Strawberry Shortcake

This Strawberry Shortcake was baked specially for dear son's 2nd birthday celebration (with closed family members). At first I couldn't decide what to do, to bake or just buy one? And if I were to bake, what flavour? Should I attempt something new or stick to something I've baked before - chocolate cake, strawberry hearts, tofu cheesecake, orange chiffon???

After thinking long and hard, I've decided to take a risk and attempt for the very first time, a Strawberry Shortcake! Well, if I fail I could always go buy another cake last minute :p Why Strawberry Shortcake? It's one of the most popular cake flavours, not too heavy on the palate, Korean strawberries are in season and dear son loves strawberries! In fact, I've long wanted to make one so now's the perfect opportunity.

After browsing several books, decided to use Chef Daniel Tay's recipe from his "Just Desserts" recipe book. Had also attended his class on "Strawberries" before and he demo-ed the same recipe from his book. But frankly speaking I forgot the details of what he went through already. Haha. So I just went ahead with the steps in the book along with some scribbled tips in the notes.

There are a few parts to this cake, first the Genoise Sponge, then the Chantilly Cream and finally assembly and frosting.

The steps of making the genoise sponge were pretty straightforward but the crux was in the folding of the batter to ensure that it would reach a flowing and shiny consistency, which would determine the texture of the cake. The chantilly cream was also pretty easy. But the nightmare came during the assembly and frosting.

Somehow I just couldn't smoothen the sides of the cake :( The cake ring didn't help much, after easing the cake out of the ring, the sides were still uneven. I took a whole hour to frost the cake, filling, smoothing and re-doing again. *sigh* From the photos, the sides of the cake were visible :(
Later on, I got a tip from a Japanese bakery book, that is to apply a thin coat of cream all over the cake, chill till slightly firm, then apply the cream proper. Next time I shall try it.

I baked the cake in an 8" square pan and trimmed about 1.5-2" off as my cake ring is 8" and also I wanted to taste-test the genoise sponge first. If it turned out too dry and coarse, I may abandon the cake altogether. Verdict, somehow I felt that my genoise sponge was not fine and moist enough, probably I didn't fold the batter well enough but hubby said it would be balanced once eaten with the chantilly cream. So I slathered some chantilly cream on the trimmed cake and true enough, the cake when combined with cream turned out alright! My hubby is a genius!

Still, I was all jittery at how the whole cake would turn out during the celebration. Luckily all went well and my family members were quite impressed with the cake even :p Best of all, dear son loved the cake, especially the chantilly cream and strawberries.

Very glad that my first attempt on a Strawberry Shortcake was encouraging. I shall attempt a round one next time, maybe it'll be easier to frost? Haha.

Strawberry Shortcake (makes one 20cm/8" cake)

• 1 kg Strawberries, cleaned, hulled and sliced

Genoise Sponge

• 110g Egg yolks (about 6-7 eggs)
• 175g Eggs (about 3-4 eggs)
• 170g Caster sugar
• 110g Light cake flour, sifted (I use Nissen Violet Flour)
• 55g Unsalted butter, melted

Chantilly Cream

• 1 L Whipping cream
• 100g Caster sugar
• 100g Mascarpone cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius, conventional mode.
2. Prepare genoise sponge. Combine egg yolks, eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk on high speed for 10 minutes. Reduce to medium speed and whisk for another 10 minutes or until fine air bubbles form.
3. Lightly fold in flour, followed by melted butter, until fully incorporated.
4. Pour batter into a lined 20cm (8-in) round/square cake tin. Level batter with a spatula and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top of cake is firm to touch. Remove from heat and leave aside to cool.
5. Unmould cake and remove paper. Peel skin off top of cake and discard. If not using immediately, cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Genoise sponge can keep for up to 6 weeks, frozen and 3 days, refrigerated.
6. Prepare chantilly cream. Combine cream, sugar and mascarpone cheese in a mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed for 3 minutes. Increase to high speed and continue to whisk until light and smooth. Set aside.

Cake Assembly

1. Horizontally slice genoise sponge into 2 equal layers. Place one layer on a cake board and place a 22.5cm (9-in) cake ring over. Spoon half of chantilly cream over and around sides of the sponge layer and level with an angle palette knife. Arrange some strawberries on top of cream and then place second sponge layer over. Spoon remaining cream over and around sides of cake and level again. Refrigerate cake until slight firm.
2. Gently ease cake ring from cake and remove. Coat side of cake with ground almonds, if desired. Decorate cake as desired and serve chilled.