Strawberry and Cream Cake
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 cup caster sugar (1/2 & 1/4)
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Strawberry Flavouring
1-2 tsp. Red or pink Food colouring
1/4 cup vegetable, corn, canola, or sunflower oil
90 ml fresh milk
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Icing:
250g Unsalted butter
1 cup Margarine
1/2-3/4 cup Icing sugar
2-3 tbsp. Evaporated milk
2-3 tsp. Strawberry flavouring
2-3 tsp. Red or pink food colouring
1 cup whipped cream
Slices of strawberries cut into halves.
Procedure:
1) Separate the eggs and place the egg yolks in one bowl and the whites in another. Cover with plastic wrap and bring to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
2. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C) and have it ready a 9 inch un-greased pan.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, (or use a hand mixer) place the flour, sugar (1/2 cup), baking powder, and salt. Mix it well. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, oil, fresh milk, strawberry flavouring and food colouring. Beat until smooth (about one minute). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. With a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites (in three additions) into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter).
5. Pour the batter into the un-greased pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (When lightly pressed, the cake will spring back). Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven invert (turn upside down) the pan and place on a cooling rack. Let the cake to cool completely before removing from pan (about 1 – 1 1/2 hours).
6. To remove the cake from the pan, run a long metal spatula around the inside of pan to release the cake. Slice the cake in the middle to have 2 round slices. The cake is now ready for frosting.Icing:In a bowl, combine the softened butter and margarine. Add the icing sugar and gently mix it using a spatula. Once it’s mixed, use hand mixer and mix it well and add 1 tbsp. of evap milk at a time till smooth. Add food colouring and strawberry favouring. Adjust the colour and strength of flavour according to your taste. Set aside and now readt to use for frosting.Pipe whipped cream on top of the frosted cake and add sliced strawberry on top as a design.
