Our resident baking babe, MINI MARTHA, takes the strawberry short cake to new heights in honor of tomorrow's very important holiday, National Sponge Cake Day.
It's almost the end of summer. Sad face. So, let's make sure we go out on top, shall we? Somewhere between a sponge and pound cake, this confection is not too sweet because of the buttermilk, and (bonus!) it makes use of all those over-ripe late summer berries. Sure, this amount of butter is not typical for a sponge cake, but it helps create a more tender crumb. Soggy cake, this is not. I used stabilized whipped cream in this recipe so that the cake could stand tall. The hardest part? Cutting into it.
Buttermilk and Butter Sponge Cake:
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
2/3 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
4 extra-large eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
2/3 cup of buttermilk
Stabilized Whipped Cream:
2 cups of cold heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp and 2 tsp of cold water
2 tsp (or one package) of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Macerated Strawberries:
3 cups of strawberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 lemon (or up to a whole lemon)
1. Start with the cake. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl (it is very important to sift the dry ingredients so that you get a light and airy cake). In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy and the sugar granules are dissolved. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each until combined. Then add the vanilla and combine. Add some of the flour and beat and then alternate adding some of the buttermilk, continue to add these ingredients alternating until all the flour and buttermilk have been used, ending your additions with flour. Grease and place parchment paper in the bottom of four or five 6-inch cake pans (you may also use traditional 8-inch cake pans if you do not have 6-inch ones, and then you can use three or four pans). Place 1 cup of batter in each pan and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the cake is firm. Once the cakes are done, remove them from their pans and let them cool on a cooling rack.
2. Once cakes are cooled macerate the berries. Cut the green tops off the berries and then cut the berries vertically into three or four slices. Add all the berries into a bowl and add the sugar and lemon juice to taste. Let the berries sit while you make the whipped cream.
3. Place the unflavored gelatin in a cup with the cold water, combine, and then let sit for about one minute until the gelatin solidifies. Place the set gelatin and water in a small saucepan and heat until the gelatin granules melt. Remove the gelatin from the heat and let sit to cool but not so long that it sets into Jell-O. Place the heavy whipping cream and the brown sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Then with the mixer still beating, slowly drizzle in the gelatin and continue to beat until all the gelatin is added and then continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
4. Time to assemble the cake. This is where you can get creative and you can layer it however you want, but I covered the inside of a 6-inch ring mold with parchment paper to make layering such a tall cake easy. I then placed the ring mold on a cake stand and dropped a cake inside. I then placed a layer of berries on the cake, then I made a thin layer of whipped cream, then another layer of berries, and then another cake on top. I repeated this until I had all my cakes layered (I reserved one of my cakes for cake c
It's almost the end of summer. Sad face. So, let's make sure we go out on top, shall we? Somewhere between a sponge and pound cake, this confection is not too sweet because of the buttermilk, and (bonus!) it makes use of all those over-ripe late summer berries. Sure, this amount of butter is not typical for a sponge cake, but it helps create a more tender crumb. Soggy cake, this is not. I used stabilized whipped cream in this recipe so that the cake could stand tall. The hardest part? Cutting into it.
Buttermilk and Butter Sponge Cake:
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
2/3 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
4 extra-large eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
2/3 cup of buttermilk
Stabilized Whipped Cream:
2 cups of cold heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp and 2 tsp of cold water
2 tsp (or one package) of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Macerated Strawberries:
3 cups of strawberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 lemon (or up to a whole lemon)
1. Start with the cake. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl (it is very important to sift the dry ingredients so that you get a light and airy cake). In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy and the sugar granules are dissolved. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each until combined. Then add the vanilla and combine. Add some of the flour and beat and then alternate adding some of the buttermilk, continue to add these ingredients alternating until all the flour and buttermilk have been used, ending your additions with flour. Grease and place parchment paper in the bottom of four or five 6-inch cake pans (you may also use traditional 8-inch cake pans if you do not have 6-inch ones, and then you can use three or four pans). Place 1 cup of batter in each pan and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the cake is firm. Once the cakes are done, remove them from their pans and let them cool on a cooling rack.
2. Once cakes are cooled macerate the berries. Cut the green tops off the berries and then cut the berries vertically into three or four slices. Add all the berries into a bowl and add the sugar and lemon juice to taste. Let the berries sit while you make the whipped cream.
3. Place the unflavored gelatin in a cup with the cold water, combine, and then let sit for about one minute until the gelatin solidifies. Place the set gelatin and water in a small saucepan and heat until the gelatin granules melt. Remove the gelatin from the heat and let sit to cool but not so long that it sets into Jell-O. Place the heavy whipping cream and the brown sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Then with the mixer still beating, slowly drizzle in the gelatin and continue to beat until all the gelatin is added and then continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
4. Time to assemble the cake. This is where you can get creative and you can layer it however you want, but I covered the inside of a 6-inch ring mold with parchment paper to make layering such a tall cake easy. I then placed the ring mold on a cake stand and dropped a cake inside. I then placed a layer of berries on the cake, then I made a thin layer of whipped cream, then another layer of berries, and then another cake on top. I repeated this until I had all my cakes layered (I reserved one of my cakes for cake c