Strawberry Gateau Mini Layer Cake
Not just any cake though, this is genoise cake. I’ll explain what that is in a second. This cake has a lot of components. You also need to make a sugar syrup and whipped cream frosting which is stabilised by using gelatin.
The cake is like a gateau. A light and tender cake, layers of smooth whipped cream and juicy, fragrant strawberries layered throughout. A feast for the eyes.
This bake is May’s cake for The Cake Slice Bakers. It was the hardest choice trying to decide which cake to make for this months reveal. We had four choices and I only decided this past weekend what I was going to make when I actually made it. I made the right choice. What could be better for the near approaching Summer than strawberries and cream. This combination is one that should be had multiple times every Summer.
The Cake Slice Bakers had four choices this month that we could all choose from and every one sounded just as good and the other. The group bakes its way through the book Great Cakes – Carole Walter. We are halfway through the book and so far I’ve loved everything I’ve made from it. Next month’s choices seem even harder than this month so stick with me to see what I choose.
So the cake. A genoise is an Italian cake named after the city of genoa. It’s leavened with air instead of a chemical leavener. You do this by whipping eggs and sugar incorporating air into them during the process. I was a little nervous when making the cake part as I’ve never made one before and you have to be quick when mixing the batter and getting into the oven so that you don’t lose any of the air that you’ve worked so hard to incorporate into the batter.
The cake turned out a success, I followed the steps down to the last letter and had no problems with it whatsoever. The only thing I did different was using melted better at a temperature of 100F rather than the clarified butter that was called for. The cake itself has a nice taste. It has notes of lemon and a rich egg flavour. Five large eggs are used in the recipe after all. It’s the perfect backdrop for your filling of whipped cream and strawberries.
Make the cake this way and you’ll be guaranteed success. First off, melt down some butter and make sure you keep it between 100-110F. Set it aside. Next grab the bowl from your electric mixer and add your eggs and sugar mixing until just combined.. Place over a pan over simmering water and gently mix until your mixture resembles either of the following. A deep golden colour, is runny when let to drip of the hand whisk, the sugar is dissolved when rubbed between thumb and finger or until it reaches 110-120F. Once either of these has been reached attach the bowl back to the mixer and on a high-speed using a whisk attachment whisk until it’s tripled in volume, is light and thick.
Next reduce the speed of your mixer to medium and add the vanilla extract and some lemon zest. For this recipe I used a little more lemon than was asked for. Instead of one teaspoon I used the zest of half a large lemon. Once these have been added remove the bowl from the mixer. Now is where It can get tricky.
Sift in the cake flour 2 tablespoons at a time and using a spatula fold the flour through only using 10-12 strokes. Keep on doing this then just before your about to add the last of the flour pour in the butter then immediately add the remaining flour. Fold everything together with only 12-15 strokes and get it into your baking tins right away. Bang on the counter top to get rid of any air bubbles then place in the oven and bake.
If any of the butter has collected as the bottom of your mixing bowl then leave it there. If you add it to your tins it will hinder the rising of your cakes.
The second component is a simple syrup which gets brushed onto each sponge before you apply your cream filling. This adds a great layer of moisture to the cake as well as flavour. I used some pure lemon extract in my syrup to accentuate the flavour of the lemon in the cake. I also happen to think that lemon and strawberries go really well together.
Simple syrup is an easy thing to make. Simply add the sugar, water and in my case pure lemon extract and heat whilst stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. The syrup can be made advance. Simply pour it into a bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature until your ready to use it.
The final thing to this cake is the filling and in my case the topping too. I decided to make my cake into a three-layered 6 inch cake. As you may know I love cakes of this size, they are super cute and also great if you don’t want a large cake. I also decided to use the rose technique to decorate my cake with. I love how this looks on the cake so I decided not to adorn it with anything else. Seeing as there will only be strawberries inside the cake I suggest you serve some additional strawberries with it to help mop up your luscious creamy topping.
The whipped cream topping calls for gelatin to be used. The gives the cream structure and will make it hold its shape once it’s been whipped. I was also a little nervous using gelatin as I’ve never used it before but found my nervousness uncalled for as there’s nothing to get worried over. I used a little bit of amaretto liqueur in the cream mixture. This gives a nice subtle sweetness to the cream. Delicious!
To make the whipped cream you start of by adding water and powdered gelatin to a small, ovenproof bowl. Leave to sit for five minutes before add to a shallow pan with 1/2 inch of hot water in it. Gently heat and stir until the gelatin has dissolved and you have a clear mixture. Cool to tepid.
Add the cream straight from the fridge into the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on high-speed until it starts to thicken. Add icing sugar, vanilla extract, amaretto and your gelatin mixture. Continue to whisk until it begins to hold its shape. Finish whisking by hand until it’s a spreadable consistency.
To decorate my cake I used a large piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M Nozzle
You also need to keep this cake in the fridge as it contains fresh cream and will go bad if left out.
It’s perfect for a Summer’s afternoon treat or for serving at a get together. You can make the cake and syrup the day before you make the cream filling, though by sure to make the cream filling on the day your going to serve it. Store it in the fridge then bring it out when your ready to devour it.
It’s light, luscious and filled with the promise of more of Summers strawberries and cream, I can’t wait!
Yields One, 3 layered 6 inch cake
Ingredients
{genoise cake}
- 5 Large eggs
- 100 grams (2/3 cup) Caster sugar
- 1 1/2 Pure vanilla extract
- Zest of half a large lemon or the juice of 1 small one
- 3 tablespoons Melted butter at the temperature between 100-110F.
- 85 grams 2 tablespoons (1 cup 2 tablespoons) Cake flour
{simple syrup}
- 125 ml water (1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons Caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons Pure lemon extract
{whipped cream filling and covering}
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Powdered gelatin
- 3 tablespoons Cold water
- 750 ml (3 cups) Whipping cream, cold
- 40 grams (1/3 cup) Icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon Amaretto
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- 100-200 grams (3 1/2 – 7 ounces) Strawberries
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C,350F and spray three, 6 inch cake tins with non-stick cake spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Next grab the 120F. Once either of these has been reached attach the bowl back to the mixer and on a high speed using a whisk attachment whisk until it’s tripled in volume, is light and thick.
- Next reduce the speed of your mixer to medium and add the vanilla extract and some lemon zest. One these have been added remove the bowl from the mixer.
- 15 strokes and get it into your baking tins right away. If any of the butter has collected as the bottom of your mixing bowl then leave it there. If you add it to your tins it will hinder the rising of your cakes.
- Bang on the counter top to get rid of any air bubbles then place in the oven.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden and the edges of the cakes have come away from the sides of the tin.
{simple syrup}
- Add the sugar, water and pure lemon extract to a small saucepan and heat whilst stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. The syrup can be made advance. Simple pour it into a bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature until your ready to use it.
{whipped cream filling}
- To make the whipped cream you start of by adding water and powdered gelatin to a small, ovenproof bowl. Leave to sit for five minutes before adding to a shallow pan with 1/2 inch of hot water in it.
- Gently heat and stir until the gelatin has dissolved and you have a clear mixture. Cool to tepid.
- Add the cream straight from the fridge into the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until it starts to thicken.
- Add icing sugar, vanilla extract, amaretto and your gelatin mixture. Continue to whisk until it begins to hold its shape. Finish whisking by hand until it’s a spreadable consistency.
- To decorate my cake I used a large piping bag fitted with a wilton tip 1M. Grab a plate and put one of the cake layer on it. Brush with some of the sugar syrup then pipe a layer of cream on top. Place a layer of sliced strawberries on top then the next layer of cake. Repeat the process. Once you’ve put your top layer on either pipe on a rose design or simple spread the cream onto the cake.
Notes
* The recipe is adapted from Great Cakes – Carole Walter
* Store the cake in the refrigerator for up to two days.
* You can make the cake and the sugar syrup in advance. One the cakes have been baked and cooled, wrap them up in clingfilm and store in a cake tin with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Keep the sugar syrup in a bowl also covered with clingfilm.
* Whipping cream is also known as heavy cream.
* The whipped cream mixture does contain gelatin so make sure no vegetarians are going to eat this. If you are catering for vegetarians make sure you used a vegetarian friendly gelatin.
See what the other members of The Cake Slice Bakers choose to bake for May.
Tagged: 6 inch cake, Amaretto, Fresh Strawberries, Gateau Cake, Great Cakes - Carole Walter, Layer Cake, Lemon, Mini Layer Cake, Seasonal, Simple Syrup, Strawberries and Cream, Strawberries and Cream Cake, Strawberry, Strawberry and Cream Gateau, Strawberry Gateau, sugar syrup, summer, The Cake Slice Bakers, vanilla extract, Whipped Cream
