Strawberry Layer Cake: Finally I did it!

I had a love at first sight, at the moment that I saw this cake on the cover of Vogue E+T issue: October/ November 2008, I thought “it’s a very beautiful cake”. And after I read the recipe I's so sure that it'll be the great cake too. The strawberry, mascarpone, the almond cake and amaretto, they will be perfect companion to each other.

I really want to make it but I just couldn’t find any good strawberry at that time so this project was on hold for almost a month now. Last Sunday, my brother went to supermarket and I told him to buy me strawberries if they were good and finally I had strawberry to make this cake. But forgot to tell him how many strawberry that I want, >*<, so I had only 250 g of strawberry, not enough to make the full recipe.

So, I had to make only half of the recipe and I made a mistake again. The original recipe uses 23 cm cake tin and the right size for the half recipe is 18 cm, but I used 15 cm, so you can see that my cake is very very hight, haha. But in the good way it’s a luxury sky high cake! (Actually I try to accept this idea but my cake was too high and it collapsed when I cut it, what a shame! So, please don’t make the same mistake, ^ ^). Beside from all the wrong things which cause by me, the cake is so great. The almond cake is good when paring with the strawberry, the strawberry jam and the mascarpone. I love the smell of the marzipan and the amaretto they are so great together, and the white chocolate ganache makes this cake perfect. Anyway I made full recipe of the white chocolate ganache, you can make only half of it, but for me more chocolate mean more delicious.

Adaptation from: Vogue E+T issue: October/ November 2008

Strawberry Layer Cake

Makes 18 cm (2-layers cake)

FOR DECORATING
60 g	strawberry jam, warmed (I used reduced sugar strawberry jam)
200g	strawberries, hulled, halved (or cut into thin slice if large)
3	pesticide-free pastel pink roses (I couldn’t find them, so I use the paper flower instead)
1	egg white
	Caster sugar, to dust
80ml	pouring cream
1 teaspoon	glucose syrup
175g	Lindt white chocolate, finely chopped
ALMOND CAKES
3	eggs at room temperature, separated
110g	caster sugar
35g	marzipan, grated
⅛ teaspoon	cream of tartar
75g	cake flour
FILLING
5g	gelatine
30 ml	amaretto liqueur
60g	caster sugar
50g	Egg yolk
70 g	egg white
250g	mascarpone

Preheat oven to 180°C

For cakes, grease 2 x 18cm shallow cake tins and line bases with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, whisk yolks, 85g sugar, marzipan and ½ tablespoon water on high speed for 3 minutes or until mixture has tripled in volume. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a clean bowl, whisk whites and cream of tartar on high speed until soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff and glossy.

Add 2 large spoonfuls of meringue to egg-yolk mixture sift over flour and stir in. Gently fold in remaining meringue. Divide batter between tins, then spin tins to level batter.

Bake for 18 minutes, swapping shelves halfway through cooking, or until cakes spring back when pressed gently. Cool in tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks.

For filling, soak gelatine 3tsp of Amaretto. Meanwhile, place liqueur and 30g sugar in a small pan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Add gelatine and stir until dissolved.

Using an electric mixer, whisk liqueur mixture with yolks until combined. Add the yolk mixture into the mascarpone, whisk until just thick, then transfer to a large bowl.

In a clean bowl, whisk whites to soft peaks. Gradually add remaining sugar and whisk until stiff. Fold meringue into mascarpone mixture in 2 batches.

Grease, then line base and side of a 18cm springform tin with baking paper (I used the plastic cake side cover). Place one cake in tin the right way up and brush with half the jam.

Stand strawberry halves upright and slightly apart so cut sides touch perimeter of tin, fill the centre with the rest. Carefully spoon mascarpone mixture over strawberries, filling the gaps. Level top, then knock tin gently on a work surface to remove air pockets. Brush remaining jam over second cake, then place, jam-side down, over filling. Cover tin with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to firm.

Brush rose petals and brush each lightly with egg white, then dust generously with sugar. Place on a wire rack to dry for 4 hours or overnight at room temperature.

For white chocolate ganache, bring pouring cream and glucose to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat, then stir in chocolate until melted. Place pan over a bowl of iced water and stir occasionally until mixture is the consistency of double cream.

To serve, release cake from tin, remove paper and slide onto a plate. Pour ganache over the top and spread to cover, allowing a little drip down the side. Return cake to the fridge for 30 minutes to firm, then decorate with sugared rose petals.

Strawberry Layer Cake: Finally I did it!

I have been tagged by Elinluv at Elinluv's tidbits corner to write this meme ….7 facts about myself :)
This is the second times that I have been tagged (^_^).

Are you ready to know me ?

1. I have a lot of cookbooks, last year when I started my blog I had about 300 but now there are about 400+, I don't know why they grow so fast. Now my best friend told me to stop buying Haha. I had to make a promise not to buy any book for 3 months, and it's only one month after the promise I'm about to die !

2. Because I live with my mom and she always warn me about the baking pans and all the equipments (again I can't stop buying them), so when ever I buy new things they will be in my bedroom until I have a chance to use them. So, I end up have a lot of cake pans and cookie cutters in my bedroom and some of them sleep with me for almost 2 years now.

3. I got a driving license when I was 18, but I rarely drive and I start to forget how to drive. I always have a lot of idea in my head and I almost hit the other car so many times. So I decide I must stop driving before I hurt myself (and other people).

4. I'm still fall in love with Hello Kitty and all the Japanese manga. I don't know why people have to tell me that I'm too old for these kinds of stuff, I never think I'm old enough to resist them. ^^"

5. I addict to baking! I love to bake or cook or do something in the kitchen, actually if I didn't have a chance to cook or bake for 2 days I will have a migraine.

6. I'm not good at writing, if you saw my older blog you will know it. But I try to communicate with all the reader and I hope my writing will be better and better. I'm almost run out of thing to talk about myself now haha.

7. Last thing, the happiest moment in my life is whenever I have a good time with all of my family Mom, Dad, my brother and my sisters. I don't need anything more in the world.

I am tagging the following 7 bloggers:

1. Koy at Bake-Aholic
2. Khun Koy at Pepsakoy
3. Oum at La mia cucina
4. Kam at Cook with love bake with heart
5. P'House at "She said pastry, He said Food"
6. beansproutscafe - at beansproutscafe
7. Sorry I can't think of anyone Haha.


Here are the rules for tagging:

Link to my blog (tagger) on your blog.
Give seven facts about yourself.
Tag another seven bloggers by leaving a comment on their blogs and letting them know they were tagged and listing them (and their blogs) on your blog.