Guy Sebastian is an Australasian icon with a career that’s nothing short of extraordinary.

From winning the first season of Australian Idol back in 2003, to carving out a place on the charts, to mentoring new talent as a coach on The Voice Australia – he's been in the spotlight for over two decades.

And now he’s embarking on a new chapter with the release of his tenth album ‘One Hundred Times Around The Sun’.

The album has taken Sebastian nearly five years to make, a much longer period than the typical six months to two years most artists these days create them in.

He told Jack Tame that in the early stages of his career, he felt pressure to create quickly.

“Don’t take longer than a year,” Sebastian explained. “Or you’ll disappear into obscurity.”

“Then there’s like, the pressure of doing the right thing by the fans, y’know, you don’t wanna make them wait too long.”

It’s a mentality that used to govern much of Sebastian’s process, but one that he’s managed to grow beyond.

“I just got to this point where like, I don’t want to release anything until I’m stoked with it,” he told Tame.

“I wanna love every song. I don’t want a filler on there, I want every song to be great.”

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If you ever need to produce a celebration cake, this is it!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Sponge cake

• 130g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2⅓ cups self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup milk

To decorate 

• 1/3 cup raspberry jam, warmed slightly
• 1 ½ cup icing sugar
• 30g butter, softened
• ½ cup raspberries (fresh or frozen, defrosted)
• 3-5 tablespoons, boiling water
• 1 ½ cups coconut thread
• 300mls cream, whipped with one tbsp icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C fan bake. Grease two 20cm round cake tins and dust with flour.
2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until well beaten. Stir in the flour and salt then the milk and mix until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
3. Divide the batter between the cake tins, one third in one and two thirds in another. Bake for 25 minutes or until they spring back when gently pressed. The thicker one will likely need 5-7 minutes more cooking time. Leave to cool for 12-15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut tops off each sponge to level them if necessary, then split the thicker one into two layers.
4. Mix icing sugar, butter and half of the boiling water. Press the raspberries through a sieve to collect the juice and add this to the icing. Aim for a smooth, runny icing, adding more water or icing sugar as needed. Pour out onto a shallow dinner plate. Sprinkle coconut onto another dinner plate.
5. Roll the sides of each cake layer in the icing to get the cake sides evenly coated, then roll in the coconut to cover.
6. To assemble, place one sponge layer on a serving plate. Spread with jam, then dollop on whipped cream. Top with second sponge layer and repeat with jam and cream. Top with the final sponge layer. Spread the top with icing then sprinkle over coconut.
7. Chill for 30 minutes before ready to serve.
8. Use a serrated knife to cut and enjoy!

Nici’s note:

Feel free to use two store-bought sponges if you want to save time.

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Ed McKnight has been working in personal finance for a fair few years and although he typically tries to be encouraging when giving advice, he does have some more brutal truths to tell.

He joined Jack Tame to offer up the three brutally honest pieces of money advice that most Kiwis will need to hear.

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