HOLLYWOOD SPY'S GUESTPOST: CHRISTMAS MAGIC WITH DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE

Guys! I am so excited to have one of my most favorite people guest posting here today- my dear friend Dezzy! If you don't know him (and you really should!), head over to Hollywood Spy and say HI! Dez and I have been blogging friends for the past few years, and he has been my go to for all of my movie and t.v. news. While he is the king entertainment, he also has a talent for creating Ah-mazing cakes, and today he is going to share his scrumptious Strawberry Cake recipe with us all. Make sure you PIN IT, then hop over to Dezzy's for some more magic :)

DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE

Greetings, minions! The spy is taking over sweet sister Theresa's palace today, but do not despair, I do bring cakes with me :) And not any cake, but DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE to celebrate the upcoming holidays and also Theresa's birthday this week! So take a piece of cake and don't forget to visit HOLLYWOOD SPY's headquarters too for latest movie & TV news!

FOR THE SPONGE
3 cups of yoghurt (butter milk or sour cream work too)
2 cups sugar
2,5 cups flour
1 cup ground roasted hazelnuts
1 cup vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil)
vanilla, baking powder

HOW THE MAGIC WORKS:

 Mix sugar, vanilla with yoghurt and oil, then mix in flour, baking powder and hazelnuts. Pour the batter into a big baking pan and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 200*C. The sponge should be soft and moist, so do not overbake it, use the toothpick test. When the sponge cools down after baking, cut out a nice rectangular base for your cake. Finely crumble and mash the rest of the sponge left after cutting into a bowl and mix it with a few tbsp of strawberry jam to get a spreadable mixture.

FOR THE ICING
You can use just some whipped cream, or you can go Dezzy style and prepare some instant strawberry flavoured pudding (sweetened according to your taste with sugar) and mix it with the same amount of whipped cream after it cools down. 1 litre of pudding and 1/2 litre of whipped cream should be enough.

HOW THE MAGIC WORKS:

 Spread the jam mixture over the base sponge (it should be about finger thick), spread a bit of pudding cream over it and arrange fresh strawberries over that (I usually cut the strawberries into halves and when I feel a bit naughty (which is more often than not) I sprinkle them with some cherry brandy or strawberry liquor) and then spread the rest of the pudding cream over that layer. Decorate the cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

DEZZY'S EXTRA ADVICE  
If you want to, you can cut the sponge into two smaller rectangles and then you can have two sponge layers, two jam layers and two cream ones for a smaller cake.If you don't have strawberries you can use apricots and apricot jam, bananas (with mashed bananas in the jam part).