Happy Cake

As long-time readers may remember, I only moved to Cambridgeshire just over a year ago. I didn't know anyone in my local area and had to make friends from scratch. Luckily, my workplace was full of friendly people in my age group, so I quickly built up a circle of friends.

[Sidebar: how does one make new friends as an adult, apart from at work? In a world that is increasingly unsociable unless communication involves an app, where can I find the group of kooky friends that countless sitcoms have led me to believe I will have as an adult? I live in a hopeless area where, for example, fitness classes for the under-65s/non-pregnant don't exist, so I can't even use those as social avenues. All responses to be written on a postcard.]

Lately, however, there has been a mass exodus at work: people moving on to new jobs, new locations or just taking time out to travel. Though I'm very happy for everyone who has left, this means my local friendship circle has taken a bit of a hit. A lot of the people I knew and hung out with outside of work have moved on, and I'm feeling a bit lonely.

I don't like to sulk or mope around, so to cheer myself up I have made this cake to brighten my day. With a whisky scented funfetti (sprinkle-filled) sponge that has been soaked in strawberry jelly and topped with White Chocolate Cloud Icing (plus more sprinkles), I dare you to not be made happy when you look at this cake. If looking it doesn't make you happy, eating it certainly will.

I reckon this would not only make a good "cheer up" cake, but also a good celebration cake. Anything with sprinkles instantly spells out "celebration" to me. You could also change the jelly flavour as you please, and the whisky can either be swapped for your favourite spirit or left out entirely.

I will advise that sprinkles can be hit and miss in cake, dependent on brand. From experience I can tell you that the colour in Tesco and Morrisons own brand sprinkles degrades in the oven (i.e. disappears); Dr Oetker is normally a safe option. For any other brand, your guess is as good as mine. Try using sprinkles from two different brands in the cake just in case. Maybe use different shapes so you can see which ones work? 

We're now verging on getting too technical, so I'll hurry up and give you the recipe:

Ingredients

For the cake (inspired by Cakeyboi)

• 200g Butter
• 200g Caster Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• Excessive Amount Of Sprinkles [see note above]
• 200g Plain Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 50mL Whisky
• 100mL Milk
• Strawberry Jelly (Jello) Packet

For the White Chocolate Cloud Icing (adapted from Sweetapolita)

• 230g Butter
• 190g Icing Sugar
• 125g White Chocolate

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan; line two cake tins with baking parchment.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the batter is smooth.
• Stir the sprinkles into the batter.
• Sieve the flour and baking powder into the batter, then fold in until well combined.
• Fold in the whisky and milk, ensuring that the batter has a soft dropping consistency.
• Divide the mixture between the cake tins, then bake in the oven for 22 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Make up the jelly according to the manufacturer's instructions and allow to cool. Note that you might not need all of the jelly - I had about 250mL left over so made myself a cup of jelly.
• When the cake has had about 20 mins to cool, use the handle end of a spoon (or other piece of cutlery) to poke holes in the cake.
• Pour the jelly mixture over the cake a little at a time until as much as possible has been absorbed.
• Cover the cakes with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
• Make the icing by first melting the white chocolate in the microwave, using 30 second bursts until smooth.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the butter and icing sugar together until well incorporated, then whisk for a further 2 mins.
• Add the melted chocolate, then whisk the buttercream for another 2 minutes.
• Decorate the cake as desired.