Creamy Strawberry Cake

The story unfolds with a recipe for a creamy strawberry swiss roll. However, due to the unfortunate absence of a square or rectangular baking pan, I proceeded with a bundt pan instead.

The recipe yielded enough batter for two round cake bases. Armed with my 'creativity', I proceeded to trim off the four sides of the round cake base to yield a perfect square. However, after applying the first layer of whipped cream and strawberry chunks, I realised that the length of the cake base was far too short and the layer too thick to be rolled into a roll.

So with my never-giving-up spirit, I decided to stack the second piece of cake base on it and tried to craft it into a regular square cake instead. The irony of it all - I could have saved the effort of having to trim away the four edges in the very first place where I would have ended up with a regular round cake as well!

With 2 cups of whipping cream as stated in the recipe, I ended up with so much cream which I tried desperately to smear all over the two pathetically thin cake bases. Even then, there was still some leftover cream which I had to dispose of. :(

This would have to be the creamiest cake I ever tasted... any more cream and it would only be cream left! :)

Creamy Strawberry Cake

(recipe modified based on above experience)

Ingredients:

150g cake flour, sifted (I used plain flour since cake flour was not available)

4 eggs

100g + 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 drops red syrup (optional)

1/2 tsp strawberry essence (optional)

1 to 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 cup fresh strawberries, diced

Method:

(1) Preheat the oven to 180°C.

(2) Line the bundt pan with parchment paper.

(3) Whisk the eggs until frothy and add in 100g sugar slowly. Continue whisking till stiff peaks form.

(4) Add the essence and colouring. Mix till well combined.

(5) Fold the flour slowly into the egg mixture.

(6) Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for ~15 minutes or until it is cooked with a springy texture.

(7) Remove from the oven, trim the crusty edges and slice the cake into two equally thick round bases.

(8) Allow the cake to cool before spreading the fillings.

(9) Meanwhile, whisk the whipping cream together with 1/2 cup sugar till stiff peaks form. Refrigerate the whipped cream until ready for use.

(10) Wash and dice the strawberries. Set aside.

(11) Spread the cream over the first cake base before evenly sprinkling the diced strawberries over it. Be generous with the fruits.

(12) Spread a thin layer of cream to slightly cover the strawberries.

(13) Place the second layer of cake base on the cream layer and proceed to spread cream all over the cake.

(14) You may wish to decorate the cake with whole strawberries.

(15) Chill the cake before serving.

Verdict:

(-) For step (3), I could only achieve a frothy mixture instead of stiff peaks no matter how long I whisked the eggs.

(-) The cake bases were not as soft as I would like it to be.

(-) Without a layer of gelatine coating on the strawberry decorations, the fruits could not keep fresh or survive for long in the refrigerator.

(+) A relatively healthy cake base recipe without the addition of butter or oil!

(=) The cake tastes good if not for the excessive cream applied. :P