Eton Mess Poke Cake

This tastes like all the kids parties from youth. Which is nice.

Done in 6 hours

Dish by Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

What you'll need:

x 2Betty Crocker vanilla sponge cake mix

85g strawberry jelly

400mlboiling water

600mldouble cream

100gicing sugar

250gstrawberries, quartered

50gcaster sugar

4meringues, shop bought

This is nostalgia fusion - poke cakes (cakes poked and then filled with jelly) and Eton Mess. American meets Britain, falls in love, they have a baby, it's a cake!

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Make the two boxes of cake mixture according to the instructions on the packet and pour them into a deep greased and lined rectangular baking tray. Bake for around 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave until completely cool.

Whisk the jelly with around half a pint of boiling water until the jelly has completely dissolved. Allow to cool until almost set.

Use a wooden spoon to poke (hence the name) a whole bunch of holes into the cake, almost all the way to the bottom. Pour the jelly into these holes, cover and chill for around 4 hours.

Whisk the cream with the icing sugar until it forms stiff peaks.

Toss the strawberries with the sugar.

Crush the meringues with your hands like a G.

Use these ingredients to decorate the cooled cake - whipped cream first, then strawberries, then broken meringue. Serve straight away.

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Hugh Woodward

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Hugh's culinary life began aged 14 when he cooked spaghetti hoop burritos to impress girls. Since then his colourful career has taken him to performing in Skegness, making cheese in Peckham, running a wine bar on Columbia Road and reluctantly working in a (briefly) Michelin Starred restaurant. He likes fish, things cooked on charcoal, cheap dinners and London's rich cultural tapestry of food shops. When he's not cooking or eating he can be found mudlarking by the river Thames, buying bits in flea markets and hanging out with his cat Keith.