Name: This vintage-inpired cake decorating method screams ‘Let them eat cake!’
Prep time: 75 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 10-12
Ingredients: 2 x 600g choc mud cakes; 125g punnet raspberries; 6 red ribbon bows, to decorate; Swiss Meringue Buttercream; 200ml egg whites (about 6 eggs); 1 2/3 cups caster sugar; 500g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature; Filling; 150ml thickened cream; 2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture; 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste; 1/2 x 125g punnet fresh raspberries, tor

The piping on this oh-so-glam cake might look fancy, but it’s actually just one nozzle with a few different patterns. Clever! Fresh raspberries bring effortless panache to the top, and cute-as bows make it feel extra special.

The best part is, this cake may look fancy from the outside, but on the inside, it’s just a store-bought mud cake!

Traditional Lambeth piping

This cake uses the Lambeth method of piping. This method is inspired by Baroque architecture and involves using piping nozzles to ‘over-pipe’ and create intricate designs with your buttercream. Lambeth piping usually includes shell borders, delicate stringwork and more intricate designs. This cake style has become popular in the 2020’s with reference to Marie Antoinette and maximalism.

Ingredients

2 x 600g choc mud cakes

125g punnet raspberries

6 red ribbon bows, to decorate

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

200ml egg whites (about 6 eggs)

1 2/3 cups caster sugar

500g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature

Filling

150ml thickened cream

2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1/2 x 125g punnet fresh raspberries, tor

Method

Step 1

To make Swiss meringue buttercream, combine egg whites and caster sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Sit bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the temperature reaches 71°C on a candy thermometer. Remove bowl from heat.

Step 2

Pour into a large bowl of an electric mixer and beat, using the whisk attachment, on medium-high speed until cooled (about 10–12 minutes). Add butter (see tips) and beat until combined. Swap to the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for 2 minutes or until smooth (this helps to remove any air bubbles).

Step 3

Remove lining paper from mud cakes. Place one cake on a 20cm round cake board. Place ¹/₂cup buttercream in a piping bag and snip tip, about 3cm from end of piping bag. Pipe around the cake’s outer edge to make a border.

Step 4

To make the filling, beat cream, icing sugar mixture and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Fold in the torn raspberries.

Step 5

Spread filling in the centre of the cake. Invert remaining mudcake on top, gently pressing down so it’s even and level. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 6

Spread 2 cups of the remaining buttercream over the top and side of cake. Use a cake scraper or palette knife to ensure a smooth finish.

Step 7

Place remaining buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a 7mm star nozzle. Starting from the top of the cake, pipe small star shapes in a vertical line to the bottom. Repeat at 9cm intervals, to make six vertical lines all the way around the cake.

Step 8

Pipe two buttercream drapes, evenly spaced, between each vertical line (as pictured).

Step 9

Pipe a shell border around the top edge of the cake by squeezing to build a mound of buttercream, then gradually releasing pressure as you pull away to form a tapered tail. Repeat, overlapping each shell slightly with the previous one.

Step 10

Arrange raspberries over the top of the cake, inside the shell border. Decorate with bows, as pictured. Remove bows before serving.

white cake with rasberrys on top and red ribbons on a white cake stand with a purple velvet backdrop

Recipe developer Mel Burge Recipe developer

Senior food editor Sarah Murphy Senior food editor

Sarah Murphy is a Senior Food Editor who has worked across leading Australian food magazines since 2010. She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Advertising and Public Relations) and has contributed to magazines including delicious., The Australian Women’s Weekly Food, Super Food Ideas and Woman’s Day. Sarah has also worked across multiple cookbooks for delicious. magazine and The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbooks. Currently, Sarah is the Senior Food Editor for Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and oversees all food content, creating and developing achievable recipes for readers that still excite and impress.