Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160° fan assisted/gas 4. Line the bottoms of three 20cm (8inch) round cake tins with parchment paper. Grease the sides of the tins with butter then dust with flour
2. For the sponge, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and creamy
3. Add the eggs 2 at a time, adding the vanilla with the last 2 eggs. Beat for about 2-3 minutes with each addition making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between
4. Add the flour and mix just until there is no dry flour visible in the batter
5. Divide batter equally between the prepared baking tins then smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cakes come out clean, about 20-25 minutes
6. Remove from oven and leave to cool in baking tins on cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then turn sponges out of tins and leave to cool completely
7. For the buttercream, mash the raspberries well in a small bowl with a fork. Set a small fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and pass the mashed raspberries through the sieve. You need a total of 4 tbsp sieved raspberry juice. Discard the pulp left in the sieve.
8. In a medium sized bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add the icing sugar, raspberry juice, vanilla and salt then beat slowly until ingredients are incorporated, then increase speed and beat until frosting is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go (If you find that the buttercream is too thick, beat in 1-2 tbsp milk to loosen it)
9. To assemble, set aside 6-8 strawberries for decorating, then cut the remaining into thick slices
10. Place a sponge on a serving plate then evenly spread about 1/3 cup of buttercream over the top of the sponge. Arrange sliced strawberry slices on the buttercream, pressing them in lightly
11. Place the second sponge on top and spread with buttercream and strawberry slices, then finally place the last sponge on top.
12. Use the rest of the buttercream to cover the cake, start with the top making the buttercream smooth and even, then use whatever’s left to cover the sides, this doesn’t need to be neatly done.
13. To achieve the naked-cake look, use a pastry scraper to remove excess frosting from the sides of the cake so that the sponge shows through in places.
14. Finally, decorate with whole and halved strawberries, raspberries and fresh edible flowers.