As a surprise for my birthday next week, my brother dropped off a sweet treat outside my door to set-off the socially distanced celebrations to come. Matthew had lovingly baked me a Summer Fruits cake, decorated with fresh blackberries, strawberries, and delicately piped white-chocolate musical notations including multiple quavers šµ and a treble clef š¼ .
A decadent treat for both the tastebuds and the eyes. I was so impressed with the detail and I couldnāt wait to try it. However, my mind was blown when I cut into it revealing vertical alternating layers of pale lemon sponge and tickled pink buttercream.
The surprise lifted my spirits and it tasted even better than it looked. The berry flavours kept the cake fresh and sweet and took me back to the warm, sun soaked days of August. I was so impressed and excited to learn about how it was constructed.
The recipe was inspired by Yotam Ottolenghiās Lemon and Blackcurrant Stripe Cake. You can find the recipe in his book
If you just want to try out this recipe, I found a breakdown on this website
My brother, Matt, said that the tip, that he thought made the biggest difference was ātraining the cakeā before assembly. This involved rolling the cake in a Swiss roll like manner and leaving it to rest in this shape, before cutting or adding any icing. The book advises to let the sponge cool for five minutes and then roll the cake whilst it is still warm using a kitchen towel to aid the rotations. A Super tip!
Matt also explained that it was best to be gentle with the egg whites, thereās not much rise so make it as flat and even as possible in the baking tin before baking.
Matt also used a pizza cutter to divide the sponge into three equal rectangles. This technique left no harsh lines and allowed for precise shapes.
I am in awe of this cake and Iām over the moon he made it for me. Iām not sure if there will be any slices left though for Wednesday as itās just too tasty to wait.
If you would like a musical treat next week. On Tuesday 10th November at 16:00 GMT you can tune into Georgeās online concert held at St Maryās Perivale. It will be available to watch on either Vimeo or YouTube via this link.
George will present a program of music by Chopin, Enescu, and Rachmaninoff. Watch as his fingers dance over the keys and provoke thoughtful moments.
Happy Birthday in advance. What a lovely cake, Charlotte. Thanks for the helpful advice on baking it but….well it is better left to the people who know what they are doing with baked goods. š
Thank you John, weāll be having takeout to celebrate I think :). Matthew is working his way through cook books we got him for his birthday in August, heās making all sorts from croissants for the first time to bread and now a cake.
Best wishes
Charlotte
How “sweet”. Have a wonderful birthday.
It was sweet, he is working from his home through the week so heās fortunate his job can carry on.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What a great (and yummy) surprise! Have a wonderfully Happy Birthday š
Thanks Cheryl, heās been experimenting I think the Great British Bake Off is inspiring him.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Your brother is very talented. I remember David making me a red panda cake for one of my birthdays. I was like you in awe š x Happy birthday fro Wednesday x
I was quite impressed he managed to roll the cake up like that, heās been enjoying the Bake Off so I think that is encouraging him to branch out. When his workplace was open they would have a bake off and he used to love entering it and coming up with crazy cakes. I think it would have been nice as a chocolate cake too.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Oh, yum! And happy birthday!
Thank you, Karen, Mattās inspired by the British Bake Off that is on tv at the moment.
Best wishes to you both,
Charlotte
Your birthday cake is a work of art – if only we could share it!!
Hope your birthday is as sweet as your handsome brother!! Happy Birthday, Charlotte!
Iām glad I took a photograph of it now. It was a really nice tasting sponge not too sweet but far too much cake for me and George Iāll have to up my exercise for a couple of weeks. George got us a takeaway sushi because weāre still in lockdown for a special it was treat delicious.
Best wishes
Charlotte
That is an amazing cake! Happy birthday next week, Charlotte!
Thanks Deb I had a nice day, I thought the cake would be too sweet but it was really nice.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Birthday Charlotte and what a wonderful family you have!
Thank you Cindy I am very grateful for them.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Birthday, Charlotte. Your brother is a keeper.
Thank you, Don. Both brothers have always been very supportive, Tom used to come to all the festival competitions to cheer me on and he was like a mini Simon Cowell giving me feedback š.
Best wishes
Charlotte
That’s amazing. Looks really nice. Happy Birthday xxxxx
It was lovely, thanks Shehanne I had a lovely day.
Best wishes
Charlotte
That cake looks amazing, I bet it tastes as good as it looks as well. Happy Birthday for next week Charlotte. šš°
Thank you I had a lovely birthday the cake was a super treat.
Best wishes
Charlotte
My goodness
What a terrific surprise! Great way to begin the celebrations, which I hope only increase as your special day arrives! Happy Birthday to you and MANY more!
Any excuse to make a birthday into a birth week-long celebration š. I am very grateful for my lovely brothers. Tom sent me some beautiful clothes he and his fiance had ordered online and luckily, after eating all that Cake, Matt & Alex had wrapped some exercise equipment Iād wanted for my home pilates class.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Birthday!! What a beautiful cake!
Thank you, Katy, an extra four hours exercise now required š.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Fantastic, Charlotte! Happy Birthday!!! Beautiful cake, handsome brothers, handsome George, and beautiful and talented birthday girl! Cheers!!!
Thank you Fabio for your super message.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I bet you had treble not slicing into that cake of note early! You were most likely quavering with anticipation… or is that semi-quaver? lol – We call them eighth notes and sixteenth notes here, but never mind, the cake looks delicious! An early happy birthday!
This message makes me smile every time I read it, excellent. Thank you Trent.
Best wishes
Charlotte
And your comment made me grin from ear to ear š Glad you like my silliness.
Wishing you a happy upcoming birthday, Charlotte. That is a very beautiful gift cake from your brother!
Thank you, Lavinia, I had a lovely birthday. Delicious cake.
Best wishes
Charlotte
That is sweet. Happy Birthday. Another fantastic lead photo.
It was taken by our booked wedding photographer Lloyd Dobbie. I kept the practice session booked because I felt terrible just cancelling and whether we practice now or a month before the actual wedding we get the same result, seeing what we liked and didnāt.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Looks delicious! How talented is your brother! Itās a great feeling when beloved people taking care of us especially when it comes from our family. The three of you are looking wonderful!!!
Then men in my family are all excellent chefs, my great grandfather was head cook in a hospital, my grandfather was head chef in the merchant navy and then ran his own kitchens, my Dad is a super cook, and he has passed that on to my brothers.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Birthday ! The cake look great… Yum!
Thank you very much, delicious cake.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Charlotte, that looks amazing.
Well done Matt, Iām sure it tastes as good as it looks.
Have a lovely birthday š with love and best wishes.xx
I wish I could have saved you both a slice, if we get out of lockdown for Christmas weāll have to have another practice, perhaps chocolate flavoured sponge this time.
Best wishes always
Charlotte x
Happy Birthday, dear Charlotte! Wow, what a cake! Worthy of the British Bake-off. I hope it was as wonderful to taste as to look at – and that I could have a slice!
Matt is really inspired by the British Bake Off he loves the show. It was delicious.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thank goodness I looked at this post before George’s concert tomorrow! The cake is astonishing and my mouth is actually watering at the sight of it! Happy birthday ā Wednesday?
Thank you Hilary, I had a lovely birthday George ordered a takeaway sushi to do something different very tasty. Matt did a good job I keep trying to persuade him to apply for the British Bake Off.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy birthday Charlotte! What a wonderful surprise!
Thank you, Angela, yes it was delicious.
Best wishes
Charlotte
From one November birthday to another, Happy Birthday, Charlotte!.
Andrea, my former wife, has Nov 17 as her birthday. Laurie, my current wife, hers is Nov 21. And, mine is Nov 26. We celebrate all three birthdays as the “Day of Days.” This year, the celebration date is Nov 17.
So, who’s in charge? You or one of your brothers? My guess is you’re the ringleader. š š
Iām 11/11. Clever to all celebrate together in friendship. I like to come up with crazy ideas but my older brother is definitely the planner and organiser, my younger brother usually falls in with us both but heās stubborn if he doesnāt want to do something he wonāt hehe. I miss him now heās up in Scotland.
Long as George can handle birthday dinner menu in the kitchen, right? LOL š
Just watched/listened to George’s spellbinding concert! Lovely programme and Enescu’s Carillion was magical and so moving. George’s introductory remarks gave an extra dimension to the playing and we loved the way he picked his words so carefully and so descriptively.
It was a lovely concert, the Enescu is one of his favourite pieces. I will pass your message on to him, he will be pleased his English is so good now but public speaking is nerve wracking in any language.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Looks delicious. I wonder with the treble clef reigning supreme this could have had the double entendres of a Halloween cake.
Later, Ms. Treble Clef
Hehe. I loved it that Matt had gone to the trouble of piping musical notes š.
My best wishes to you
Charlotte x
Wow! Cake looks delicious. But then Matt always bakes lovely cakesš¤š„°
Well he learnt from a cream cake specialist Gill, can you remember when we got carried away that summer and baked so many we hadnāt thought of who was going to eat them all.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Many happy returns of the day, as you Brits say… š
What day in November? Our eldest daughter is from the 17th.
šš»
11.11. š„³
āļø,
13!
Sincerely,
āļø
Itās your birthday today? If so Happy Birthday š„³
Yes, thank you. Happy B-day and B-month to you as well – š„³
šš
Easy to remember. So your birthday is always a bank holiday? And “coquelicots” are your favourite flower? š
Just looked up the date in the comments. Today? Joyeux anniversaire chĆØre amie…
I didnāt realise my birthday was a bank holiday in France. Super! That is true the poppy is my favourite and is the nickname my Dad gave me. I even put peach silk poppies in my bridal bouquet.
Best wishes
Charlotte
It is “Memorial Day” for us. The end of WWI. The day my grandafther and his only two surviving brothers must have said: “It’s over!”
Best to you, “Coquelicot”. š
What a relief for everyone that must have been. Merci Ć bientĆ“t š
Nice! have a good one next week šš„šš
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Ooops, my bad. I see it has already been. So I hope you had a good one!
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Thank you Graham I had a super birthday š thank you for your lovely message.
Best wishes
Charlotte
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That is such a gorgeous cake and looks absolutely delicious. Too pretty to eat, but I would! Happy belated Birthday dear Charlotte! Wishing you so much success and of course hoping we will soon be able to get back out there in the world. Meanwhile, thank you for making life a bit more fun and bearable! <3
Thank you, my lovely Holly, is it nearly your birthday? I am chomping on the bit to get out but Iām keeping busy learning songs that I have never had the free time to do before.
Best wishes
Charlotte
What a beautiful cake! I’m so glad you had a happy birthday!
Thank you, Andrea, it was a delicious cake and I had a lovely birthday in the circumstances, George ordered takeaway sushi a tasty treat.
Best wishes
Charlotte
A splendid cake
Thank you Derrick it wasnāt too sweet, just right. Far too much of course I will have to jog some more š.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy belated birthday, Charlotte! And WHAT A TREAT this cake – was it as tasty as it looked too? I guess it was. Hope you are having a great week and wishing you a lovely weekend.
Thank you Leya, I had a lovely day and I enjoyed the cake not too sweet saying it had so much buttercream.
Best wishes
Charlotte
ā„
Oh my, my, my!
Wow! I’ve never known anyone who can make a cake like that. I’ve bought such gorgeous cakes, but as for someone making me one, not.
Matt is amazing! Your brothers are wonderful, and I’m sure you miss them.
I’ll have to design an Art Gown for Lala, based on this gorgeous cake inspiration!
Happy Birthday to you, and happy every day to you!
Resa x š o
Thomas called me Lala when he was a baby š it makes me smile whenever you write it. Matt couldnāt get any blackberries so he was disappointed at first but I prefer strawberries and pink anyway š. Thank you for your lovely birthday wishes.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Ahh!
It’s a beautiful thing! š X
Okay, I’ve done my commitments, and I am on our post full time.
I’m putting the watermarks on my sketches & will send you a message via T, tomorrow.
Have a Happy and safe birthday š š š¤ This year most of birthdays felt different, but at least we had them, while others can’t count them anymore. This is not a sad comment, don’t judge me, this is a grateful one that we made it so far eventhough the circumstances ā„ļø
And yes, the cake looks amazingly delicious š š
No, I agree, we must be grateful we are getting through this extremely unusual period. Touch wood I havenāt lost anyone to it but I worry for my grandparents and them being isolated.
Best wishes
Charlotte
A Happy belated Birthday, Charlotte! And what loving siblings you have. Sorry I missed the actual date, but I trust one’s birthday actually last for one year until the next. So, have a wonderful year, despite all that’s happening in our world today. I just read online that your balcony concerts have more than a million views. That’s just marvellous!
O I might not be late, I thought it was on the day of your post. So much the better. Happy Birthday Charlotte! And that cake looks heavenly, I’m sure it tastes just the same. š
I donāt mind celebrating a birthday all week Arti š. Thank you for your lovely messages.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy belated birthday! Best wishes, Charlotte… and for a great year ahead! ā„ļø
Thank you Iris š yes letās keep optimistic.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Yes, we must Charlotte. š
Charlotte, You are a gift from G-d to all of us! Thanks so much! And the very best in your Life! PS: A warm hello to George!
You are too kind my friend Fabio. All my best to you I will pass on your hello.
Best wishes
Charlotte x
A belated happy birthday, Charlotte. What a skillful brother you have! I would never have the courage to attempt such a feat!
Thank you Clare š. Matt has always loved cooking and being adventurous with his ingredients and construction. Me, I tend to stick with fish and chicken and plain food.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Happy Birthday Charlotte. Have a great year ahead, as lovely as the wonderful cake š
Happy Birthday, Charlotte.
My daughter is an aspiring musician and you really are an inspiration!
Thank you, give my best wishes to your daughter, what is her name and what style does she like to sing?
Charlotte š
Belated best wishes. Lovely summer fruit cake.
That is such a creative and delicious looking cake, your brother seems extremely talented and you seem to be one lucky girl Charlotte. Happy birthday, have a great yearā£ļø