Japanese Strawberry Cream Cake

Found this super delicious strawberry cream cake recipe, and made it for my sister's birthday! Loved the cake, and the sponge cake came out so fluffily. Recipe is definitely a keeper. I love strawberry cream cakes because they're so light and not sugary. This recipe can be found from: 350 degrees oven

VIDEO TUTORIAL

Sponge Cake

• 6 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Simple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Whipped Cream

• 1 pint heavy cream
• 6 tablespoon granulated sugar

Decoration and filling:

• 1 quart of strawberries
• sliced almonds
• mint leaves
• flowers
• powdered sugar for dusting

1. Sponge cake: Start by Mixing together, 6 egg yolks, 6 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp vanilla extract, mix until pale yellow.
2. Add in 1/2 cup water and 1/3 cup canola oil and mix.
3. Sift in cake flour and baking powder and mix, but do not over mix.
4. Meringue: In a clean bowl with a clean whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on low speed until foamy, add in a dash of cream of tartar, and gradually sprinkle in the sugar adding it in very slowly, and continue whipping till soft peaks. It will be shiny, but not stiff and stiff peaks.
5. Fold the meringue into the yolk batter 1/3 at a time. Pour batter into an ungreased, unlined 8 inch pan. Pour the batter in a circle into the pan to prevent cake from sinking.
6. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes. Once it cools down remove it from the pan 
7. Simple Syrup: In a pot add in 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of sugar, heat it up without stirring until it completely dissolves. 
8. Whipped cream: Whip up heavy cream and 6 tbsp sugar until stiff.
9. Once the cake has cooled, using a bread knife or cake trimmer, split the cake in half
10. Brush on simple syrup onto the cake. Fill with whipped cream and strawberries. Add on the second layer, and add simple syrup, cover cake with whipped cream. 
11. Gently press almonds onto the sides of the cake without crushing them into the cake, top cake with strawberries, garnish with mint leaves. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Once its ready to be served lightly dust with powdered sugar.

Tips:

•  Double the whipped cream recipe if you’d like more cream. This was more of the minimal amount of cream with not a lot of cream on the side, but it was okay since it was covered by almonds
• Make less simple syrup if you’d like since you won’t be using all of it. 
• If strawberries are not in season, add sugar to them
• Flip cake pan upside down once its out of the oven to prevent collapsing
• Do not freeze this cake, best eaten right away, store in a fridge and non freezer. 
• Recipe by: http://www.the350degreeoven.com/2011/08/cake/japanese-strawberry-cake-a-k-a-chinese-birthday-cake/