Strawberry Shortcake CakeI'm finally back on the blog after a LONG break from it at Christmas! I wanted to share about the Strawberry Shortcake Cake I made recently...my husband loves strawberries so I decided to try out this new recipe I found for his birthday cake! One of the places we went on dates in college was Nantucket Cafe in Chapel Hill. If you are ever there, I highly recommend their Strawberry Shortcake cake...it is our favorite! I wanted to make something similar for his birthday. I wanted to make something completely from scratch and make a little project out of it. This recipe I found sounded awesome so that's what I tried! I found it on Pinterest from rosebakes.com, link to the original recipe here. Disclaimer: This cake takes a SUPER long time to make...but it's worth it if you have time. It has a lot of different steps, but it was fun to make and it comes together as a huge, beautiful cake! And...it turned out to be DELICIOUS! Step 1: The Frosting Ingredients: 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup granulated sugar 5 cups heavy cream I recommend doing this step first because it needs to sit in the fridge for a while before you use it (you can make it up to 12 hours in advance if you need to). I chilled my mixing bowl in the fridge for a while before starting. I started using the whisk attachment and my stand mixer, but actually found that my hand mixer with the whisk attachment worked even better for this. In the chilled bowl, add in the vanilla extract, sugar, and heavy cream. Mix at medium speed until medium peaks form. Cover and refrigerate frosting until well chilled (I did several hours). Step 2: The Strawberries Ingredients: 3 pints fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled (about 5 cups) 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest Combine all of the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Toss to thoroughly cover the strawberries. Let them sit at room temp. for at least 20 mins (I did them after the frosting and let them sit while I did all the other cake steps, which was plenty of time). I set 5 strawberries aside at the beginning (do not soak them with the other ingredients) to use for decoration on the top of the cake. Step 3: The Cake Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water 1 tsp. grated lemon zest 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 6 large eggs, separated 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9" (original recipe calls for 8" pans, but I used 9") pans with baking spray (or grease and flour pans). In mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In separate mixing bowl, combine oil, water, lemon zest, vanilla extract, egg yolks, and 1 1/4 cups of the sugar. Mix with whisk attachment on hand or stand mixer on medium speed until batter is airy and light in color (around 5-7 mins). Scrape down sides of the bowl and add dry ingredients. Whip for around one more minute (until smooth). In another clean bowl, whip the separated egg whites to medium peaks. Gently add remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in about 1/3 off egg white mixture into cake batter until every distributed. Then add remaining egg whites just until combined (make sure you don't over mix this). Pour batter into pans (divide it equally between the two pans). Bake for around 25 mins (original recipe calls for 30-35 mins with 8" pans), or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on cooling rack in pans for at least 15 mins. Run a knife around edges before flipping them out to cool completely. Step 4: The Filling Ingredients: 1 cup mascarpone cheese 1 cup heavy cream 1 tsp. vanilla extract This is good to make while the cake is in the oven. With whisk attachment on hand or stand mixer, mix together mascarpone cheese, vanilla, and heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Immediately cover and refrigerate. Step 5: Putting the cake together! Drain the strawberries and reserve the syrup. Divide the syrup in half. Once cake has completely cooled, use a serrated knife to cut off a small sliver of the domed top of each cake (giving you a fresh and exposed layer of cake to absorb the syrup). Using a pastry brush, brush a bowl of the syrup on each of the cake layers (on the cut side of the cake). Put the first cake layer down, syrup side up, on the cake plate. Evenly spread 1/4 of the filling over the bottom cake layer. Arrange the strawberries standing up (with the steam end down) on top of the thin filling layer. Make sure they are fairly even across the cake (trim them down if needed to make them level). Cover the strawberries with the remaining filling. Make sure you fill in all of the empty space. Stack the second cake layer over the filling (syrup side down), pressing it down gently to secure it. Using a butter knife (or offset spatula), spread a thin layer of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Put it back in the refrigerator for about 15 mins to let it set. Then, generously spread the remaining frosting (I still had a good bit left over) all over the top and sides of the cake. Place back in the refrigerator for at least 15 mins before serving so frosting can set. Enjoy! It was a fun birthday!
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BLOG OF A...Southern Belle and Carolina girl who loves Jesus, family, and life below the Mason-Dixon line. A Fan of Southern hospitality, grits and biscuits, pearls and bow ties, cotton and magnolias, sunshine and sweet tea, and all things monogrammed! Archives
December 2016
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