Thumbs Up Volume 31 | Page 37

Preparing the Cake:

Grease your 3 cake pans and line them with baking paper, preheat the oven to 175C/350F.

In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and 350g of the sugar until it is pale and fluffy.

Add the 4 egg yolks one at a time, then add the vanilla extract.

Slowly sift in the flour, baking powder and salt , mix, and then slowly add the milk.

In a separate bowl add the egg whites and whisk them until fluffy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whisk until peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 100g of sugar until the peaks stiffen.

Gently fold the egg whites into the cake mixture.

Pour the mixture evenly among the 3 prepared cake tins then bake in the oven for around 25 minutes.

Once cooked, leave to cool and then store in the fridge while you prepare the frosting.

Making the Pink Icing:

Beat the butter in a bowl until light, then add the natural yoghurt and vanilla.

Gently stir in the cream cheese, being careful not to over mix as this will thin the frosting making it runny.

Gradually add the icing sugar bit by bit, adding more as you need it - to thicken or sweeten the icing.

Add the red food colouring, then put the icing in the fridge to chill.

Constructing the Cake:

If needed, even out your cake layers carefully so they’re as flat and smooth as possible.

Ice the bottom layer, being careful not to go over the edges, place the next layer on top and continue the process until you have a stack of 3 cake layers.

Set aside about 3 tablespoons of icing and cover the cake in the remaining icing - this does not have to be neat.

Imagining the top of the cake as a clock, place the strawberries (with their stalks trimmed), pointed end up at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.

Put the last bits of icing into an icing bag/pipe, using a large nozzle, pipe drops of icing between each of the strawberries around the cake.

Garnish with the green candles and a sprinkling of coconut.