The World Tea Party with Strawberry Ganache Cake

This weekend we paid a visit to Scaddows Farm for our annual tradition of strawberry picking. One of the best things about growing up and being an adult is setting your own traditions, and this is one of my favourites.

Saturday mornings are made for strawberry picking 🍓💕#country

A photo posted by Becki Explorer (@theexplorerblog) on Jul 2, 2016 at 4:26am PDT

Little in life beats wandering through a field of fruit in the sunshine searching for the biggest, juiciest strawberry you can find. This weekend the weather was little more erratic and saw Mr M leaving me at the weighing point as he ran to the car in torrential downpour which spontaneously erupted from the sky onto his summer shirt (I was wearing a coat with a hood so took one for the team). 

Once I'd weighed and paid I headed back to the car with drenched shoe, soaked jeans and a smile on my face; nothing makes me happier than a punnet bursting at the seams with freshly picked British strawberries!

As usual - and I'm pretty certain this is Pick Your Own law - we picked far more than two people are ever going to eat, which gave me a good excuse to get in the kitchen and get my bake on.

This year I made the decision that whatever I did with the fruit it had to be more than just putting it into something or using it as a topping. Delicious though it is I need to start challenging myself in the bake department so I opted for trying something entirely new. 

Inspired by the great Lily Vanilli - if you don't follow this baker and you're into baking you must check her out! - I went down the route of natural flavouring and colouring; Strawberry ripple cake with strawberry ganache. 

"Natural" baking is a trend that has fascinated me for a while but I've only just built up the courage to have a go. Lily Vanilli is a great source of inspiration with her approach being natural with a flair. I've always wanted to make my cherries metallic!

This cake is perfect material for a tea party, so spurred on by the increasing flour clouds, cake batter dribbles and sticky strawberry juice that had boiled over the pan (sorry Mr M!) what better than a it of biscuit baking?

In honour of SPANA's World Tea Party day on 9th July (this Saturday) I opted to utilise their fabulous donkey and camel shaped cutters. 

Aren't they just adorable? Although I do feel kind of bad eating a donkey.....

SPANA (Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad) is holding a tea party this weekend to raise awareness for animals that by tradition work. They provide support for the animals owners to make sure that the camels, donkeys, horses, even elephants, are all cared for properly and that their welfare is looked after. You can find out more about the Tea Party over on their website.

It's a great excuse to get in the kitchen and have a knees up with the family. 

Animal welfare has a huge place in my heart so I'm dedicating this cake-turned-tea-party to them. This Saturday, if you're having a cup of tea or a slice of cake and you decide to instagram it think about adding #worldteaparty to your post if you want to support the cause.

Recipe

Sponge

250g butter

250g caster sugar

5 eggs

250g self raising flour

1 teaspoons baking powder
2 tbsp strawberry jam

Pre heat your oven to 180°.

Cream together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs one at a time with a spoon full of flour each time and whisk until light and fluffy.

Combine the baking powder and the flour then add to the mix, gently fold in until mixed.
Add in the jam and gently ripple through the sponge mix.

Bake until golden brown and springy to the touch.

Strawberry Ganache

300g white chocolate

200g strawberry puree

Heat your strawberry puree up in a pan until it bubbles gently at the edges.
Pour your hot puree over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is fully melted.
Allow to cool then pop in the fridge until it's set enough to cover the cake. 

*This is not a sponsored post. SPANA kindly sent me these cutters after I had agreed to help them spread the word about their campaign. I was not asked to write a blog post about this but chose to do so myself as it is a charity that I believe in.