I baked a new cake on Sunday, It is a fresh strawberry cake. We added strawberry mousse to the center.
Author: Carla Cardello (www.chocolatemoosey.com) Serves: 8-inch two layer cake
Ingredients:
Strawberry Cake: 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries* (see Note)
1 tablespoon water
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted (when measuring, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off. Do not scoop the measuring cup and pack down the flour)
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup whole milk, room temperature (do not sub low fat or fat free milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Red food coloring (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
In a large saucepan, stir together the strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes or until the strawberries cook down and start to thicken. Remove from the heat and let cool 15 minutes. You should have roughly 1/2 cup cooked puree.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the butter until just combined and moist crumbs form - do not overmix (it will not form a smooth dough, just little pebbles).
In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, and vanilla. Add about half of the mixture into the mixing bowl and beat until just incorporated (do not overmix). Add the remaining milk mixture and repeat. Add the cooked strawberry puree. If desired, add about 3-5 drops of red food coloring.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes or until the tops are brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely.
For the frosting and assembly:
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
If the cake layers are not flat, trim some of the cake off of the top until flat.
Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate. Slide pieces of parchment or wax paper underneath the cake for easy clean up later. Spread some of the frosting on top of the cake. Top with the remaining cake layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake, sealing in the crumbs (don't use more than half of the frosting).
Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Finish covering the cake with the remaining frosting. Carefully remove the paper pieces. Refrigerate until the frosting is firm. Store the cake covered in the refrigerator. For best results, let the cake sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
To make mousse for filling instead of frosting:
Blackberry Mousse(any 100% fresh juice will work)
1 C. blackberry juice (no pulp or seeds)--Use Strawberry juice. I used a juicer.
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1 t. lemon juice
1 C. sugar
1 C. whipping cream
1 t. vanilla
1 graham cracker pie crust (not used if stuffing a cake)
In a saucepan, combine blackberry juice and lemon juice. Sprinkle gelatin over the juice. Bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. Once slow boil is maintained, add sugar. Cook and stir about one minute to dissolve sugar thoroughly. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until it becomes thicker (syrupy, but not set).
Whip cream and vanilla to soft peak stage. Gently pour cream into blackberry gelatin mixture. Fold/stir gently until an even color is achieved. Pour into graham cracker crust. Refrigerate or freeze.
