Every so often I get cravings for a slice of Asian style cake, the kind with layers of light fluffy sponge cake held together with fresh cream and fruit in between. Unfortunately there aren’t many bakeries close to me and they all seem to only sell 8 inch party cakes when all I want is a slice or two. So I decided I had to find my own recipe for a cake that isn’t just delicious but also easy to make and serves just a few.
It took a few tries to get the ratios just right – the hardest part was replicating the super soft and moist texture. Many bakeries will use either liquid glucose or more sugar to help with this, but I didn’t want to go to the hassle of buying yet another ingredient and neither did I want the cake to be overly sweet. Instead, I’ve increased the amount of oil and baked a sheet cake rather than a taller cake that’s cut crosswise. Since the cake doesn’t need to rise as tall, it doesn’t need as much flour to support the structure, making the texture more moist. I’ve also chosen to fold in all the ingredients into the meringue with a whisk, rather than adding meringue into the batter with a spatula. I think this helps to prevent the meringue from deflating as much so that the final cake is light and airy.
Once you have the cake down, it’s easy to dress it up with whatever cream and fruit flavours you prefer. Hope this recipe helps you deal with those sudden cake cravings as well!
Strawberry Shortcake
Light and moist sponge cake with fresh cream and strawberries
Ingredients
- 140g egg whites
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 50g sugar
- 70g egg yolk
- 55g flour
- 15g cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 45g milk
- 45g oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large strawberries, sliced
- 200g heavy whipping cream
- 15g sugar
- 5g vanilla pudding powder
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 340F. Line a 9 inch x 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper.
- Add lemon juice to the egg whites and beat on medium speed until thick and foamy. Gradually add in 50g sugar and continue beating until meringue reaches stiff peaks.
- Whisk the egg yolks lightly to break them, then pour into the meringue and gently fold with a whisk until well incorporated.
- Sift in the flour, cornstarch and salt. Gently fold with whisk until no lumps remain.
- Add the milk, oil and vanilla extract, again folding in with a whisk.
- Use a spatula to fold the batter one more time, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Slowly pour the batter into the lined pan. Smooth out the top with the spatula, then run a toothpick through the batter to remove air bubbles. Carefully bang the pan a few times on the counter to remove any remaining air pockets.
- Bake at 340F for 25 minutes until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from pan and let cool completely before icing.
- To make the whipped cream icing, beat heavy whipping cream with sugar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Add the instant pudding powder and beat for another 30 seconds to incorporate.
- Cut the cake in half and spread a thing layer of whipped cream evenly (about 1/4 of the total cream) over one half. Place the strawberry slices on top, pressing them down into the cream a little. Spread more cream over the top so that strawberries are completely covered.
- Gently place the other half of cake on top. Cover with the remaining whipped cream.
- Chill the cake for about an hour to help set the cream and create a cleaner cross section. Trim off the edges with a sharp knife and decorate the top with halved strawberries.
adventurousbaker 