Epic strawberries and cream cake
The Story
I started getting into more complicated baked goods in the last few years. I honestly blame Pinterest and the endless pins of beautifully decorated tarts and cakes filled with heavenly concoctions of fruit, cream, chocolate, or whatever your imagination can dream up. And for me, there came a time when I thought, you know what…I’m going to try to make one of those insanely complicated, pastry shop-decorated type cakes at home, regardless of how it turns out. And this strawberries and cream cake was what I came up with.
I was going to a birthday party on a terrace just when the weather was starting to get nice in Barcelona, and all of the markets started displaying intoxicatingly fragrant strawberries in the produce section. So I figured a strawberries and cream cake would be a perfect celebratory dessert, not just for the birthday boy (can you say that for someone turning 45? Anyway…you get the idea), but also to bring in spring in full force.
Victoria sponge-style cake is layered up with mascarpone mousse and tons of strawberries mixed with a silky strawberry compote to bump up the strawberry flavor. That’s all covered with a creamy Swiss merengue buttercream and topped with accents of cream cheese frosting to cut the sweetness. Decorate however you’d like, but I honestly think this cake may be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever made…and it tasted pretty good, too.
Difficulty: 5 on a scale of 1-5
Active time to prepare: To be honest with you, it’s hard to calculate the time it takes to prepare this. Depending on your skill level, you may be able to multitask more or less. Just consider this is an all-day project.
Total time to prepare: See above
Serves: I cut the cake into 20 “modest” pieces
The Ingredients
For the cake:
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups/400 g white sugar
3 tsp./15 g vanilla extract
2 tsp./12 g salt
2 tsp./8 g baking powder
2 cups/200 g flour
1 cup/245 g cup whole milk
12 Tbsp./168 g unsalted butter
For the mascarpone mousse (based on Natasha Pickowicz’s recipe for Bon Appetit):
1.5 tsp./3 g unflavored powdered gelatin
1 cup/224 g heavy cream
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 Tbsp./26 g white sugar
1 tsp./5 g vanilla extract
½ tsp./3 g salt
9 oz./255 g mascarpone
For the strawberry compote:
2 cups/300 g frozen strawberries
¼ cup/50 g white sugar
Juice and zest from half a lemon
For the Swiss meringue buttercream:
1 cup and 2 Tbsp./225 g white sugar
5 large egg whites (Take advantage of the whites leftover from the mascarpone mousse! You just need one more)
½ cup/65 g powdered sugar
21 Tbsp./300 g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp./5 g vanilla extract
½ tsp./3 g salt
For the cream cheese frosting:
6 Tbsp/84 g room temperature unsalted butter
¾ cup and 2 Tbsp./109 g powdered sugar
1 cup and 2 Tbsp./255 g full-fat, room temperature cream cheese
1 tsp./5 g vanilla extract
¼ tsp./1.5 g salt
For the assembly:
2 2/3 cups/400 g strawberries (cut all but a handful into a medium dice and the rest in quarters to decorate the top)
Equipment:
13 × 10-inch/33 x 25.5 cm baking dish
Stand mixer
The Recipe
Cake:
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 175° C/350° F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper (don’t spray with oil or brush with butter!!), leaving an overhang on the two short sides of the baking dish.
NOTE: If you only have one baking dish, you can split the batter into two and bake the cakes in two rounds.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the room temperature eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Whip with a whisk attachment until the mixture is light and fluffy, and tripled in volume (12 - 15 minutes approx.)
Towards the end of the 12 - 15 minutes, whipping the eggs, place the milk and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat the mixture until it starts to steam, but before it boils.
Add the baking powder and beat until incorporated on low speed (1 minute approx.). Add the flour and beat until mixed (1 minute approx.), leaving a thick mixture. Make sure there is no flour clinging to the sides or the bottom of the bowl.
With the mixer running on low, stream the hot milk and butter mixture into the batter (make sure you get all you can out of the saucepan). Mix until the batter is homogeneous and smooth (2 minutes approx.).
*NOTE: You can make the batter with a handheld mixer, but the times will be longer.
Divide the batter into the baking dishes (around 650 g per baking dish).
Bake until the cakes are golden brown on the top, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (20 minutes approx.).
Place the baking dishes on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
Scrape a small offset spatula around all the sides of the cake to release it from the pan. Lift the cake out of the pan using the excess parchment paper on the two short ends of the pan. Peel the paper off the cake and cool the cakes completely (1 hour approx.).
Mascarpone mousse filling:
In a small bowl, add ¼ cup/60 g cool water. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top (don’t stir!!). Place in the refrigerator until you’re ready for it.
Beat the cream on high in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment until it forms medium peaks. Put the cream in a separate bowl and store it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap, until you’re ready for it.
NOTE: Cream can go from medium peaks to stiff peaks to overwhipped very quickly. Once it reaches soft peaks, I recommend lowering the mixer speed to medium-low and don’t walk away to prevent overwhipping.
Place a medium saucepan over medium heat filled with enough water so that the bowl won’t touch the water. Bring to a simmer. Add the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt to the bowl of the stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
Place the bowl over the medium saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until the egg mixture is light and fluffy, nearly doubled in volume (5 minutes approx.).
Remove the water from the saucepan and add the gelatin and water mixture. Place over medium-low heat. Swirl the pan until the gelatin dissolves (1 minute approx.)
Fit the bowl back into the mixer. Whip the egg mixture on medium speed, while streaming in the gelatin mixture. Continue mixing until the bowl is cool to the touch (2 - 3 minutes approx.). Add the mascarpone and mix until smooth (1 minute approx.).
Fold in the whipped cream into the egg and mascarpone mixture.
NOTE: It can be difficult to fold all that cream into the rest of the mixture. If you’re struggling, take a third of the mix and put it in another bowl. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is homogeneous. You can then fold the rest of the unmixed mixture more easily.
Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
Strawberry compote:
Add all the ingredients to a medium/large saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit breaks down and the liquid is reduced and syrupy (20 minutes approx.).
With a potato masher or the back of a fork, break any larger pieces of fruit to get a finer texture.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you need it.
Swiss merengue buttercream:
Place a medium saucepan over medium heat filled with enough water so that the bowl won’t touch the water. Bring to a simmer. Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of the stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
Place the bowl over the medium saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until it reaches 85° C/185° F (5 minutes approx.).
Fit the bowl back into the mixer. Whip the egg mixture on medium-high speed until it's thick and glossy (5 minutes approx.).
Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the bowl is cool to the touch (3 - 4 minutes approx.).
Low to medium-low speed. With the motor running, add the butter one piece at a time, letting it mix completely until it is well combined before adding another piece. Continue until all the butter is incorporated (8-10 minutes approx.)
NOTE: If the mixture looks liquid or clumpy and thick along the way or even after you have added all the butter, don’t panic. Keep mixing, and it will come together.
Add the salt and vanilla extract. Bet until glossy and smooth.
Cream cheese frosting:
Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Sift the sugar over the butter. Cream together until light and fluffy (2 minutes approx.).
Add the cream cheese and continue to whip until thick and smooth (3 minutes approx.).
Add the vanilla and salt, and mix to combine.
Assembly:
Take all the fillings out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature.
For the strawberry filling, take half the compote and add the cut-up strawberries.
If either of the cakes isn’t perfectly shaped, you can trim them…just make sure whatever you do to one cake layer, you also do to the other so they’re the same size.
Place one cake layer on a cake board. Spread 2/3 of the mascarpone mousse on the cake. With the rest of the mixture, place it in a piping bag and pipe a border around the edge to place the strawberry filling.
Within the border, add the strawberries.
Top with the second layer of cake.
Spread a thin layer of the Swiss meringue buttercream on the cake to cover with a crumb coat. Chill the cake until the frosting is firm (15 minutes approx.)
Spread the rest of the buttercream evenly over the top of the cake and then the sides. Smooth it out more if you want a polished look, or leave it a bit “rugged” on the sides for a more rustic finish.
Mix half of the cream cheese frosting with 2 Tbsp. of the strawberry compote. Mix it aggressively for a more even color, or just fold it in if you want something more pink and white with a marbled feel. Pipe the frosting in diagonal lines across the cake, alternating colors. I used a wide, wavy tip, but feel free to use what you have.
Decorate with spoonfuls of more compote and slivers of strawberry. Keep it in the refrigerator if you aren’t serving it right away, but bring it to room temperature before you eat it.
DO AHEAD: You can make the cakes up to 3 days in advance. Wrap them in plastic wrap until you use them.
You can make the mousse and frostings up to 3 days in advance. Before using them, bring them to a slightly cooler than room temperature and whip to make sure they’re smooth.
You can make the compote up to a week in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
LEFTOVERS: Any uneaten cake can be kept in an airtight container for 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Bring it to room temperature before you eat it.
