Strawberry Shortcake recipe

I am an avid fan of the Japanese version of Strawberry Shortcake; a combination of soft fluffy sponge cake with fresh cream and sweet juicy strawberries. This cake was made for the birthday celebration of a dear friend and it is rather simple to make and assemble.

Ingredients

Main cake for assembly
Sponge cake* (Plain vanilla, enough for at least 2 layers)
300ml fresh dairy cream**
1-2 tbsp white fine sugar
120g of sliced strawberries (I used half box of fresh strawberries weighing 250g)

Coating for sponge cake
1 tbsp white sugar dissolved in 1.5 tbsp warm water

Decoration
Almond flakes
Whole strawberries

*Refer to my posting on how to make basic sponge cake.

**I used 2 small packs of 200ml Arla whipping cream and reserved 100ml ro make other pastries like scones.

Method

1. Cut sponge cake into desired shape. For this cake, I baked my sponge cake in a rectangular pan and cut out two equal sized squares. You can also bake in a round mould for a circular cake. Personally, I find it easier to bake on thin rectangular pan as the baking time is shorter (heat reaches all sides/corners of pan evenly).

2. Coat sugar syrup on surface of first (bottom) layer and both sides for second layer

3. Whip whipping cream and add 1-2 tbsp of sugar depending on preference (I used 2 tbsp as my strawberries were tart). Whip till soft-to-stiff peaks form.

4. Cover bottom layer with thin layer of cream and arrange sliced strawberries on. Cover with another layer of cream-strawberries-cream. Place second layer of cake on top and cover cake with remaining whipped cream. (update: inserted picture, also refer to my other posting Japanese Strawberry Shortcake Encore!)

5. Decorate as desired. I covered the sides of cake with almond flakes and added whole strawberries on top.

6. Freeze cake for at least 2-3 hours before serving.


Tips

You can choose to substitute vanilla flavoured sponge cake with chocolate or any other flavoured sponge cakes. Non-diary whipping cream can also be used in place of diary whipping cream.

Tools (whisks and bowl)  for whipping cream has to be cold to ensure that cream is whipped to maximum volume. Pop tools into freezer for 10 minutes before use.

Be creative in decorating! Decorate cake with anything you like, e.g. chocolate chips or white chocolate flakes

Cold, packed and ready to go!

If you intend to give this cake away, you can simply buy a box set as I did in the picture. I bought this 8-inch bottom plain white cake box with a cake plate covered with aluminium fold from Phoon Huat at $1.70.

And there you have it, a lovely birthday cake sparkling with lights!