Mini cake with wild strawberries. With the arrival of spring, wild strawberries begin to appear. Fragrant and delicious, ideal for cakes, tartlets and mini cakes.
Today I want to propose the latter: usually presented with a shortcrust pastry base, but today I will present them with a sponge cake base, like real little cakes.
If you can’t find wild strawberries you can replace them with other fruit, but to prevent other fruit from oxidizing you should cover it with tortagel, while strawberries don’t need it. Traditional recipe and Thermomix.

Thought for you:

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium
Rest time: 30 Minutes
Preparation time: 1 Hour
Cooking time: 15 Minutes
Portions: 8
Cooking methods: Electric oven, Boiling
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

317.02 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 317.02 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 44.26 (g) of which sugars 31.39 (g)
Proteins 8.61 (g)
Fat 11.20 (g) of which saturated 2.05 (g)of which unsaturated 2.27 (g)
Fibers 0.61 (g)
Sodium 212.89 (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 sponge cake

4.2 oz granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (type 00)
6 tbsp potato starch
4 eggs (at room temperature)
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup pastry cream (see recipe)
2/3 cup heavy cream, 35% fat
2/3 cup water
3 tbsp granulated sugar (≈ 40 g (about 3 tbsp + 1 tsp))
3 tbsp rum (or of your choice)
14 oz wild strawberries
to taste powdered sugar (optional)

Mini cake with wild strawberries

Tools

Stand mixer – or Thermomix
Saucepan or Thermomix
Pan muffin tin (12 muffins)
Piping bag

Preparation: Mini cake with wild strawberries

For the sponge cake with a stand mixer

First of all preheat the oven to 320°F in static (conventional) mode
Break the eggs and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer and start whipping them with the whisk at moderate speed.
Split both vanilla beans, scrape out the seeds and add them to the eggs together with a pinch of salt. At this point, gradually add the sugar.
Continue whipping for about fifteen minutes, until the eggs have tripled in volume and you have obtained a fluid, creamy mixture.
Stop the mixer and place a sieve directly over the bowl. Sift the flour and the potato starch
and gently fold them into the mixture from the bottom up using a spatula, otherwise it will deflate.
When you have a homogeneous batter, butter and flour the 8 molds and pour 3 tablespoons of batter into each, leveling with the back of a spoon.
At this point bake the sponge cakes in a preheated conventional oven at 320°F on the lowest shelf for about 15 minutes.
Check that they are baked by inserting a toothpick: if it comes out completely dry you can remove them from the oven.
Then, let them cool completely
Prepare the pastry cream following this recipe, click here.
Meanwhile whip the cream and add it to the pastry cream which must be cold.
Add it one tablespoon at a time. You should obtain a soft, compact cream.
Attach the butterfly. Put the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla seeds into the Thermomix bowl and whip: 15 min. / 99°F / speed 4.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, sift the all-purpose flour and the potato starch. Remove the butterfly and transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
With a pastry spatula, gradually fold the sifted dry ingredients into the mixture with bottom-to-top movements.
Butter and flour the 8 molds and pour 3 tablespoons of batter into each, leveling with the back of a spoon.
.
Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes (338°F). Check doneness with a toothpick: if it is dry, the small sponge cakes are done.
In a saucepan
Heat the water with the sugar in a small saucepan, stirring; when it begins to boil, remove from heat and add the liqueur.
Let it cool before using.
With the Thermomix: put the water and sugar in the bowl 2 min 99°F speed 3.
Let it cool slightly then add the liqueur, 1 min. speed 2.
Prepare my pastry cream following my recipe, click here.
Whip the cream and add it to the pastry cream, which must be cold.
One tablespoon at a time. You should obtain a soft, compact cream.
Gently wash the wild strawberries and let them dry on paper towels
With a long knife, run it very close to the surface of the tray to obtain perfect sponge cake discs.
Then remove them very carefully and soak them with the syrup using a brush.
Fill the piping bag with cream and, starting from the outside, pipe a spiral of cream on each sponge cake.
At this point all that’s left is to cover the entire surface with wild strawberries and finish with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Here are the mini cakes with wild strawberries ready
I used the Tescoma Delicia Muffin Pan, Black, 12
click here to see it