The strawberries and cream cake is a stunning dessert perfect for celebrating an important event: a classic combination for a cake that’s good, with a delicate flavor and beautiful to “savor” with the eyes. My mom prepared the strawberries and cream cake, and I wanted to photograph it to share the recipe with you. But at my mom’s house, I don’t have my props, my plates, my backdrops, I don’t have the light that is in my home room where I usually shoot, and I don’t even have my camera; I’m making do with my phone. That’s why you won’t see the whole cake. The photos are not as I would have liked. And they are not as I would have taken them in my workspace at home. So you’ll have to make do with the slice.
Not to be missed
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Moderate
- Preparation time: 3 Hours
- Portions: 10People
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable whipping cream
- 1 1/2 lbs strawberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 glass water
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsps sugar
- 1/4 cup rum (or other liquor to taste)
- to taste strawberry juice
Tools
- 1 Stand Mixer Kitchen Aid Artisan
- 1 Pan 24 cm
- 1 Knife for cake with spacers
- 1 Chopping Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Squeeze Bottle
- 1 Dough Scraper
- 1 Spatula and spoon
- 1 Piping Bag
- 1 Star Tip 1M or 2D
- 1 Brush kitchen
Steps
Grease the pan and line it with parchment paper: for the bottom, cut a sheet of parchment paper the same diameter as the cake pan and place it inside, adhering well. For the side, cut a strip of parchment paper as long as the circumference of the pan and slightly higher than the edge, position it, and adhere perfectly.
In the stand mixer bowl, beat the eggs with sugar for at least 20 minutes (working the eggs and sugar for a long time incorporates air: necessary for the cake to rise without the packet and to be soft and spongy) to obtain a fluffy mixture that “writes.” It’s said to “write” when a bit of the mixture dripped on top stays on the surface like a writing. If it doesn’t write, it means it needs more beating. Add the flour through a sieve, a little at a time, and gently combine with a wooden spoon using upward movements to avoid deflating the mixture. Pour it into the pan and bake in a preheated ventilated oven at 320°F for 35/40 minutes. Check the cooking with the skewer test and if baked, leave the sponge cake in the turned-off oven, semi-open for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven, take it out of the pan, and let it cool completely. Once cool, cut it into three layers.
Wash the strawberries, remove the stem, and cut them into pieces. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, the half glass of water, and mix. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator.
In a saucepan, heat the water with sugar until well dissolved then turn off the heat and let cool. Add the rum and strawberry juice.
Pour the cream into the stand mixer bowl and whip until firm and stiff.
Place the first sponge cake layer on a serving plate and soak it with the prepared syrup. Cover with whipped cream and top with strawberries. Place the second sponge cake layer and repeat the sequence: soak, cover first with cream, and then with strawberries. Finish with the last sponge cake layer, soak it with syrup, and cover the cake with cream both on top and all around. Use a kitchen brush to create streaks on the surface. Transfer some whipped cream into the piping bag with tip 1M or 2D and create small peaks all around the edge. Let the cake rest in the fridge until serving time.
