugar and vanilla.

Whip the cream using a speed no more than 4 if you’re using a stand mixer. This allows you to watch the cream closely and don’t overmix it. After about 2 minutes you’ll notice that the cream looks thicker and a bit foamy around the edges. Stop mixing now.

Your gelatin should be a solid jelly now. This means it has bloomed and it will give you the smoothest whipped cream frosting.

Put it into the microwave for 10 seconds to make it liquid again and stir it until it’s smooth. It shouldn’t be hot but if it is, let it sit for a few minutes until it’s barely warm.

Start mixing your cream again, still only using speed 2 or 4. Very gradually pour the gelatin into the mixing bowl. By incorporating it gradually you'll avoid any lumps.

Keep whipping the cream for about another 2 minutes. You’ll see that the whisk is leaving very defined texture behind it. You'll know the whipped cream is ready if the texture doesn't sink back into the cream when you stop the mixer. If you drag a spatula through it, you should leave clear trails in the whipped cream. It should hold peaks when you pull the spatula up. If you take your whisk attachment off and hold it up, the peak should still point upwards. Look how gorgeously smooth and silky this is!

Why does my whipped cream look curdled or lumpy?

The most common challenge with whipped cream frosting is that the consistency isn’t right. Let's do some troubleshooting to fix these problems.

If you stop whipping the cream before it forms peaks, it won't be stiff enough to hold its shape. When you pipe or spread it onto cakes or cupcakes, it will droop or sink or slide off.

When whipped cream looks curdled and lumpy it’s either overmixed or there’s a problem with the gelatin.

If you mixed the cream for too long, add some more cream. Fold it in and the whipped cream should become smooth again.

As far as the gelatin, make sure you let it bloom after you mix it so that it becomes solid. Then remelt it and stir it so it’s smooth. Make sure it’s not hot when you add it to the cream and also make sure you add it slowly while the mixer is mixing. If you add it all at once when the mixer is turned off it will make the whipped cream lumpy. Even after scraping around the cake several times with a cake comb, the whipped cream frosting will not look smooth:

If that happens, I think the best solution is to frost the cake and then add some rustic texture. Press your offset spatula gently into the frosting and spin the cake, slowly pulling it up the cake. This will disguise the slightly uneven consistency of your whipped cream.

How to frost a cake with whipped cream

You can use this whipped cream to fill and frost cakes and cupcakes and you can also pipe with it. Once you’ve assembled your cake, cover it in a crumb coat. This is a very thin layer of frosting to trap any crumbs so that they don’t get into your final layer of frosting. Don’t worry about making this frosting very neat because you’re going to cover it up in a moment.

Spread the final layer of whipped cream frosting more thickly. Then scrape around the cake several times to get smooth, straight sides. Touch up any indents by spreading more whipped cream frosting over those areas and then scrape again.

Make sure you spread the frosting up above the top edge of the cake so that it sticks up. This way you’ll create sharp angles from the sides to the top of the cake. 

How to pipe with whipped cream

This stabilized whipped cream is stiff enough to pipe borders and swirls and other details. The border around the bottom of this cake is a #32 open star tip. I used the same tip to pipe swirls onto the top of the cake. You can see all the definition of the texture in the piping because of the gelatin in the whipped cream, which makes the whipped cream frosting stiff enough to hold its shape.

How to store whipped cream

To store a cake frosted with whipped cream, put it in the fridge in an airtight container like a Tupperware. Cream absorbs the taste of anything else in the fridge so being airtight is important!

The cake will taste best about an hour after taking it out of the fridge as it comes to room temperature and gets softer. This is my Very Vanilla Cake with strawberry jam filling.

After slicing the cake, if you don’t finish it press cling film or Saran Wrap against the sliced cake. Push it gently into the frosting around the edges to secure it. Then put the cake back into the fridge.

Store any leftover whipped cream in airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. 

I hope I’ve answered all of your questions about whipped cream frosting! If I didn’t, ask me in the comments!

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You can also watch a video tutorial on this whipped cream frosting:

Meringues are beautiful and delicious and so easy to make! I’ll show you how to make meringues that are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. In this tutorial you'll learn how to:

• make meringues: every step from mixing to baking
• flavour and colour meringues
• make 5 different shapes like kisses, animals and roses
• attach meringues to cakes
• store meringues so they don’t get sticky or soggy.

How to make meringues

To make meringues you’ll need a whisk, salt, sugar, and egg whites. The full recipe in cups and also in grams is at the bottom of this tutorial.

Start by cracking the eggs and separating them. Pass the yolks back and forth between the shells, letting the egg whites fall down into a bowl. Drop the yolks into a separate bowl or a Tupperware. You can use these for lemon curd or custard or another dessert.

Bring about two inches of water to a boil in a saucepan.

Pour the egg whites, sugar, and salt into a metal bowl. If the bowl of your mixer is metal, use that to reduce clean-up. Lower the bowl onto the pan of water, making sure the bottom doesn't touch the surface of the water. Turn the heat off and whisk the mixture together for two minutes. It will get frothy and after two minutes, pinch a bit between your fingers. If it’s smooth, it’s ready. If not, whisk it for another 30 seconds. 

Take the bowl off the heat and now you’ll need a whisk or the whisk attachment for your mixer. Whisk the egg white mixture for 9 minutes on high speed. You’ll notice them go from yellow and frothy to bright white and silky. They’ll expand with all of the air you’re incorporating into them.

You’ll see lots of texture left behind in the meringues by the whisk. When you lift up the whisk, the meringue will hold its shape. These are called stiff peaks. Once you whip the meringues to this stage they'll hold their shape when you pipe.

How to flavour and colour meringues

When your meringue mixture reaches the stiff peak stage, add whatever flavour you like. My favorites are vanilla or almond or lemon extract. Mix the meringue just enough to incorporate the flavour extract.

Add colour to the meringue now if you want to tint the entire batch. To tint it different colours divide the meringue into separate bowls. Gel colours are more concentrated than liquid colours so I recommend using those to tint meringue so that you don’t water it down and make it runny. Fold the colour in, mixing as little as possible so you don’t knock the air out of the meringue.

How to pipe meringues

Drop a tip into a piping bag and push it down to the end. If it's a new piping bag, score a line around the midpoint of the tip. Push the tip up out of the way and then cut along the line you scored. Then push the tip back down and it will be snugly inside the piping bag, ready to use! Check out this tutorial for 15 piping hacks for cake decorating!

Meringue is very sticky but try this method to avoid mess! Fold the piping bag over a glass to hold it open and then spoon the meringue into it. When you unfold the bag and pipe with it, you won’t get any of that meringue on your hands.

Line a baking tray or sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and now let’s pipe some meringues! I'll show you how to make meringues in five different ways, which you can use for cake decorating or to serve as a snack, treat, party favour or dessert!

#1 Meringue rosettes

I’m starting with a large, open star tip called an 8B to pipe some rosettes. Hold the tip so it’s slightly above the tray and squeeze the piping bag to make the meringue bulge out. Stop squeezing at the same time as lifting the bag and that will leave a neat peak on the rosette.

To use the same piping tip with another colour, squeeze the first colour out of the bag. Push the piping tip out and wash and dry it. Then put it in another bag that you fill with the second colour. 

Couplers are a much quicker and easier method to use the same colour of meringue with different piping tips. You can switch between colours effortlessly and you won’t have nearly as much to clean up at the end! Drop a coupler into a piping bag and place a piping tip on it on the outside of the bag. Then screw the coupler ring on to hold the piping tip in place.

#2 Striped meringue kisses

I love gel colours to tint my 4 Minute Buttercream and also for meringues. You can mix gels into meringue to tint it but try this for really bright striped meringues. Hold the piping bag open and use a paintbrush to paint stripes of colour along inside of the bag. You only need a tiny amount because gels are so concentrated.

Fill the piping bag with meringue and then pipe whatever shapes you like. The ruffly rosettes above are piped with a 1M star tip. For meringue kisses or dollops like the ones below you can use any round tip. I used a 1A.

The colours are much more vivid than if you mix them into the meringue. For example, compare the bright orange to the pale orange you can see in the second row of meringues on the tray above. That orange was made by mixing gel into a bowl of meringue before piping.

#3 Meringue pops

Another way to use a 1M tip is to pipe these swirls, spiraling outwards. You can place these straight onto a cake or prepare them on straws.

Wondering how to make meringues that can be used as cake toppers? Pipe a tiny bit of meringue onto the tray and press a paper straw into it. The meringue will hold the straw in place. Then pipe over the top of the straw. After baking these you can use the straw to push the meringue into the cake as a cake topper.

#4 Meringue animals

Intricate and adorable, a fun technique is how to make meringues shaped like animals! Draw or trace or print an outline or design and put it under parchment paper or a clear silicone mat. Then trace it with meringue. This is a medium round tip, a #12, and this is going to be a flamingo. Use a toothpick to smooth out any textured markings.

I don’t recommend using just a round tip because with stiff meringue it’s difficult to get a neat, smooth surface. You can add lots of amazing textures using different piping tips. If you're not using couplers, squeeze the leftover meringue from one piping bag into another piping bag with a different tip.

This is a leaf tip called a #352, which I’m using to pipe feathers onto this flamingo. Hold the two points of the tip above each other, like jaws, and squeeze to form a bulge. Pull the tip away to leave a point on the feather.

If you’re piping a shape for the first time, it’s a good idea to make more than one. Try different techniques to make different versions. It only adds a few seconds now, compared to having to start all over again after baking one that you don’t need up liking.

To make black meringue you'll need black gel. Since it's very concentrated you won't need more than a few drops to make jet black meringue. For tiny details like flamingo beaks, a sandwich bag works really well. Push the meringue down to a bottom corner of the bag and cut a tiny piece off the corner. Squeeze the bag to pipe the meringue. I’m making two flamingos so I can choose my favourite after they bake.

Use a toothpick to manipulate the meringue to make the shape you want and to smooth the texture in the piped meringue.

To draw lines for the eyes you can dip a toothpick into meringue and draw with that. The other way is to wait until the meringues are baked. Then you can use an edible marker to draw the line. I find this way to be a bit neater than the toothpick method. To use meringue designs as cake toppers, pipe them onto a straw or poke a straw in carefully after piping but before baking.

#5 Meringue roses

You can pipe flowers with meringue just like you would with buttercream. You’ll need a petal shaped piping tip, a little square of parchment paper and a flower nail. Squeeze some meringue onto the head of the nail and press the parchment onto that to attach it. Pipe a blob of meringue onto the middle of the parchment to start the rosebud.

Then hold the narrow end of the teardrop shape of the petal tip pointing upwards. Squeeze the bag and spin the nail to pipe a spiral of meringue that wraps around the blob you just piped.

Now pipe petals around the rosebud, overlapping each one. Angle the top of the tip inwards to keep the petals tight.

Continue wrapping the petals around the flower. Gradually angle the top of the tip further out so that the petals start to fan out. When the rose is as big as you want it, pinch the parchment and slide it off the flower nail. Balance it on your fingers underneath the parchment and lower it onto the baking tray.

How to bake meringues

Bake meringues at 200F or 95C for 85 minutes. Then turn the oven off but leave the tray in for an hour before you take it out. The gradual heating and cooling will prevent the colours from yellowing and also prevent cracking of the meringues.

These meringues are crispy on the outside but when you bite into them, the centers are soft and slightly chewy. In a second I’ll show you how to store them to keep them like this!

How to make meringues stick to a cake

Here are three ways to attach meringues to a cake. You can push them into a drip while the drip is still sticky, before it sets, and they’ll attach easily.

If you baked a meringue on a paper straw you can push the straw into the cake. This makes the meringue stand up on top of the cake, like this flamingo. Leave some of the straw visible or cover it up with more meringues. To hide the straw, push the meringue all the way down into the cake. Don't push directly on the meringue because it will crack. Instead, use scissors or tweezers to grip onto the straw and push it down.

To attach meringues to a cake after the frosting has set you'll need someone to act as glue. I like to pipe or spread a tiny bit of fresh frosting onto the cake wherever I want to place a meringue. You can pipe or spread it onto the bottom of each meringue instead. Then push the meringue gently onto the frosted cake to attach it.

This works on the top of the cake but also on the sides! When the frosting dot sets it will keep the meringue securely in place. Isn't this cake gorgeous? Visit my cake school for online courses on hundreds of cake designs and techniques and sign up for my free course in the menu at the top of this bar!

How to store meringues

You can make meringues ahead of time and store them at room temperature or in the fridge or freezer. They should be separated by wax paper or parchment paper so that they don’t stick to each other. Use an airtight container like a Tupperware, which keeps them crispy. This way they won’t get soggy or sticky. You can store meringues at room temperature or in the fridge for two weeks or in the freezer for a month.

I can’t wait for you to try these meringues! Here's the recipe and you can convert between US measurements (cups) and Metric (grams and ml) by clicking at the top right of the recipe.

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You can also watch my video tutorial of how to make meringues for cake decorating:

Here are 3 easy rainbow cake designs that are quick to decorate but stunning to look at!

#1 Piped rainbow cake

For this first easy rainbow cake design I’m using sprinkled cake layers for an extra burst of colour. This is my Very Vanilla cake with pink nonpareil sprinkles, called hundreds and thousands in the UK. You could use rainbow sprinkles to make the cake rainbow coloured inside and out!

After assembling your cake, cover it with a thin layer of frosting called a crumb coat. This doesn’t need to be perfect because it’s going to be covered up in a minute. However, getting it nice and smooth will make the rest of the decorating easier and neater. Let the frosting set while you prepare your colours.

After the crumb coat sets, spread more frosting onto the top of the cake and smooth it. The top of the cake is going to be visible at the end so you want it to be neat. After smoothing the frosting on top, use a cake comb to flatten it around the sides.

How to pipe rainbow colours onto the cake

For the most eye-catching results choose several different piping tips. My favorites are star tips like a 1M, #32, #4B, #199 and petal tips like a #104 or #125.

Choose a colour to start with. This is a #32 open star tip with my 4 Minute Buttercream tinted pink with gel colours. To pipe a shell border like this, hold the piping bag on its side and squeeze the buttercream out. Hold still for a moment to let the buttercream bulge out. Then pull away to leave a tail on the dot. Overlap each dot all around the cake to pipe a row of these shells or waves.

Where you start and finish there will be a join that looks different to the rest of the texture. If you start above that with your next colour, all of the joins line up over each other. This can be the back of your cake.

This is a 1M star tip and I’m using the same technique to pipe a shell border with it. This piping tip is much bigger than the others so the piped details are bigger, too. It looks really big now but once the rest of the details are added, I think the variation looks nice.

Sometimes it’s useful to have a guideline to mark the top of the row of piping. You can use the straight edge of a cake comb to indent one into the crumb coat.

To pipe ruffles with a petal tip, hold the tip with the narrow end of the teardrop shape pointing outwards and the wide end pressed against the cake. Squeeze the bag as you move it slowly up and down around the cake. Pause for a split second at the top and bottom to allow the buttercream to curve softly around.

The bottom of the piping tip should touch the piping underneath it every time you go down. That way you’ll make sure you cover up the crumb coat completely with no gaps in between the different colours of piping.

There’s no “right” way to create the join between the beginning and end of piping. Create whatever texture you can and as long as you’re lining up your joins above each other, that side can face the wall when you display the cake so no one will see it anyway!

Couplers are useful if you want to be able to use the same piping tip with different colours. After piping with one colour, unscrew the ring to remove the piping tip and then place it on another coupler on another piping bag. Squeeze the bag to push out the previous colour until you see the new colour come through. For 4 reasons to use couplers, check out my tutorial on how to use couplers.

Being able to switch between piping tips by using couplers really saves a lot of time when you’re piping. And by re-using piping tips with different colours, you’re limiting the number of tools you need to buy. You're also reducing clean up afterwards! Since the same texture on the cake has different colours, it still adds lots of variety in your design.

I’m using pale rainbow colours but you can use bright colours instead. To make darker buttercream you’ll need to add a few more drops of colour when you tint your frosting. I’m using my 4 Minute Buttercream which takes on colour very easily so with just a few drops you can create really bright and bold colours.

Round tips like this 2A pipe dots or beads. The bigger the tip, the bigger the beads. Use the same shell border technique to pipe beads with tails and overlap each one.

When you get to the top of the cake and you’re tempted to stop, keep in mind that the cake will look neatest if your final row of piping sticks up above the top edge of the cake.

Voila! Beautiful colours and textures that make a quick and easy but stunning cake design!

#2 Rainbow layer cake

Skip the texture and create flat layers of your rainbow colours around a cake with this next technique.

You can either spread or pipe the colours onto the cake. Since I already have my colours in piping bags I'm piping them on but if you don't, it's quicker to spread them on. Start at the top of the cake, creating a ring of colour all around it. Then scrape around the cake gently with a cake comb to leave a thin, smooth layer of colour on the cake.

After each time you go around the cake, scrape the excess frosting off your cake comb into a bowl. If you take off more frosting than you want you might be able to see the frosting on the cake through the band of colour. Spread some of the scraped-off coloured frosting back onto the cake and then smooth it again.

Pipe or spread your next colour underneath, overlapping the first colour so that there’s no gap in between the two colours.

Three tricks to this rainbow layer cake design

First, use a crusting buttercream like my 4 Minute Buttercream. It gets really firm when it sets and makes this layering effect possible. With soft frostings like whipped cream, the colours blend into the frosting on the cake instead.

Second, take your time to get the frosting really smooth. These colourful layers won’t completely cover the cake and they won’t disguise messy frosting.

Third, chill the cake in the fridge for at least two hours before you do this. That way, the frosting will be very firm and you can pipe or spread and scrape the colours without damaging it. Also, the colours will set very quickly when they’re on top of very cold frosting so the colours will create layers over each other instead of blending together.

Make a rainbow on top of the cake

To add some detail to the top of this cake, squeeze a little bit of each colour of frosting onto the straight edge of a cake comb. My cake is tiny, it’s only 4 inches wide, so I’m using the bottom edge of the comb instead of the side.

Then lower the comb onto the top of the cake and pull it in a curved, arc shape over the top surface of the cake to leave a rainbow behind! You might need to spread on a bit more of some of the colours and scrape again to get good coverage.

You can use a piping tip or a toothpick to draw a design in the rainbow as well, if you like!

#3 Rainbow Tray Bake

If you want rainbow cake that’s very quick to decorate, this one’s for you! Pour your cake batter into a baking dish or casserole dish and bake it in that. Let it cool completely and then decorate your cake in the dish, so you don’t need to assemble and frost it first!

You can spread frosting onto the cake or use piping tips to create colourful texture like on the first cake. Piping down onto this cake is easier and quicker than piping onto the side of a cake!

The best bit about this rainbow tray bake cake is that transporting and serving it in a dish is so simple!

I hope you’ve seen a cake design you love! Tell me in the comments which is your favourite and check out my free course on 10 Frosting Techniques and the British Girl Bakes cake school for courses on hundreds of other cake designs and techniques!

You can also watch a video version of this tutorial on 3 Easy Rainbow Cakes:

You can achieve endless cake designs without buying expensive tools! In this tutorial I’m going to show you five ways to use parchment paper for cake decorating.

#1 Patterned borders

Use this technique to create perfectly symmetrical patterns like zig zags. Wrap a strip of parchment paper around a cake and draw a line where the two ends overlap. Don’t worry about the top edge yet.

Fold the paper in half and half again until it's the width you want for each section of the zig zag. Create another fold to mark where you want the top of the zig zags to be. You can draw dots where the creases going up meet the crease along the top so that you can see them better. Then cut diagonally up from the bottom of one crease, to the top of the next. Go in one direction like left to right for now, and skipping every other dot.

Then cut in the other direction, from the bottom of one crease up to the next dot. This will create the other side of your zig zags. This is going to be your stencil.

Wrap the zig zag stencil around your cake after the cake has been in the fridge for at least an hour so the frosting is cold and firm. After a few minutes at room temperature there will be tiny beads of condensation on the cake. These will make the parchment stick to the cake and stay in place.

Spread another colour of buttercream over the exposed cake that’s showing underneath the stencil. Once that’s covered up, scrape around the cake with a straight cake comb or frosting smoother to flatten this buttercream.

Spread more buttercream over any indents and scrape until until it’s completely smooth. Then peel away the zig zag stencil to leave the zig zag pattern behind on the cake!

If there are any smudges of buttercream on the cake you can scrape them off with a toothpick. Since the frosted cake is cold, that frosting will be so firm that you won’t damage it with the pressure of the toothpick.

As an optional finishing touch, pour some sprinkles into a bowl and water into another bowl. Dip your finger into the water and then into the sprinkles so that they stick. Then push gently into the top of the zig zag. The sprinkles will stick to the soft sticky buttercream instead of your finger. 

Chill the cake in the fridge for about an hour to set the zig zag buttercream. Then you can wipe the smudges off the cake board with a paper towel wrapped around your finger. Since the cake is cold you can brush right up against the frosting without damaging it.

#2 Dotted pattern

Another fun cake design to create with parchment paper is a dotted pattern. Just like the previous pattern, wrap a piece of parchment paper around the cake to measure it. Then fold it in half as many times as you like, horizontally and vertically, to form a grid pattern.

The vertical creases will meet the horizontal creases and form points, or I’ll call them joins in this tutorial. Wrap the parchment around the cake and push a pin or a toothpick through one of the joins to hold it in place.

Then continue to poke a pin or toothpick through every join. Make sure you push through the parchment and into the frosting on the cake underneath. When you peel the parchment off you’ll have an even grid of dots that covers the cake.

Now use a piping bag with a small round tip to squeeze little dots of buttercream onto the dots. This makes a dainty, subtle pattern that compliments any other decorations without distracting from them. I have a recipe and tutorial for these meringues for cake decorating in case you want to make your own!

#3 Silhoette stencil

As well as patterns, you can use parchment paper for cake designs like animals. Use this technique for simple silhouettes or I’ll show you a much more detailed character in a moment. Draw or trace the outline of your shape onto parchment paper and cut it out. Wrap the parchment around the cake to use the cut-out shape as a stencil.

Spread buttercream over the stencil, pushing towards the middle of the shape instead of out towards the edges. This will give you the neatest outline because you won't push buttercream underneath the edges of the stencil. Scrape off the excess with an offset spatula or cake comb leaving a thin, smooth layer of buttercream behind.

Peel the parchment off straight away, before the buttercream on the stencil sets. You'll leave a silhouette of your shape behind! To add some colour and texture you can pipe added details like these flowers. 

#4 Character stencil

To add much more detail for character cakes, use several pieces of parchment paper to trace an image. Only outline the details of one colour at a time. For this platypus I’m starting with the turquoise body.

Then use a different piece of parchment to outline the details of the next colour. Repeat for all of the coloured details in your design. When you lay the parchment pieces over each other you'll see outlines of all of the details of the image.

Cut out all of the details to make stencils, which you’ll use for each colour separately. Then tint your colours to create the design. I use gel colours because they're very concentrated so they make very bright and bold colours. My 4 Minute Buttercream works really well for parchment paper designs because it gets so firm when it sets.

Start with the stencil for the background colour, which is the largest block of colour. Wrap the parchment around the cake and spread buttercream over the stencil to cover the shape you cut out.

Then scrape around the cake with a cake comb to take off excess frosting. Scrape a few times to leave a thin, smooth layer of frosting behind.

Peel the parchment away from the cake to leave your first details on the cake. Use a toothpick to touch up any smudges of buttercream around the edges of the shape. Then put the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes. Next, line up another parchment stencil on the cake. Chilling the cake sets the first stencil details so that this next stencil doesn’t damage them.

Use your toothpick or the edge of your offset spatula to create texture like the waffle grid on this tail. Do this straight after applying the stencil, while the buttercream is still soft.

Continue with the rest of your stencils and coloured buttercream to add all of the details to your character. You'll need to chill the cake to set the buttercream between each stencil. For tiny details you might choose to use a piping tip instead of a stencil, like tiny eyeballs. I poked the piped eyes with my toothpick to expose tiny white dots in the centers.

You can use your offset spatula for thin lines like the mouth and the brim of this hat. Thin lines like the band around the hat could be done with a stencil. For a quicker option you can pipe the lines and then flatten the buttercream with an offset spatula.

And there it is! A detailed character made with homemade parchment paper stencils!

#5 Wrapped chocolate cake

To wrap a cake in chocolate start by cutting parchment to wrap around the cake. You can scrunch it up if you want to add extra texture. Melt any kind of chocolate chips and then pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Spread it around with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to level it. Go right up to the edges to completely cover the parchment.

Slide your hands underneath the parchment straight away, before the chocolate sets, and lift it up. Rest the bottom edge on the cake board and wrap it around your cake. It’s easiest if the cake has been in the fridge so it’s firm and less wobbly than when it’s at room temperature.

Put the cake wrapped in parchment into the fridge for an hour or the freezer for twenty minutes. This will set the chocolate and make it stronger than when it's a room temperature. Then peel the parchment off to leave the chocolate wrap behind.

If you cut your parchment a little bit taller than the cake, you’ll have a wall to hold in any decorations like these glittery chocolate malt balls. So pretty!

I hope you’ve seen some ways you can save money on expensive cake decorating tools by using parchment paper instead! Check out my cake school for online courses on hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs and join my ClubPLUS for access to every MasterCourse, MiniCourse and Live Workshop!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to use parchment paper for cake decorating:

This banana layer cake is full of banana flavour and it’s incredibly moist without being overly sweet.

How to make this banana layer cake

To make this banana layer cake you'll need... bananas! Mash two bananas or use a blender or food processor to blitz them. Use very ripe bananas for the most flavour and sweetness. If the skins don't have brown specks on yet, they're not ripe enough. Try this hack below to ripen them in ten minutes!

Put the bananas on a baking tray in the oven at 350F or 190C for 10 minutes. You’ll see the skins turn black but don't worry! They're still edible! Leave them to cool and then peel them over the tray to catch any liquid that oozes out. The bananas will be soft and you’ll notice their sweet smell straight away. Now they're ready for this banana layer cake recipe!

Once the bananas are mashed, add milk that’s been out of the fridge for at least 2 hours. All of your ingredients need to be at room temperature for your cake to rise properly. If you've used a blender or food processor you can just add the milk to that. Set these liquid ingredients aside for later.

The other ingredients to prepare for this banana layer cake are your dry ingredients: all purpose or plain flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Whisk these together so that they’ll all mix evenly into the cake batter later.

Your eggs should should also be at room temperature so take these out of the fridge at least two hours before baking, too. Now you’re ready to mix the batter!

Mix butter, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer. This can be either handheld or a stand mixer. You can do this by hand but to make a light cake that rises well you need to really cream the butter and sugars together. This takes about three minutes with an electric mixer but a lot longer if you’re using a spoon or spatula.

When the butter and sugar mixture gets lighter in colour and looks creamy instead of chunky or grainy, add the eggs. Mix them in until the batter becomes smooth and now we’re going to alternate between the dry and wet ingredients.

Start by adding about half of the dry ingredients and mixing those into the batter just until you can’t see any flour anymore. Then add the wet ingredients. Only mix until everything is incorporated because over-mixing will make the cake tough and dense. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix to combine. I like to use a spatula to scrape down to the bottom of the mixing bowl to check that everything has mixed together and there aren’t any clumps of flour stuck down there.

Now it's time to prepare the layers for this banana layer cake! Divide the batter between three greased pans. The recipe listed below is for a three-layer 6" cake but you can click the "X2" button to double it and make a three-layer 8" cake.

Bake the cakes at 325F or 160C for 35 minutes. Try to resist that rich banana scent when they come out of the oven! Let the cakes cool slightly in the pans for five minutes before you turn them over onto a wire rack. This gives them a chance to firm up slightly so they don’t crumble. When they’ve cooled completely you can trim any domes with a serrated knife to make perfectly flat cake layers. Then assemble your cake!

How to assemble this banana layer cake

My favourite filling and frosting for this banana layer cake is my cream cheese frosting. My 4 Minute Buttercream pairs well with it too, either plain or after adding caramel or melted chocolate.

I like to pipe filling and frosting to save time. You don't need a piping tip to do this, just spoon the frosting into a piping bag and cut the tip off.

Pipe a dot of frosting onto a cake board and press the first layer of cake onto it. Pipe or spread filling onto it and then place another cake layer on top.

For the neatest frosting chill your cake in the freezer for 15 minutes before frosting it. This will make it less wobbly so you can spread and smooth the frosting more easily.

How to frost this banana layer cake

I always recommend doing two layers of frosting. Start with a very thin layer called a crumb coat, which traps any crumbs that come off the cake.

Then spread on a final coat, which sits on top of the crumb coat so no crumbs get into it. This layer of frosting will be thicker and since it will be visible, it’s worth taking the time to get the frosting smooth. I share all of my tips and tricks for frosting and piping with cream cheese in my cream cheese frosting recipe.

How to decorate this banana layer cake

To decorate this cake really quickly I like to add texture. Spin the cake on a turntable as you slowly drag an offset spatula or the back of a spoon up the sides of the cake. You'll leave grooves in the frosting that look simple but stunning!

This banana cake can be stored in the fridge for a week. It tastes best at room temperature so take it out 2-4 hours before you serve it so the cake and frosting warm up and soften. For the neatest slices, run your knife under hot water before cutting into this. Yum yum yum!

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You can also watch a video tutorial of this Banana Layer Cake recipe:

Use this cream cheese frosting for piping, smooth frosting and glazes. It's not too sweet and pairs perfectly with loads of cake and cupcake recipes, like my Banana Layer Cake and One Bowl Carrot Cake. In this tutorial I'll show you everything you need to know about making it, colouring it and storing it, too!

How to make cream cheese frosting

To make cream cheese frosting, the key is to use room temperature ingredients. This will prevent a lumpy bumpy mess. 

It’s important to use cream cheese from a block, not a tub. Avoid whipped cream cheese because that will be too soft and since it’s whipped and aerated, it will create air bubbles in your frosting.

Take your butter and cream cheese out of the fridge four hours before you use them so they soften. This prevents lumps in your cream cheese frosting. The first step is to mix them together until they’re combined into a pale, smooth mixture.

Add icing sugar or powdered sugar, which needs to be sifted so there are no lumps in that either. Don’t over-mix because you’ll break the cream cheese down and make the frosting too runny. Stop when its smooth and add vanilla and salt. Mix those until they’re combined, and now it’s ready to use!

The quantity of sugar in this recipe is perfect for frosting a cake or to pipe a swirl on a cupcake. To adjust the stiffness of this cream cheese frosting just adjust the amount of sugar. If you want it to be less sweet you can use less sugar or use more sugar to make it sweeter. Be aware that with less sugar, the consistency will be runnier. The result will be much softer and less textured piping. With less sugar it will be difficult to frost a cake with smooth sides and sharp edges.

How to use cream cheese frosting to frost a cake

For really smooth frosting, follow the recipe as written to make your frosting. Then chill your cake in the freezer for 15 minutes before you frost it. Apply a crumb coat first, which is a very thin layer of frosting that catches and traps any crumbs that come off the cake so that they don’t get into your final coat of frosting. It’s especially important to use a crumb coat before your final coat of frosting if you’re using cream cheese frosting, which is more translucent or less opaque than regular buttercream frosting.

For the final coat, spread your frosting on generously. Push it up above the top edge of the cake and that will help you get sharp edges. Smooth the frosting with a cake comb, scraping around the cake several times. Touch up any indents by spreading more frosting over those and then smooth again until you’re happy with the sides. For the top, push sideways with an offset spatula. Don't push down because that will cause a bulge in the frosting around the top of the cake. 

How to use cream cheese frosting for piping

You can pipe borders or swirls with this frosting and the texture will hold its shape. If the frosting gets softer as you pipe, it's from the warmth of your hands on the piping bag or the warmth of the room. Put the piping bag or bowl of frosting into the fridge for 5 minutes to chill it slightly. That will make the frosting stiffer so it will hold its shape better. You'll notice more texture and definition in your piping.

Cream cheese frosting isn’t as stiff as regular buttercream but it’s stable enough to support another layer of cake onto top. This means you can use it as filling for cakes, even for naked cakes!

How to colour cream cheese frosting

You can colour cream cheese frosting just like buttercream. I recommend gels over liquid colours because they’re much more concentrated so they’ll give you bright and bold colours without making the frosting too watery. As you tint cream cheese frosting, try to fold in the colour instead of stirring aggressively. As I mentioned before, if you over-mix cream cheese frosting you’ll break down the cream cheese and the frosting will become less stiff, or more runny. If that happens as you’re colouring it you can either put the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes to chill it so that it firms up a bit or you can add more sugar, which will stiffen it. Cream cheese frosting pipes beautifully and has a gorgeous shine to it, too.

How to make a cream cheese glaze

To use this cream cheese frosting as a glaze, microwave it for 30 seconds. Then add milk a spoonful at a time until you can drizzle it with a spoon. Spoon it onto your loaf or cake and it will run down the sides.

Although this will never set or crust to be firm, it’s thick enough that it won’t absorb into your cake and disappear! It’s just as tangy and rich and delicious as when it’s thicker and stiffer so it’s a very decadent topping for any dessert.

How to store cream cheese frosting

You can leave cream cheese frosting at room temperature for four hours. If you need to store it overnight, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. You can leave cream cheese frosting in the fridge for up two weeks or in the freezer for two months! I like to store cream cheese frosting in a ziplock bag so it doesn't take up much space.

When you take cream cheese frosting out of the fridge or freezer it will be very firm. Let it sit on the counter for about an hour before stirring it to knock out any air bubbles. 

If you use cream cheese frosting on a cake, store that cake in the fridge. Take it out between two and four hours before serving to let it come to room temperature, when it will taste the best!

To save cake leftovers, cover any cut sides with plastic wrap to keep the cake moist. Put the cake in the fridge and take it out an hour before eating it.

Did I miss anything? Ask me in the comments below!

Here's the recipe for this cream cheese frosting for piping, frosting and glazes. You can adjust the quantities to use US (cups) or metric measurements. You can also scale the recipe up by using the buttons at the top of the recipe.

If you try this cream cheese frosting recipe, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.

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You can also watch a video tutorial of this cream cheese frosting for piping, frosting and glazes:

This chocolate collar cake design will make everyone ask how you did it and the secret is surprisingly simple, once you know a few tricks!

Let’s break the technique down into four steps.

STEP 1: Prepare the cake

Starting with the basics, assembling a straight cake with give you the best results with this technique. Take your time to line each cake lay directly over the layer below so that the cake doesn't lean. Chilling the cake for fifteen minutes in the freezer or thirty minutes in the fridge will set the filling to hold the layers in place while you frost them. This way, they won’t slide or wobble around when you spread and smooth the frosting.

STEP 2: Prepare the collar

Chill the cake to set the frosting, which takes about an hour in the fridge. Wrap a ribbon or string around the cake to measure the circumference and also the height of the cake. Then place that on a piece of parchment or wax or baking paper and cut the paper so it’s the same length as the ribbon. For the height, about an inch taller than the cake is ideal. Now put the cake back in the fridge.

To make a design you’ll need melted chocolate. Melting chocolate is something people tend to struggle with but here are two tricks. First, only heat the chocolate for thirty seconds at a time in a microwave. Secondly, adjust the power to 80% to heat it gently so that it doesn’t burn or seize. When you take it out of the microwave, stir the chocolate to spread the heat since microwaves tend to create hot spots. Then heat for another thirty seconds, also at 80% power. Stir until the chocolate is smooth with no lumps.

Pour it into a sandwich bag and cut a tiny piece off one of the bottom corners of the bag. You'll squeeze the chocolate through this hole. If the hole is too small your chocolate won’t pipe in smooth lines, like the chocolate on the right in the photo below. Also, the lines will be so thin that they’ll be very fragile. Look at the difference between that and the chocolate on the left. I cut a little bit more off the corner for those and the lines are thicker and smoother and neater.

Cover your paper with loops or whatever design you want to create, keeping in mind that the closer the lines or loops or squiggles are to each other, the stronger the chocolate collar is going to be.

STEP 3: Wrap the cake

Take your cake out of the fridge and lift the chocolate design up straight away, before the chocolate sets. Lower it down to the cake, resting the bottom edge of the paper on the cake board so that the design goes all the way to the bottom of the cake, and wrap it around the cake to attach it to the frosting.

If you can do this without getting chocolate all over your hands, please tell me your secret in the comments! The paper will overlap itself where the beginning meets the end and that’s fine. Put the whole cake back in the fridge for an hour to set the chocolate.

STEP 4: Unwrap the chocolate collar cake

After the chocolate sets, pinch the top corner and slowly peel the paper away from the cake. I love unwrapping and exposing the chocolate collar cake underneath!

The paper will stick where the overlap was so for that, peel downwards to snap off the excess chocolate and leave a neat seam along the join of the design.

To tidy up the cake board, use a sharp knife or the edge of your offset spatula to scrape off any chocolate stuck to the board. You can wipe any smudges off the board with a paper towel wrapped around your finger. The chocolate will soften at room temperature so after a few minutes you can trim around the top edge of the design with scissors to tidy that up, too.

I don’t recommend wrapping a design any more than an inch above the top of the cake because the chocolate can droop at room temperature. The chocolate sticking up creates a wall which you can fill with fruit, chocolate truffles, flowers, or any other decorations you like!

If it’s hot, it’s best to store the cake in the fridge to keep the chocolate design stable.

How to serve a chocolate collar cake

It's easiest to serve a chocolate collar cake when it's at room temperature. If the cake has been in the fridge, take it out an hour or two before you serve it so that the chocolate collar softens. The cake and frosting will taste better at room temperature, too. Run your knife under hot water before you cut into the cake for the neatest slices.

This is my perfect chocolate cake with my best chocolate buttercream and the combination is incredible!

You can also watch a video of how to make a chocolate collar cake.

Here are nine ideas of ways to decorate a cake with berries, making it beautiful and delicious!

#1 Mix berries into frosting

To mix berries into your frosting, simmer fresh or frozen berries with a bit of sugar. Use medium low heat to cook them gently until they soften and thicken.

Blitz the cooked berries in a food processor or blender unit smooth. You can strain them through a sieve if you want to remove the seeds. Let the mixture cool completely and then stir it into your frosting.

This is my 4 Minute Buttercream mixed with cooked berries. Add the cooked berries instead of the milk in the recipe to give the frosting amazing colour and flavour without making it too runny. I think the flecks of berry make it look delicious, too!

#2 Pile berries on top of a cake

There are lots of ways to decorate a cake fresh berries. If you don’t smooth the top edge of the frosting you’ll leave a wall around the cake. This will hold a pile of berries in place.

If the frosting has set it won't be sticky anymore so the berries may move if you move the cake. To attach the berries, spread some fresh frosting onto the top of the cake to act as glue.

#3 Add berries to piping

Add berries to piping for some extra height and colour. If you’re using buttercream, make sure you do this immediately after piping. If you wait too long and the buttercream sets, it will crack when you push the berries down. This is my Lemon and Blueberry Cake and it's heavenly!

#4 Place berries between frosting swirls

Another fun way to use berries on top of a cake is to place them between swirls of frosting. For even spacing around the cake, start by pushing the berries into the frosting on the top of the cake. Arrange them opposite each other to guide you so that there’s the same distance between each berry. Then pipe your swirls or ruffles or whatever in between the berries.

If you count as you pipe back and forth, all of your piping will be the same height. The berries add a burst of colour to this lemon cake.

#5 Make a border with berries

Berries make a nice border around the bottom of a cake. If your cake is a tier cake you can place berries around the bottom of each tier to decorate them.

I teach every step of preparing, assembling, frosting, decorating, storing and transporting tier cakes in a MiniCourse. If you join my Club you'll get access to every MiniCourse on my cake school!

#6 Use berries as cake toppers

Use berries as cake toppers instead, spacing them around the top of a cake. Using a bit of fresh frosting to attach each one if the frosting on the cake has already set.

You might choose to use the berries to mark slices, so that each slice has a berry on top!

#7 Cover a cake in berries

This one is the most time consuming but also the most dramatic! Press berries into the sides of the cake, starting at the very bottom and working your way up. Place the berries in the same order, for example: blueberry, blackberry, raspberry. Then offset each berry by one berry in the next row. You'll end up with diagonals going all the way up the cake.

#8 Add berry accents

If that last one seemed a bit over the top, try placing berries as accents on the cake. Make clusters or groups of different types of berries to create a variety of colours and shapes and sizes. You may need to pipe or spread fresh frosting to stick the berries to the cake.

#9 Spread cooked berries around the cake

To create some bright texture on your cake, spread some jam or cooked berries around the bottom of your cake. I like to do this straight after frosting the cake, before the frosting sets. Use your offset spatula to spread the jam upwards in diagonal strokes around the cake. Overlap each stroke slightly so that there aren’t any gaps between them. You can use the back of a spoon for even more texture!

I hope you've seen some ideas you like! Tell me in the comments which is your favourite!

You can also watch my video tutorial on 9 ways to decorate a cake with berries:

This lemon and blueberry cake has four mouthwatering elements:

• zesty lemon cake
• tangy lemon curd filling
• sweet blueberry buttercream
• juicy fresh blueberries

The combination is irresistible!

How to make this Lemon and Blueberry Cake

Make sure all of your refrigerated ingredients are at room temperature before you begin.

Start by creaming the butter and sugar together, which takes about three minutes. Meanwhile, zest your lemons. Using a lemon zester is ideal because it only takes off the fragrant outer peel instead of the bitter white pith underneath. If you don’t have a zester you can use the fine side of a grater.

By now the butter and sugar should be pale and creamy. Add the lemon zest and mix it in and then crack your eggs and add these one by one. Mix for about 30 seconds after each one so that they incorporate properly.

Now add the vanilla and mix that in. In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add half of this to the mixing bowl, mixing only until it’s just combined. As soon as you don't see any flour in the batter anymore, turn the mixer off. Avoiding over-mixing prevents a tough, dense cake. Then add the milk and sour cream and mix those in. If you need a substitute, instead of milk and sour cream you can use the same amount of buttermilk. Finally, mix in the rest of the flour mixture. Your batter should be quite runny and pale in colour with little flecks of yellow lemon zest.

Divide the lemon cake batter between three greased baking pans. Don't worry - we'll add the blueberry soon! Tap the pans to level them or spread the batter flat with a spatula. The recipe listed below makes a three-layer 6" cake or you can double it for a three-layer 8" cake. For mini cakes, use the 6" batter to make four 4" cakes. Or of course, you can divide the recipe by four to make just one 4" cake.

Bake the cake layers at 325F or 160C for 30 minutes. The cakes are baked when they don’t wiggle in the middle when you jiggle the pan. A toothpick poked into the middle of each cake will come out clean.

Run a spatula gently around the edges of each pan to loosen the cakes. Let the cakes cool completely before you assemble your cake.

A quick side note on substitutions. As I mentioned earlier you can use buttermilk instead of the milk and sour cream. For example, instead of 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup of milk, use 1 cup of buttermilk. Although I prefer the flavour and texture of this cake with sour cream, the buttermilk version is very similar! Both are soft and light but rich and buttery, too.

How to make lemon curd for this Lemon and Blueberry Cake

To make this cake even more lemony we’re going to make lemon curd. You’ll need lemon juice, lemon zest, butter, sugar, and eggs.

To prepare the ingredients, crack the eggs and cut your butter into small pieces so that it will melt easily. Zest your lemons and then squeeze them to measure out the lemon juice.

Put all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat over a low heat. The key to smooth lemon curd is to heat it very very gently so that the eggs don’t cook too fast and make the curd lumpy. It will take about 30 minutes to cook this and you need to whisk it as it cooks. Listen to a good playlist or podcast and don’t turn that heat up! You’ll notice the curd thicken as it cooks. To test if it's ready, dip a spoon into it and check the back of the spoon. It should be covered in a layer of curd that doesn't run off the spoon. If you wipe your finger through it, it will leave a clear trail.

Pour the curd through a sieve and then cover it with plastic wrap. Push the plastic down onto the surface to prevent a skin forming on the curd.

Put it in the fridge and it will thicken as it cools.

How to make blueberry buttercream

To make blueberry buttercream you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. Pour the blueberries in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Simmer over medium heat, breaking down the berries with a potato masher or a fork. When the blueberry liquid starts to thicken, it’s ready.

Use a spatula or spoon to push the berry mixture through a sieve. You only want the liquid puree, not the blueberry skins. Leave the blueberry puree to cool and make your buttercream.

This recipe uses my 4 Minute Buttercream and it's very simple to make. Mix together room temperature butter and powdered sugar or icing sugar until it’s smooth and then add vanilla.

Normally you’d add milk or cream to thin it out but not for this recipe. Instead, add the cooled blueberry puree a teaspoon at a time to flavour and colour the buttercream. Stop adding it when the consistency is easy to stir and your spatula leaves smooth trails in it. If you add too much liquid you’ll make the buttercream runny and it won’t hold its shape. Look at this gorgeous colour!

Put a large star tip like an 8B into a piping bag. Fill the bag about 3/4 full with the blueberry buttercream. I love the little flecks of berry in this! The reason for straining the puree to keep the skins out is that the skins will clog the piping tip.

To assemble your lemon and blueberry cake, pipe a dot of blueberry buttercream on the middle of a plate or cake board. Press your first lemon cake layer into that. This will hold it in place. Note: a turntable is useful but not essential for this recipe!

Pipe rosettes all around the outer edge of the cake, squeezing the piping bag to let the buttercream bulge out. Then pull up and away to make a peak on each rosette. Let the rosettes touch each other to form a wall around the edge of the cake and then spoon lemon curd into the middle. 

For naked cakes like this with piped filling, I like to leave a slight dome on each layer. Also, I flip the layers over for the second and third layer. That way, the middle of each cake layer rests on the filling below it but the edges are slightly raised. This leaves more of the pretty colour and texture of the piped filling visible.

Make sure each layer is centered so it’s directly above the precious layer. This ensures a straight cake that doesn't lean.

Top the cake with blueberries, which give you that burst of juice when you bite into fresh fruit. The piping and blueberries also help you cut your cake into equal portions by including one or two or three rosettes and blueberries in each slice.

Store the leftovers of this lemon and blueberry cake in an airtight container like a Tupperware in the fridge for a week. I’m confident it will all be eaten before then! The cake tastes best at room temperature so take it out of the fridge about two hours before you serve it.

Here's the recipe for a three-layer 6" Lemon Blueberry Cake. The same quantities will make four 4" cakes (also three layers each) or of course you can divide the recipe by 4 to make just one 4" cake. For a three-layer 8" cake you can double the recipe.

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You can also watch a video of this Lemon and Blueberry Cake recipe tutorial!