Strawberry & Fennel Seed Cakes with Roasted Strawberry Buttercream

A seasonal recipe for early Summer and another chance to get involved in my exciting new writing project 🍰

Hooray for strawberry season! I tasted my first of the year this last week, and oh are they always worth the wait. I think one of the best things about living truly seasonally is the way that it makes you really appreciate these little things - strawberries grown thousands of miles away eaten in December are a world away (sometimes literally) from the freshest, Scottish seasonal berries in Summer. If you live locally, I thoroughly recommend Seahills Farm for the best berries I’ve ever tasted - they are grown on clifftops near Arbroath in a Site of Special Scientific Interest that acts as something of a microclimate, making them consistently sweet and fresh. Alternatively, for less flavourful strawbs I find that roasting them can bring out their best, adding depth and complex sweetness. Here, I use roasted strawberries to flavour buttercream, which sits on top of fennel seed-infused strawberry cakes - the hint of aniseed flavour pairs perfectly with the fresh fruit inside.

In today’s post there’s also another chance for members of the paid community to get involved in a very exciting writing project I’ve been working on and shape it from the start. Read on for some behind the scenes info…