For the cake:

• ¾ Cup of milk (regular or dairy free)
• ½ Cup of oil or melted butter
• ¼ Cup of lemon juice
• 1 Cup of strawberries (fresh or defrosted)

For the icing:

• 1½ tablespoons of lemon juice to make a glaze
• OR
• 150g (1 ⅓ sticks) of butter (regular or dairy free) to make a buttercream

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C / 330°F fan bake and press the non-stick liner into an 8" / 20cm round cake pan (the liner is intentionally oversized so you will end up with The Caker's signature ripples in the sides of the cake).

2. In a bowl, combine the Poppy Seed Cake Mix with ¾ cup of milk and ½ cup of oil or melted butter.

3. Once combined, add ¼ cup of lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon and mix until smooth. Don't overmix.

4. Pour some of the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread it out to the sides, then evenly place 1 cup of strawberry pieces into the batter.

5. Pour the remaining batter over the fruit and spread to the sides again.

6. Bake the cake for around 40-50 minutes. Every oven is different, so keep an eye on the cake as it bakes, it will be ready when it is golden and a knife comes out clean.

7. Once baked, allow the cake to sit for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn it out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool in the fridge.

8. TO MAKE A GLAZE: In a small bowl combine the Icing Mix with 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and mix by hand until smooth. TO MAKE A BUTTERCREAM: Using an electric mixer, beat the Icing Mix with 150g = 1½ sticks of butter on high speed until smooth and fluffy.

9. Once the cake is completely cool, spread the icing onto the cake and sprinkle over the Strawberry Decorations, crushing some pieces. Top with fresh edible flowers if desired.

Note: the texture of your cake is absolutely intentional - welcome to the world of cakes that are moist, super fudgey and bursting with flavor! Best served at room temperature, or very slightly warmed.

This cake is super easy to make - even kids can make it! The main things to remember when making it are:

• preheat your oven!
• don’t mix the batter too much (especially if you are using an electric mixer)
• make sure your cake is properly cool before you ice it or the icing will run right off the cake
• cut strawberries into quarters so they bake through nicely

Using an 8” (20cm) pan is really important, otherwise your cake might be too tall and be difficult to cook through, or too flat and resemble a pancake. I’ve sourced a cake pan, which is the perfect dimensions and thickness to ensure your cake bakes perfectly so be sure to add it to your cart before you check out.

Always use a light, neutral tasting oil in your cakes such as light olive oil.

We would recommend using unsalted butter, as there is already salt in the cake mix. In saying this, salted butter will work fine if that is all you have at home.

Feel free to use any unsweetened milk you like! Some dairy free alternatives that work well are nut milks, oat milk and soy milk. Coconut milk can also be used, but is very high in fat (which can affect the cake), I would suggest combining equal parts coconut milk and water and then measuring for your recipe.

You can cube up 2-3 small ripe pears and dot them into the batter in the exact same way as described on the recipe card, like in the video above! You end up with a Pear Poppy Seed and Strawberry cake - how good does that sound?

I highly recommend you try using 2-3 sliced up peaches, apricots or plums. 1 cup of raspberries or blueberries would work wonderfully as well.

A fun alteration is to simply mix the contents of the glaze sachet with 8oz (230g) of mascarpone, crème fraîche, or thick unsweetened coconut yogurt instead of lemon juice. The result is a pale pink, cloud like situation, which is just absolutely glorious!

Your batter should be thick as opposed to runny.

When incorporating your wet and dry ingredients together be sure to use a gentle folding motion and stop as soon as your cake batter has come together. Any stirring after this point would be classed as overmixing. Overmixing your cake develops the gluten in your batter, giving it an unpleasant, doughy mouth feel.

Your cake is ready when a sharp knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. The reason we recommend checking cakes regularly after the halfway point is that you want to catch the cake at the moment it is baked to perfection, especially considering a cake will continue to cook for a few minutes after it has been removed from the oven. Your cake should rise slightly and have a flat, matte surface.

Your cake should be tender, dense and bordering on brownie-like. My cakes all have a sumptuous, close-crumb texture due to the high amount of ground almonds in the recipe!

Your glaze should be thick yet soft enough to spread. If your glaze is not spreadable, you can add extra liquid ¼ tsp at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. If your glaze is too runny, you can add extra icing sugar 1 tsp at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.

Because the rate of evaporation is faster at high altitude, cakes often require more liquid and longer bake times so you should favor an overpour instead of an underpour of all liquid ingredients and don't be alarmed if your cake takes longer than the prescribed bake time. Also, the lighter air at high altitude allows cake batter to expand more and faster, often making it necessary to increase the oven temperature by 25° and to use a larger baking pan if you have one.

You can make about 8 minicakes (large single serve cupcakes) or 30 babycakes (small 1-2 bite cupcakes) with this kit (just remember to reduce the bake time to 20-25 minutes). Here’s how…

1. Prepare your cake batter according to the recipe card provided.

2. Line a mini or babycake tray with enough cupcake papers for either size (babycakes are around 3.5cm diameter on their base, minicakes are around 6cm in diameter).

3. Fill each cupcake paper with your cake batter using a teaspoon. For babycakes make sure each paper is filled about 1-2mm below the top line, for minicakes, fill the papers about ⅔ full.

4. Evenly dot a small 2cm chunk of strawberry into each babycake or a couple of strawberry halves into each minicake making sure you press them right into the batter. If using frozen strawberries, make sure you thaw them and drain the liquid off first!

5. Bake for around 20-30 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Every oven is different, so you may need to bake your babycakes for a shorter or longer time - keep an eye on them as they bake!

6. Allow your cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in their tray, then take each out to cool on a cooling rack.

7. Prepare your icing as per the instructions on the recipe card.

8. Check that your cupcakes are completely cool, then, using a teaspoon, spread a small amount of glaze over each cake, enough to cover the top. If your glaze is looking a little runny, get your cupcakes into the fridge as soon as possible and leave for 15 minutes to allow the glaze to set.

9. Using dry hands, sprinkle your Strawberry Decorations over your babycakes. Add fresh flowers for an extra Caker touch if desired.

To make your mini 3-tiered cake you will be using two Caker cake kits and simply doubling the wet ingredients instructed. 1 cup of milk per the instructions becomes 2 cups of milk, ½ a cup of oil becomes 1 cup and so on.

SOME HANDY TIPS

• You will need a big bowl for all the batter as well as 1x 8”, 1x 6” and 1x 4” cake tins.
• Don’t forget to preheat the oven (180C/350F), this is such an important step.
• For the largest pan, you need to use one of the parchment paper circles from the kits, the other two are provided with the pans (if you haven’t purchased my Mini Tiered Cake Bundle you will need to cut your own - trimming one from your second kit is nice and easy).
• Prepare your batters in a single bowl according to the recipe card, remembering to use double the wet ingredients stated.
• Once the cake batter is ready, the most important thing to get right is the amount of batter per pan such that all the cakes will come out with proportional heights. You want about 1” (2.5cm) of batter in the 2 larger pans and ½” (just over 1cm) in the smallest pan (add your fruit last if your kit requires it). If you add too much batter, just take some out with a spoon.
• When the cakes go into the oven, set a timer for 20 minutes because that’s around the time that the 4” cake will be done. At 30 minutes the 6” cake should be done. At 45-50 minutes the 8” cake should be done.
• If you want to make a buttercream, take both glaze sachets and use an electric mixer to combine them with 300g butter (regular or vegan) until super light, fluffy and smooth. If you’re making a Flourless Dark Chocolate tiered cake, my ganache recipe can be found here.
• When assembling the cake, apply about half of the glaze/buttercream/ganache onto the centre of the largest cake and work your way slowly to the edges. I like to spin the cake at the same time as I spread the glaze/buttercream, but just do whatever feels comfortable. Make sure the middle layer is nice and centred before applying the glaze/buttercream - you’ll want to use just over half of what’s left for this layer, and the rest on the third layer.
• You won’t need all of the freeze-dried fruit decorations, so use what’s left for another occasion! Add Fresh Flowers for an extra Caker touch if desired.