Sponge Cake with Fresh Cream and Strawberries

It has been too long. I would like to say that it is because I have been super busy, but that would not be 100% true. I have been a bit busy, but mostly I have been lazy and avoiding baking. Throw in a holiday to Queenstown (yay!fun!) and a dysfunctional kitchen (or lack there of) and that is all the reasons why this is the first post in several months. 

So yeah. Here is a new one!

I am making a wedding cake in a couple of weeks and the Bride and Groom have requested that one layer be a sponge cake. Having not made a sponge cake since possibly Home Economics in high school I thought I better have a practice go.

So here is a beautiful light sponge cake, so quick and easy to make, with fresh cream and strawberries! Note the photos aren't the best, it has been a while ok and the light was fading :(

Sponge Cake with Fresh Cream and Strawberries

Adapted from Taste.com

What you will need

1/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup cornflour
4 eggs, room temperat
2/3 cup caster sugar

300ml cream
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Strawberries

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 180*C. Line one 8 inch round pan with grease proof paper, spray with oil and dust with flour. I did all three so there was no way the cake would stick!

Sift the flours together into a bowl three times for aeration. Set aside.

Whisk eggs and sugar together with electric mixer for 6 minutes and until the mixture has tripled in volume. Gradually sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture while gently folding in with a metal spoon until just combined.

Gently pour mixture into pan and bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven when sides of the cake start to come away from pan and the top springs back when touched lightly. Turn out onto cooling racks and remove baking paper. Once cooled, cut in half and fill with whipped cream and strawberries.

To make the cream, pour cream, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and whisk until starting to hold its shape. Spread evenly over first layer of sponge. Cut tops off strawberries and then in half. Arrange strawberries on the bottom layer. Place top layer of sponge over that and repeat process.

White Chocolate Mousse Dome with Strawberries and Walnut Praline

I love small dome shaped cakes, they just look quaint and special. These cakes contain a sponge base with white chocolate mousse and strawberries covered in a dark chocolate shell. I originally wanted more of a glaze than a shell over the top but they still turned out wonderful. The walnut praline on the top adds a sweet little crunch and was so simple to make.

One day I will invest in a 'hemisphere' cake tin to make perfectly round dome cakes, but for now I make do with small pinch bowls that are almost completely round. Feel free to make your own sponge too but I found one marked down at the supermarket so used that instead. These little domes are quite appealing and will impress dinner guests but they are so easy to make and can be made ahead of time.

White Chocolate Mousse Dome with Strawberries and Walnut Praline

Adapted from Taste.com

What you will need

1 sponge cake
About 12 strawberries
200g dark chocolate
1 tbsp olive oil

For the mousse
180g white chocolate
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp gelatine powder
3 eggs, separated

For the Praline
1 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup sugar

What you will need to do

Using the pinch bowls as a guide, cut out six rounds of sponge cake at about 15mm thickness and set aside.

Prepare 6 small pinch bowls by lining them with glad wrap.

To prepare the mousse, melt the white chocolate and cream over a double boiler until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Place 1 tbsp of boiling water in a small heatproof bowl and add the gelatine. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil (I used the same one from melting the chocolate) then take off the heat. Sit the bowl of gelatine in the saucepan until the gelatine dissolves.

Stir the gelatine and egg yolks into the cream and chocolate mixture then refrigerate until slightly thickened. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cream mixture until evenly combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pinch bowls and divide evenly amongst them. Place in the fridge. Cut the strawberries into halves and remove the tops. Take the bowls out of the fridge and press in four halves into each one.

Take the sponge cake rounds and place into each bowl. Press down gently until you can feel that the sponge is touching the mousse. Wrap any excess plastic wrap over the sponge to secure firmly. Place in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler and add the olive oil. Remove the bowls from the freezer and tip upside down. Carefully remove the mousse cakes and take away the plastic wrap. Sit on a wire rack over a baking tray.

Carefully pour the dark chocolate over the mousse working quickly one at a time to try and cover the whole dome before the chocolate sets. Place domes back into the fridge.

To make the walnut praline, place the sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and spread the walnuts out over it. When the sugar is melted and turning a caramel colour, remove from the heat and pour over the walnuts. BE CAREFUL IT WILL BE SUPER HOT! Leave the walnuts to sit until the sugar has hardened. Break the praline up using a food processor or just whacking it with something hard (I used rolling pin).

Remove the domes from the fridge and top with a small amount of praline. If they don't stick well, melt the tops a little with a blowtorch then add the praline. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Strawberry and Coconut Tarts and One Year Blog-iversary!

It is hard to believe that I have been blogging for one whole year already! I feel like I have learned so much in this year, about baking, blogging and about myself. Sugabuttacream has been a great way to express my creativeness and practice photography and writing (God knows I need it!). I have made things I never thought I would bother to attempt and learned some great skills and techniques along the way. Gosh its definitely about 'the journey' isn't it.

Admittedly this anniversary snuck up on me and I would have liked to have done something a bit more amazing and celebratory-like for this post. But shortcrust pastry tarts are something I have been meaning to make since I bought my food processor so it seemed as good a time as any to try it out now.  This is such a simple pastry recipe and can be used for any sort of sweet tart. These are my twist on the classic strawberry jam and coconut slice and taste just as delicious!

Strawberry and Coconut Tarts

Recipe adapted from Taste.com and Generations of Bush Cooking

What you will need

For the pastry

250g plain flour

125g chilled butter, cubed

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1tbsp cold water

For the filling

1/2 cup strawberry jam

For the topping

1 egg

1/6 cup sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

What you will need to do

I plan to refer back to this recipe for future shortcrust needs so I have added some visuals for the steps. 

Place flour, sugar and butter into food processor bowl. 

Process until resembles fine crumbs.

Add egg yolk and water.

Process until comes together and forms a ball.

Turn out onto floured surface and kneed lightly until smooth.

Shape into a round disc and place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180*C. Remove pastry from fridge and place on floured surface.

Roll pastry out to about 5mm thick.

Using a round cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can. Take the remaining off cuts and roll out again and cut out more rounds. You should be able to get about 8-10 rounds.

Place the rounds into silicone cupcake trays and gently push down to line the bottom and sides.

Using a fork, poke some holes in the bottom of the tarts.

Bake for 10 -15 minutes or until slightly golden. Leave to cool slightly in tray then gently remove and place on cooling rack.

For the filling, place about 2 teaspoons of jam into each tart to almost fill them. 

For the topping, beat the egg and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the coconut until completely combined. Divide the topping evenly between the tarts, spoon onto the tops. Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes until toppings start to brown. For extra crisp top, use a blowtorch to scorch the tops.