Fake Bakes archive note — September 2026: This recipe was created in 2022 using Tesco products and prices available at the time. Retailer ranges, pack sizes, promotions and prices change, so the shopping list below is a historical snapshot rather than a current stock or price guide. Check current product labels for ingredients and allergens before buying or serving anything. Browse the Fake Bakes hub for the series.
Fake Bakes are supermarket-cake decorating hacks; for made-to-order character, hobby and illusion designs, browse our novelty cakes.
Looking for a finished strawberry birthday cake? See our Strawberries & Cream Cake, made to order and hand-delivered across London and Surrey.
Pink cakes run the world. TikTok knows it. My bakery knows it. And when X-Ray decided to ‘make me a Mother’s Day cake’ (translation: I did all the work), I knew it had to be pink. And, obviously, ridiculous.
X-Ray said he’d bake me a Mother’s Day cake. Which obviously meant I did it. But hey, at least it’s pink. Off to Tesco. I had one mission: find a strawberry cake. What I found? A budget crisis. So I improvised. I put the delicious-sounding Strawberries and White Chocolate cakes back on the shelf and picked up two of the budget Raspberry sponges instead.
But hey, I got a strawberry Swiss roll and the prettiest pink coloured Hershey's Strawberries & Cream chocolate bars. So we could still have a pink strawberry-ish & cream cake.
Turns out, nobody cared that I swapped strawberry for raspberry. This cake climbed the Fake Bake leaderboard at the time, hot on the heels of PB&J and Choc Orange.
Fake Bake Recipe - Strawberries & Cream
Ingredients
2x Ready-made Raspberry Sponge Cakes (5" or 6" size)
1 tub (400g) of ready-made Strawberry flavour frosting
Strawberry Swiss roll
2x Hersheys Strawberries & Cream chocolate bars
Pink wafers
Pink & Gold Sprinkle mix
Method
1. Prepare the cake decorating station with a cake turntable, angled palette knife, cake scraper, a cake board, a tablespoon, a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle, a knife and a spatula.
2. Unbox the cakes. Smear a dollop of frosting in the middle of the cake board on the turntable, and then place one of the layer cakes on the board. Decant the frosting into a bowl and whip or stir to loosen and lighten it. Smooth a strawberry frosting layer on top of the cake with an angled palette knife.
3. Stack the second layer cake on top. Pipe the frosting around the cake and on top. Smooth the top of the cake, then chill and set.
4. Run a cake scraper along the sides of the cake to smooth. Place in the fridge to chill and set.
5. In the original 2022 batch I melted one and a half Strawberries & Cream chocolate bars and loosened them with 2–4 teaspoons of warm water. That historic shortcut is not a validated general ratio and current chocolate formulations can change. For a repeatable drip, use a tested method such as our white-chocolate ganache drip guide, checking that the chocolate you use is suitable for the method.
6. Decorate the base of the cake with sprinkles.
7. Slice the Swiss rolls. Decorate them with your prepared drip and sprinkles.
8. Test the prepared drip on the chilled cake first, then spoon it carefully around the edge once you are happy with the consistency.
9. Fit a piping bag with a small star nozzle tip and fill with the remaining frosting. Pipe swirls over the top of the cake.
10. Place the Swiss roll slices on top, then finish with pink wafers and sprinkles.
The Swiss roll move? A huge gamble. Could’ve flopped. Instead? It slayed. There was no way that looked like the £1 Tesco find it was at the time.
CBA to make this? Browse our current pink birthday cakes, or go straight for the Pink Sweetheart cake.
Lots of love,
Reshmi xoxo
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