Strawberry & Cream

I recently made this for my wife on her birthday :)

Its consists of a genoise sponge, diplomat cream (recipe in my earlier post), soaking syrup, fresh strawberries for layering and garnishing. Get creative and use other fruits if you like so.

Prepares one 8 Inch cake

Ingredients for the genoise sponge

Eggs 200gm (Approximately 4)

Caster sugar 114gm

Lime zest 1

Plain flour 100gm

Corn flour 24gm

Vanilla extract 10gm

Salt 2gm

Butter 20gm

Trimoline/Honey 14gm

For the soaking syrup

Sugar 50gm

water 400gm

Fresh Strawberry 4-5 pieces

(For layering and finishing)

Creme diplomat 800-1000gm

Fresh strawberries 10-12

Chop 6-8 strawberries and place aside for the filling and reserve the rest for garnishing

Method:

For the soaking syrup

1. Combine the water, sugar and strawberries in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.

2. Allow it to cool and blitz it to obtain a smooth syrup, you may add a little bit of water to adjust the consistency while pureeing.

3. Place aside.

I have used the strawberries in the syrup as they add to the flavour of the cake.

For the Genoise sponge

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees centiragde.

2. Combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and whip until light and fluffy.

3. Melt the butter separately in a microwave safe bowl and combine the honey and place aside.

4. Combine the zest,dry ingredients in a separate bowl, gradually start folding the dry ingredients into the egg mix in 2-3 intervals.

5. Lastly fold the melted butter-honey mix, ensuring the contents at the bottom of the bowl are mixed well.

6.Pour the batter into an oiled and greased cake tin.

7. Bake it for 25-30 minutes until the knife comes out clean.

8. Cool the sponge completely, preferably make it the previous day and layer it the next day.

For the Diplomat cream:

1.Its best to make the crème pâtissière the previous day, the next day whip equal quantity of fresh cream to still peaks.

2. Soften the crème pâtissière gently with a spatula and fold in the whipped cream.

3. Store it in the refrigerator until use.

Layering the cake:

Make sure that all the above components are ready and handy before you start assembling the cake.

1. Slice the cake with the help of a serrated bread knife cutting it through turning the cake to ensure even slicing from all sides.

2. You could just slice them into two or even slice them twice to get three layers of sponge.

In this recipe, technically you will have three layers of sponge and two layers of filling.

3. It is difficult the lift the cake once filled, so I built the cake in the serving platter itself.

4. Place one of the sponge on the serving platter, with the help of a brush generously dredge the sponge with the soaking syrup covering every corner of the sponge. Wait for a few seconds for it to absorb and continue if needed.

5.Add a dollop of cream diplomat and flatten it with a spatula, sprinkle some chopped strawberries over.

6. Place the second layer of sponge over the first layer and gently press to flatten out the filling and repeat the same process again.

7. Place the third layer of sponge and gently press. Soak the third layer of sponge with the syrup.

8. You can cover the sides of the cake with the diplomat at this stage.

Naked cake is a modern trend, not to completely finish the cakes from the sides.

9. You may want to set it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before you start garnishing.

10. I used the same diplomat cream in a piping bag with a nozzle, creating dollops on top symmetrically and finally garnishing with some fresh strawberries on the top. I also used some chopped almonds and pistachios on the sides.

TIP : Professionally we use a cold glaze to toss the fruits used for garnishing to give it a nice gloss, as the fruits tend to become a bit dull and dry.

You can toss the quartered strawberries with a spoon of honey and vanilla extract before you use them for garnishing.

Enjoy 😋

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