Snowy White Christmas Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Lightly grease and line two 20cm/8inch sponge tins.

Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder before setting aside. Cream together the butter and sugar before mixing in the flour mixture. Add the milk gradually to form a smooth batter. Fold in the vanilla bean paste.

Put the egg whites into a dry, clean bowl before whisking until they form stiff
peaks. Gently fold in the whisked egg whites into the batter, taking care to
retain as much air as possible.

Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 30 mins or until a cake skewer comes out clean. If the top of the cakes is starting to colour too much but the cake is not fully cooked try covering lightly with foil for a few minutes at the end of the cook time.

To make the buttercream beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar and the milk if necessary to loosen. Beat in the vanilla extract.

To make the frosted cranberries drop the cranberries in the egg white to coat
before rolling in the caster sugar until covered. Leave to dry on a lined
baking tray for around two hours at room temperature.

To assemble sandwich the cakes together with a layer of buttercream before using the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with frosted
cranberries or white fluffy marshmallows. For a glistening snow effect you can lightly spray the cake with edible pearl lustre for an all over shimmer.