Heart Cake with Strawberries. With cream and strawberries, it’s a delicious dessert, very easy to prepare and impressive!
A soft and scrumptious dessert.
Perfect to offer to the people we love the most, a romantic gesture.
For Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or an anniversary.
I made it with a soft sponge cake base, decorating it with custard and whipped cream, pure delight!
A sweet way to say I Love You!
It’s a very simple preparation.
The sponge cake is enriched and filled with layers of custard and then finished with lots of whipped cream and fresh strawberries. A simple and delicate taste
The recipe itself is very simple and requires few ingredients: in this version, we’ll use potato starch to make everything softer and more stable during cooking.
It only requires the use of a bowl and electric beaters, or a stand mixer.
The secret is to beat the eggs with the sugar for at least 15/20 minutes to obtain a light and very fluffy mixture.
Another crucial step is the flour, which should be sifted and gently incorporated with a spatula using delicate movements from the bottom upwards, being very careful not to deflate the mixture.
Dairy-free: perfect to enjoy with powdered sugar or a simple jam filling.
The result is a very fresh and tasty dessert, that everyone will love.
The cream and strawberry cake is perfect.
I strongly recommend using only strictly fresh ingredients for your cream, a synonym of quality for the preparation you want to achieve. So, use fresh eggs, fresh milk.
Moreover, the fresh fruit cake is covered with cream and leveled well, then the fruit is laid on the surface and brushed with spray gelatin, to prevent it from browning.
The result is an interesting play of flavors and textures that surprises with every bite!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10/12
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 458.65 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 62.24 (g) of which sugars 42.84 (g)
- Proteins 9.33 (g)
- Fat 20.42 (g) of which saturated 2.57 (g)of which unsaturated 2.49 (g)
- Fibers 1.44 (g)
- Sodium 128.74 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 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 for the Heart Cake
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 4 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)
- 2 eggs (whole)
- 1 lemon (organic zest)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3.5 oz water
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon limoncello (or rum)
- 1 lb strawberries
- 2 cups fresh whipping cream (already sweetened)
- 1 spray gelatin
- as needed blueberries
Tools
- Molds
- Stand Mixer
- Food Scales
- Parchment Papers
- Spatulas
- Sieve
- Saucepan
- Whisk
Steps for Heart Cake with Strawberries
Pour the milk into a saucepan, then bring it to a boil with the whole lemon zest, being careful to only take the yellow part.
(I used lemon zest, but a vanilla pod or a tablespoon of vanilla extract is also fine).
In a separate saucepan, beat the eggs with the sugar. (whole eggs, both yolk and white).
Then add the flour, mix with the whisk to remove any lumps.
(If you want, you can replace the flour with cornstarch).
Temper the mixture with a bit of milk poured in a thin stream, being careful to use a strainer to prevent lemon peel from getting into the cream. After adding all the milk, put it back on moderate heat.
Put it back on the heat and keep stirring, you will see that the custard thickens in a few seconds.
Turn off the heat and cover the quick custard with cling film in contact.
Before using it, let it cool very well.
(A tip, make it much earlier, organize yourself hours before so once cold you can keep it in the fridge).
First, prepare the heart mold, it should be buttered and lightly floured, preheat the oven to 356°F. Static mode.
Put the whole eggs in the bowl (the eggs must be at room temperature).
Add the sugar and a pinch of salt (vanilla flavoring if desired).
Start the beaters and whip the mixture.
The mixture must be fluffy and soft.
(To achieve this result, the beaters must whip for 10/15 minutes.)
Gently add the flour and potato starch and a pinch of baking powder, previously sifted.
Mix with the spatula from the bottom to the top.
Pour the obtained mixture into the buttered and floured mold.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 30/35 minutes (or in a fan oven, at 320°F for about 30-35 minutes), until the surface of the sponge cake is golden (if it tends to darken too much, cover the cake pan with a parchment paper and a sheet of aluminum foil).
(Always do the toothpick test, avoiding completely pulling the cake out of the oven)
Wait for it to cool before removing it from the base.
Meanwhile, prepare the non-alcoholic syrup for the cake.
In a saucepan, put the water, granulated sugar, and the whole zest of 1 untreated (organic) lemon.
Turn on the heat to medium-low and let it boil for about 15 minutes, until you get a syrup.
After this time, remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool completely.
(If you want an alcoholic base, add it at the end with the heat off).
Cut the sponge cake to the same height.
Whip the cream, halfway through add the sugar and continue to whip until it is nice and firm, but be careful not to exceed the density and turn it into butter.
Soak the sponge cake with the syrup, put a few tablespoons of cream in the heart’s center, edges with whipped cream tufts, then strawberries as in the photo.
Cover with the remaining heart-shaped disc.
Cover the whole cake with cream using a spatula to level the entire surface.
With the pastry bag, make little roses and finally decorate with strawberries and mint leaves.
Store in the refrigerator.
Enjoy your meal.
Tips
I recommend whipping the cream very cold and using a very cold bowl as well. Start using the beaters at a low speed and increase it gradually as the cream thickens.
The finished dessert should be kept in the fridge.
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