Union Flag Celebration Cake

I made this cake in 2022 when we celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. We had a street party and enjoyed some yummy food and a bit of fizz with our neighbours. The sun was shining and it was an absolutely glorious day.

I’m not sure what we’re doing for the King’s Coronation yet – I don’t know about you, but I’m just not feeling it. The past year has been harder than ever for my community and it just feels a bit off to be spending so much money on all this pageantry. Nevertheless, it’s a moment in history and we’ll certainly be doing something to mark it.

I’ll be making another one of these cakes for sure and if you’d like to make one, here’s how

You will need *These amounts are for one layer, if you’d prefer two layers, simply double the recipe

110g Margerine

110 gCaster sugar

110g Self raising flour

2 Eggs

Vanilla extract

Splash of milk

To decorate

100g Margerine

200g Icing sugar

Vanilla extract

Splash of milk

Strawberries

Blueberries

Edible flowers

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c / 300f / gas4
Grease and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Whisk the margerine until it pales in colour
Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk again
Add the eggs and whisk again!
Add the flour and fold in to the mixture
Add a little milk and fold again
Spoon in to the baking sheet and gently push in to the corners. It should be a thin layer
Tap to ensure that the mixture is level
Bake until golden – approximately 15 mins
Allow to cool completely before removing from the tray
Rinse the berries and allow then to dry while you make the frosting
To make the buttercream frosting, whisk the margerine until it pales
Add the icing sugar a few spoonfuls at a time and whisk, whisk, whisk. You need to whisk for longer than you might think
Add vanilla extract and a splash of milk and whisk again
Spoon in to a piping bag and pipe little stars/flowers all over the cake. If you’re having two layers then pipe on one layer, place the second cake on top and repeat
Slice the larger strawberries in half and use to create a cross
Slice smaller strawberries to make a second, diagonal cross
Use the blue berries to fill in triangles creating the Union Flag
Add a few edible flowers to make it look extra pretty