Baking with GBBO’s Briony Williams

Briony Williams – a semi-finalist on 2018’s Great British Bake Off – shows us how to make a Limoncello and Poppy Seed cake on her YouTube channel, Briony May Bakes.

Briony’s channel has attracted over 2000 subscribers and is described as ‘fun baking tutorials for the novice and seasoned baker!’

We stopped in to watch a tutorial of a cake she decorated with our very own edible flowers.

The recipes Briony posts are fun and simple to follow, so will be sure to get anyone excited for baking.

Complimenting the edible flowers, Briony said  ‘aren’t they beautiful? So pretty.‘ But we believe its where you use the flowers that really sets them off – and Briony did just that! Decorating her iced sponge in a ‘waterfall’ of edible flowers, her cake looked both elegant and delicious. Briony was working with our edible flower selection wheel, and chose snap dragons, tiny tagetes, violas, fennel flowers, and amaranth pom poms to decorate her cake.

As for the sponge recipe, Briony kept it simple, using a classic Victoria Sponge recipe and adding lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds.

The buttercream icing was also just as easy to follow. Using a classic recipe of unsalted butter and icing sugar, Briony added limoncello to give the icing a kick.

Follow Briony May Bakes on YouTube here, alternatively, follow her recipe below.

Briony’s Limoncello and Poppy Seed Cake, decorated with edible flowers.

Ingredients –

Sponge:

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

250g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 medium eggs

2 tbsp milk (whole or semi-skimmed)

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

Dash of lemon juice

1 tbsp poppy seeds

Buttercream:

250g unsalted butter, softened

500g icing sugar

2-3 tbsp limoncello

Method:

1. Oven on to 180°C/fan 170°C. Line 2 x 6 inch cake tins with butter and baking parchment.
2. Butter into stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale. Add sugar and beat until well combined.
3. Break eggs into bowl, add milk and whisk together.
4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into another bowl.
5. Switch to paddle attachment. Add half the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Add half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Repeat. Add a dash of lemon juice and a tablespoon of poppy seeds. Mix briefly to combine.
6. Divide batter into tins. Smooth. Bake in middle of oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and skewer comes out clean.
7. Cool in tins for 10 minutes. Tip onto cooling racks. Leave to cool.
8. To make buttercream, place butter into stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat until fluffy and pale. Sift icing sugar into bowl. Add half the sugar to butter, beat until combined and smooth. Repeat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of limoncello. Beat to combine.
9. Use bread knife or cake leveller to make each sponge flat and level.
10. Put one layer on your serving plate. Pipe or spread on buttercream. Put other sponge on top. Spread icing over the top of cake and around the sides. Use a cake scraper or palette knife to get even sides.
11. Decorate the sides and top with edible flowers.