Single White Cake Seeking Short Term Commitment

I've been trying to get myself to bake more.  It's such a commitment that I never sign myself up to bake anything.  Baking is like scrapbooking.  If you're going to try to make a scrapbook, boy, you better be all in from the get-go.  You are signing yourself up for materials, time, space, patience, and then you have to go print photos, crop them, embellish,...  Just talking about it annoys me!  Baking requires the same commitments but brings the same rewards - smiling faces.

My husband got a promotion a couple of weeks ago and "bake something" has been on my to-do list for the occasion.  I asked a very very talented blogger friend, Xiaolu, at 6 Bittersweets for some recommendations.  She is seriously the nicest person I've ever met...electronically, I mean.  She offered a range of 4 different desserts which all looked and sounded amazing like everything she does.  I really couldn't decide between the Pizzookie or the strawberry cake.  I finally just went with the strawberry cake because my brother-in-law just made chocolate chip cookies from scratch last weekend and the pizzookie seems to come from the same chocolate chip cookie lineage.  Diversity is good.

First of all, it took me 3 attempts to get past reading the recipe.  It has sections of instructions and I kept walking away from the recipe because it seemed so demanding .  But for the occasion, I did it anyway.  I just had to wait for a Sunday to allow the time.  Well, even though there were paragraphs of text in this recipe, it wasn't as demanding as I thought.  I realized that the instructions are just really really good!  I had to make do with the cake pans that I had but it still turned out fantastic!  This cake was AWESOME. 

Unfortunately, when you share living space with someone, it's hard to keep these things a secret or surprise.  So while he was going to the hardware store and then changing the water filter on the fridge, I was baking a cake for him.  So there wasn't a "congrats!" effect unfortunately, but that's partly because I should have baked this two weeks ago when he first got the promotion.

The photos don't convey the rich creamy cream cheese frosting, but it totally makes the cake!

The mint sprig is really to disguise the hideous strawberry flower I tried to create. Mint is rescuing my cake photo actually.

So this cake has a long string of makers and is becoming an internet heirloom, documented and passed down by blogger to blogger.  It started with Cook's Illustrated, then seen on Simply Recipes, then blogged by eat me delicious, then blogged by 6 Bittersweets, and now me.  So who's next? 

Recipe below by 6 Bittersweets below with Xiaolu's notes w/ one asterisk (*).  My notes in italics with two asterisks (**).

Strawberry Cream Cake

From 6 Bittersweets
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated through eat me, delicious and Simply Recipes
Serves 8 to 12.

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour (or substitute all purpose and replace 2 1/2 T with cornstarch)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs (2 whole and 3 separated), room temperature
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 Tbsp water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Strawberry Filling

2 pounds fresh strawberries (medium or large, about 2 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
4-6 Tbsp sugar
2 T Kirsch or dark rum
1 tsp finely minced fresh mint (optional)
Pinch table salt

**I only had one pound of strawberries.  More is better, though!
Whipped Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (low-fat is fine)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 cups heavy cream

(**I used 1 cup, because I accidentally bought that instead of a pint! Turned out yummy still, but try to stay true to the recipe if you can)

*I stabilized the cream with about 3/4 tsp gelatin dissolved in 1-2 T water then microwaved 1 minute on high and cooled

Bake the cake:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour round 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, by hand, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and all but 3 Tbsp of the sugar in mixing bowl. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and 3 yolks (reserving whites), butter *or margarine, water, and *extracts. Whisk until smooth.

2. Using a mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 3 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. With machine running, gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 60 to 90 seconds. Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten. Add the remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.

**I used a larger springform pan, because that's all I had, baked for 30 mins, and it made 2 layers.

Strawberry filling:

3. Cut in half 24 of best-looking berries and reserve. *Maybe my berries were super large but I only needed about 20. Slice or quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (depending on sweetness of berries) in medium bowl and let sit 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The sugar will macerate the strawberries, making them soft, and generating liquid. Strain the juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup *or more). Put the strawberries in a bowl and use a potato masher to mash them; *add minced mint and set aside. In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices with rum until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes. *This took me over 10 minutes, but I think I had over 1/2 cup of reserved juices. Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until cake is cooled.

Whipped cream:


4. When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, *add dissolved gelatin if using and increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more, scraping bowl as needed (you should have about 4 1/2 cups).

**I did not do the gelatin part

Assemble the cake:

5. Using large serrated knife, slice cake into three even layers. Place bottom layer on cardboard round or cake plate and arrange ring of 12-20 strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around perimeter of cake layer. Pour one half of mashed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in center, then spread to cover any exposed cake. Gently spread about one-third of whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups) over berry layer, leaving 1/2-inch border from edge. Place middle cake layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge). Repeat with 12-20 additional strawberry halves, remaining berry mixture, and half of remaining whipped cream; gently press last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top; decorate with remaining cut strawberries.

Serve immediately, or keep chilled. If the whipped cream warms to room temperature it will be harder to keep stable while cutting. *Stabilizing the whipped cream helps it keep a little longer but still try to keep it cold as much as possible.