Strawberry Cake
This layered Strawberry Cake is soft, creamy, and packed full of fresh strawberries. A true melt in your mouth experience in every bite!
Ingredients
Strawberry Filling
- 800 g fresh strawberries tops chopped off, washed and dried
- 374 g water
- 95 g corn starch/flour
- 420 g granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tsp red food dye optional
Sponge Cake
- 225 g cake flour see notes
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 large eggs 55g each, room temperature and divided.
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 210 g caster sugar superfine, divided in half
- 40 g warm water just above room temp
- 14 g vanilla extract
Chantilly Cream
- 250 g heavy cream cold (see notes)
- 40 g powdered sugar sifted (see notes)
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract see notes
- 250 g mascarpone cold (see notes)
To Decorate
- 12 fresh strawberries cleaned and dried to decorate
- 250 g almond flakes toasted if you can get them
Instructions
Strawberry Filling
- Corn starch slurry - In a medium sized mixing bowl, add 1/2 the water (187g) and corn starch and use a whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Cook strawberries - Chop the strawberries into small pieces and add half to a large saucepan along with the sugar, water, lemon juice and salt. Set the other half aside for later. Stir continuously and bring to a boil on medium high heat. Then lower to medium heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Thicken mixture and cool - Add the corn starch mixture and stir through until the mixture turns glossy and thickens. Stir for another 2 minutes then turn the heat off and add the remaining strawberries. Stir through and transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool at room temperature. His mixture can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
Sponge cake
- Combine dry ingredients - To a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Make meringue - To a separate large bowl add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Use an electric hand beater to whisk until frothy. Slowly add 1/2 (105g) of the sugar while the mixer is on high speed. Once all the sugar has been added continue mixing for 90 seconds. The mixture will thicken and become glossy. Take care not to overwhip the mixture otherwise it will result in large air bubbles in your cake.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar - To a separate bowl, add the egg yolks, remaining sugar (105g), water, and vanilla extract and use your electric hand mixer to whip until pale, thickened, and creamy, about 5 minutes. The mixture should fall off in ribbons when you lift the beaters.
- Fold in dry ingredients - Sift 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the egg yolk mixture and use a spatula to fold through. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and fold through until no dry ingredients are showing. Take care not to overmix.
- Fold in meringue - Add half the meringue and gently fold through with a spatula. Then add the other half and repeat.
- Bake - Divide the mixture between the two cake 8-inch tins and bake in the middle rack of your oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once baked, allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before carefully running a knife around the sides to release them. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Trim the cakes - Use a cake lever or large serrated knife to trim each cake into 2, giving you 4 layers all up.
Chantilly Cream
- Prepare mascarpone cheese - Add the mascarpone to a large mixing bowl (glass or metal) and use a spatula to stir and break up as some brands can be firmer than others.
- Whip ingredients together - Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and use an electric hand mixer fitted with beaters or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip on medium high speed (not high speed) until you reach stiff peaks. This usually takes about 3 - 4 minutes to achieve. That you’re looking for is a smooth but stiff whipped cream, not one that appears split. If it does split or separate, unfortunately, you’ll need to start again. There’s no saving it.
Let’s build and decorate!
- Layer the cake - Add your first layer of cake to your serving plate and add about 1/4 cup of Chantilly cream. Fit the end of a piping bag with an open star tip and pipe a tube of Chantilly cream around the top of the cake. Add 1/4 of the strawberry mixture and spread evenly using a spoon. Then add the next layer of cake and repeat until all cake has been laid on.
- To decorate - For the top of the cake repeat this process. Cream and the remaining strawberry filling. Coat the sides of the cake with cream. You should have cream left over to pipe on top of the cake. Spread the cream around the sides of the cake as evenly as you can. Stick the almonds to the side of the cake.
- Finishing touches - To finish, pipe swirls of cream on top of the cake and add strawberries on top. You want to do this part no longer than 2 hours before you serve the cake as the strawberries will begin to look old.
Notes
Cake Flour - Cake flour is a low protein flour that is used to make desserts light and moist. You can use store bought which has a much finer flour consistency, or simply make your own with my simple recipe. Click here to get the recipe and learn all the tips and tricks.
Cream - make sure you use cream labelled heavy cream for this recipe. Whipping cream will work but won’t be as stiff as heavy cream. Low fat cream will not work.
Powdered sugar - I don’t like my cream too sweet, but if you like yours on the sweeter side you can use up to 1/2 cup. Make sure you sift it!
Mascarpone - is an Italian cheese that is similar in flavor to sour cream, but more creamy and less sour. Opt in for a better brand one as they tend to be thicker and make sure it’s cold straight out of the fridge! Use a spoon or spatula to mix the mascarpone cream a little before adding to the cream to ensure it’s not lumpy as some brands can be thicker than others.
Vanilla - I have a great recipe for Vanilla extract here on the blog which is alcohol based. It can be used for most recipes. However, I would advise against using it for whipped creams (yes, even stabilized ones like this one) or meringues as it can muck around with the air whipped in the mixtures. Instead use a syrup based vanilla extract. I find vanilla bean paste is best.
Storage - … can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Nutrition - is based on per slice. This cake makes 12 generous slices.
A note on measurements – This recipe uses weight measurements for the most accurate results. Cup measurements can vary depending on where you are, which affects the precision needed for a recipe like this. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales.
Nutrition
Calories:669kcal | Carbohydrates:75g | Protein:14g | Fat:32g | Saturated Fat:13g | Polyunsaturated Fat:4g | Monounsaturated Fat:10g | Trans Fat:0.003g | Cholesterol:169mg | Sodium:131mg | Potassium:415mg | Fiber:5g | Sugar:47g | Vitamin A:783IU | Vitamin C:51mg | Calcium:147mg | Iron:2mg
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