Elaine Bakes: Strawberry Cream Cake

It has always been my "dream" to bake a Strawberry cream cake since trying one 6 years ago during my trip to Japan. The cake which consists of sponge cake covered in whipped cream and decorated with fresh strawberries is the Japanese version of Christmas cake. Since trying a slice, I instantly went crazy for it. There was one lady in our entourage who thought the same as me and off we went on a Strawberry cream cake craze. We would always request for this cake each time we walked past a bakery in Japan. 

I remembered myself trying to replicate this cake a couple of times after coming back from Japan only to end up without any success as I didn't really know how to bake back then. In a way I was glad that my parents didn't force me to finish the unsuccesful products. Haha...Even when in uni. Gillian and I tried baking it again but the cake was quite heavy while the original version was supposed to be light and fluffy.

So finally after so many years I can proudly claim that I have succeeded in getting the cake to the right consistency. Yay!

For the sponge I used Hot Cake Mix as suggested by Cakepia and it turned out just right. Here's the mix that I used:

Strawberry Cream Cake
(recipe adapted for 8-inch round cake pan)

Sponge Cake

80g Sugar

3 Eggs

100g Hot cake mix (Pancake mix), sifted

50ml Milk

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2, Meanwhile, combine eggs and sugar in a bowl.

3. Whisk the combination over a saucepan filled with hot but not boiling water (bain-marie) until the mixture is pale and thick (as seen in the photo below).

4. Once the mixture is well combined, fold in the Hot Cake Mix.

5. Then add in warm milk to the mixture.
6. Transfer mixture into a greased cake pan and bake for approx. 30 minutes or until when cake skewer comes out clean.

To assemble, you would have to wait until the cake has completely cooled down or you will end up melting the fresh cream frosting.

Fresh Cream Frosting

500ml Whipping cream

50g Caster sugar

Strawberries and other fresh berries

1. Slice the cake horizontally into two layers. Set aside.

2. Combine Whipping cream and caster sugar in a bowl and whip the cream at Medium setting on the electric mixer until stiff peak forms (approx. 1 minute)

2. Spread whipped cream on top of the bottom layer of the cake with a piping bag.

3. Arranged sliced strawberries on top of the whipped cream and sandwich the cake with another layer of cake.

4. Cover the top and the sides of the cake with the remaining fresh cream frosting.

5. Arrrange the cake with strawberries and decorate as desired.

6. Chill the cake for at least 2 - 3 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Oops...ignore the messy blueberries!

Note: Summer is the best time to bake this cake in my opinion as you get better access to fresh berries.