Isn’t summer just the best of times? I love it as I love all the wonderful berries that are available –strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrants, and, not a berry but also one of my favourite foods, cherries.

I am lucky that my birthday is in June, when all of these are abundant from local harvests, giving them the extra sweetness and freshness that is so important for berries. I know berries are now available all year round, but I hate biting into a juicy red strawberry and it tastes of nothing. I prefer to wait until it is seasonal, and it has the full strawberry flavour.

This year I made myself a birthday cake that was bursting with berries and I liked it so much that I made it the following weekend again!

It is very simple, with no cake decorating required – it looks spectacular all by itself. Simply serve it with a dollop of Chantilly cream or a splash of quality custard (homemade or shop bought) and you are on to a winner.

Ingredients:

• 60g unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 120g sugar
• 100g flour
• about 3 punnets of washed mixed berries (see above). Chop strawberries in smaller pieces if they are too large.
• 2 packets of red Tortenguss (a cake glaze you can get in German speciality shops or online, for example here)
• 500ml cranberry juice
• 4 tablespoons of sugar

You also need a 25cm springform tin, greased with butter.

Preheat the oven to 180C – 160C if it is a fan oven – or gas mark 4.

Melt the butter over a gentle heat. Make sure it does not burn.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites in to two bowls.

Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk the mixture until is thick and creamy.

Sift the flour on to the egg/sugar mixture but don’t stir it in.

Pour the melted butter on top.

Whisk the egg white in the other bowl until stiff. (this works best if they are cold)

Mix around 1/3 of the egg white into the yolk mixture.

Add the rest of the egg white and fold it in carefully so it stays fluffy.

Pour the sponge mix into the greased cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for approx. 40 minutes.

Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely.

Once the cake is cool top the sponge with the prepared berries – right to the top.

Mix the Tortenguss with the sugar in a small pot, add the cranberry juice and bring to the boil whilst stirring.

Pour over the berries.

Leave to set for about an hour in the fridge.

Use a sharp knife to separate the cake from the tin before opening the springform tin, if you feel the Tortenguss is still too soft pop it back in the fridge for another 15 minutes or so.

And there you have it – my birthday cake, the glorious Summer Berries Galore Cake.