The Berkshire Bakesmith’s Unicorn Cake of Dreams Recipe

Ingredients – The Sponge Cakes

• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp milk
• 250 g baking margarine
• 250 g caster sugar
• 255 g wheat and gluten free self-raising flour
• 1tsp xanthan gum
• 1½ tsp gluten free baking powder
• Ingredients – The Filling
• 80 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250 g icing sugar
• 25ml whole milk
• Vanilla extract
• Good quality jam

Method – The Sponge Cakes

Grease and base line two 8” round cake tins.

Preheat your oven to 195°c/175°c fan/Gas 5.

Using an electric mixer, beat the baking margarine and caster sugar together until it forms a creamy mixture.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again, scraping the mixture from the sides of the bowl using a spatula halfway through, and beat using the electric mixer until everything is well combined.

Fold in the flour, xanthan gum and baking powder using a metal spoon, making sure that everything is mixed. It is best not to use an electric mixer for this part as you run the risk of knocking the air out of the mixture which may cause your cakes not to rise.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins, using your spoon or spatula to smooth the mixture out.

Bake in the centre of your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or when a metal skewer inserted into your cakes comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Method – The Filling

Beat the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer until the mixture starts to come together. Beat slowly at first otherwise you and your kitchen will be covered in a cloud of icing sugar dust!

Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. 5 minutes might seem like a long time, but trust me, the creaminess of the buttercream is worth the wait!

Spread a generous layer of jam onto one of your cooled cakes and the buttercream, onto the other cake and sandwich together.

Your delicious gluten free vanilla sponge cake is no ready to decorate as you please, or just enjoy as it is!

Please note: To create the unicorn cake, I used 4 layers of sponge cake and double the amount of buttercream filling. To do this, simply double the recipe and divide the mixture between 4 tins instead of 2!

This recipe was adapted from a gluten, wheat and dairy free recipe I tried several years ago from a book entitled Cake Angels by Julia Thomas. It is by the far the best gluten free vanilla sponge cake recipe I have baked, and I have tried a few different adaptations of various recipes!