A delicious Heart-Shaped Cake with Cream and Strawberries to celebrate occasions like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. An indispensable item for this recipe is a heart-shaped springform pan. Start with a sponge cake tall enough to cut into 3 layers, a Maraschino soak that makes the cake moist and fragrant, and a cream made with mascarpone, whipping cream, and dark chocolate. Strawberries decorate the cake, and to me, they are perfect for the themed decoration. Try making this dessert by following the steps and perhaps adding your own touch.
Other Recipes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 10People
- Cooking methods: Bain-marie, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day
- Energy 571.53 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 59.34 (g) of which sugars 36.46 (g)
- Proteins 8.10 (g)
- Fat 36.23 (g) of which saturated 15.15 (g)of which unsaturated 2.71 (g)
- Fibers 2.12 (g)
- Sodium 102.85 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 146 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 5 eggs (medium)
- 7/8 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup potato starch
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp maraschino
- 17 1/2 oz mascarpone
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3 1/2 oz 70% dark chocolate
- 10 1/2 oz strawberries
Tools
- Springform pan heart-shaped
- Kitchen scale
- 2 Bowls
- Electric whisk
- Chopper
- Parchment paper
- Soaking bottle
Steps
Preheat the oven to 350°F in static mode and prepare the pan (heart-shaped springform) greased and floured or lined with parchment paper.
Pour the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and beat them in a bain-marie (over open flame) until the mixture reaches 104°F. Remove from the heat, add the seeds from the vanilla bean and transfer to a stand mixer, beating at maximum speed for 20 minutes. When the batter falls from the whisk forming a ribbon, it is ready. At this point, add the sifted flour and potato starch and gently mix with a spatula from bottom to top so as not to deflate the mixture.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the middle rack for 30 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes with the oven door ajar. Take it out and let it cool. Remove it from the springform pan and place it on a wire rack to allow moisture to escape. Prepared the day before, it is better suited to be cut and filled. With a serrated knife, cut a thin part of the surface and all around it and pass it through the chopper to use as decoration for the edge. Cut the sponge cake into 3 discs.
Prepare the cream. In a large bowl, pour the cold mascarpone from the fridge and make it creamy using electric whisks, add the well-whipped cold cream, continuing to mix with the whisks. Separately, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and once cooled, add it to the cream incorporating it well, always using the whisks. Put the obtained cream in a piping bag with a star nozzle.
Prepare the syrup by dissolving water and sugar in a saucepan over the heat, off the heat add the maraschino and once cold pour the syrup into a soaking bottle.
Assemble. Place one heart on the serving plate, moisten it with syrup, make a layer of cream, cover with the second heart, pour the syrup and add another layer of cream. Place the last heart, moisten it, and even out the surface and edge with the cream, spreading it well with a spatula. Cover with cream rosettes alternated with strawberries. All around the edge, make the chopped sponge cake adhere, pressing with your hand to make it stick well. Keep in the fridge until serving time.
Storage
The Heart-Shaped Cake with Cream and Strawberries, once finished, should be stored in the refrigerator closed in a cake container or lightly covered with cling film.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
How to get a soft and tall sponge cake?
Use room temperature eggs and beat them well so that no baking powder is needed
How many days in advance can you prepare a sponge cake?
You can prepare it 2 days in advance and once cool, keep it wrapped in cling film.
