Ingredients
1 Dr. Oetker Bicarbonate of Soda sachet
400g plain flour
2 Dr. Oetker Baking Powder sachets
3 ripe bananas, mashed
225g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
250g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs, lightly beaten
5ml Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract
150g strawberries, hulled & roughly chopped
700ml double cream
50g Dr. Oetker Bright and Bold Mix
25g Dr. Oetker Extra Dark 70% Chocolate Chunks
25g hazelnuts, chopped & toasted
30g cherries (6 cherries maraschino or fresh)
130ml milk
40g icing sugar
Method
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Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 2 x 18cm cake tins and double line the bases and sides with baking parchment
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Heat the milk in a pan until hot (but not boiling) then stir in the bicarbonate of soda, leave to cool. Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl and leave aside
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Beat the butter and caster sugar until creamy and pale. Gradually beat in the eggs (add a little of the flour if it looks like it might curdle)
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Add the vanilla extract then fold in three quarters of the flour. Fold in the milk mixture and banana in two additions, followed by the remaining flour
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Divide between the two cake tins, flatten the top and put in the lower shelf in the oven, bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle remove from the tins to a wire rack to cool completely
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Blend the strawberries in the food processor until smooth, press through a sieve to get the juice and discard the pulp in the sieve
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Cut the sponges in half lengthways. Whisk 300ml cream and half of the icing sugar with the strawberry juice until just softly peaking. Whisk the remaining cream in a separate bowl until just thick enough to spread
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Set one of the sponges on a serving plate, spread with a third of the strawberry cream with a spatula, top with another sponge and repeat with the remaining sponges leaving the top plain
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Cover the top and loosely cover the sides with the plain whipped cream (reserving around 5 tbsp to pipe the swirls on top). Sprinkle the 100s and 1000s around the bottom edges of the cake
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Put the remaining whipped cream in a small piping bag fitted with a medium open star nozzle and pipe around 12 swirls along the top edge, leaving a little space between each one
- Put the chocolate chunks in a bowl with the remaining 75ml cream and microwave for a few seconds to melt the chocolate then mix until smooth. Allow to cool slightly then spoon or pipe into the spaces between the cream swirls to create drips down the sides. Sprinkle the chopped nuts on top and set the cherries into alternate cream swirls. Leave somewhere cool to set for 30 minutes
