A Birthday Strawberry Shortcake

Actually, it's not easy not to bake at all in a week. Even though I told myself I should cut down on baking, somehow, I just had to plan some bakings over a week. Not to mention when there are birthdays in the family, I'll be happy baking away, no matter how busy I am.

In fact, baking just need some planning. Certain bakes can be made in advance. Of course, I don't dispute that everything should be baked on the day that is required, so that it'll be fresher. But when you really have no time, it's not that bad to separate them over a couple of days. Anyway, many a times, nobody can tell they were made on different days! :p

Just two weeks ago, I made a Coconut Layer Cake for my mum. Frankly speaking, how many of us has tried good coconut cakes outside? Not me. For I've actually not seen any cafes or bakeries selling coconut cakes. We know coconuts are usually used as complements to other flavours, for example pandan, or yam etc, but it was hardly the centre of attraction for most desserts or sweets.

This Coconut Layer Cake is very unique. The cake sponge is made of desiccated coconuts, so is the custard cream. With the toasted desiccated coconuts coated at the sides, you can say, it's a whole lot of coconut! However, the taste wasn't too empowering. Which was why it was truly well received by many! Even my family members, who yakked at too much coconuts, found this cake to be specially nice too!

Last weekend, it was my brother-in-law's birthday. Usually, they don't have any requests. So I just thought of  what I would like to bake. For him, I made a Strawberry Shortcake. This time, I tried a vanilla sponge cake recipe from Zu's Kitchen. It was quite dense but soft. I was glad they liked the cake. I used Korean strawberries which proved to be really sweet. The sweetness of the strawberries filled the air, prompting my sister to ask if I added any strawberry flavourings into the cream!

Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:(A)
150g Top flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
10g Milk powder

(B)
60g Cooking oil
50g Water
4  Egg yolks
50g Castor sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

(C)
4 Egg whites
80g Castor sugar
1/4 tsp Cream of tartar

Method:
1. Sift ingredients (A) and put it aside.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar till it turns lemon color.
3. Add oil, water and vanilla and mix till well blended.
4. Add ingredients (A) and mix it slowly till it forms a smooth batter.
5. Whisk (C) till stiff.
6. Fold in 1/3 of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture and gently stir, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture and mix well gently.
7. Pour batter into a lined 9" round cake tin.
8. Bake in a preheated oven 180C for 40 mins or till it springs back when touched.
9. Once cooked, removed from oven and invert the cake on the wire rack until completed cooled.
10.Removed from mould and decorate.

Chantilly Cream
550g Whipping cream
55g Caster sugar

250g Strawberries

1. Add whipping cream and caster sugar into the mixing bowl and beat till stiff peak.
2. Frost the cake with chantilly cream and decorate with strawberries.
3. Serve and enjoy.