Japanese Strawberry Shortcake trying out recipe from La Fuji Mama

Bird's eye view of the cake. KC said that I should have removed the strawberry stems because they make the cake look so messy and unappetizing. He suggested that I place the strawberries upside down. What do you think? La Fuji Mama and Ochikeron also don't use the stems on their cake. I just thought the stems will add more colours to the super white cake. Mum thinks so too.

I wanted to write about the Strawberry Shortcake that I was so excited about as soon as I was done making the cake. It was around 6 p.m. when I was just about to write but KC came along and dragged me off my laptop, literally, and forced me to jog with him! I really didn’t feel like exercising today but after so much coaxing I relented. Hence, the slight delay in the post scheduled for today.

Like I said in my previous post, this Sunday is all about Strawberry Shortcake. Mum baked the first layer of the cake early in the morning, even before I got out of bed. She said I can bake the second layer. Mum can't slice the cake into equal halves so normally she bake two layers and use half of the ingredients in the recipe each time. The recipe we are trying out today is from La Fuji Mama’s website but we altered it a bit and followed Ochikeron’s advice in adding some rum in the sugar syrup and we did not add gelatin to, apparently, stabilise the cream because Mum hates the smell of gelatin.

Baking the cake is quite simple and can become quite boring after a while because it is always the same thing, you beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff, add in egg yolks, vanilla essence, milk, then sift the flour little by little into the batter and mix and add in the melted butter and fold everything in. But then again not baker will end up with the same cake as there was a slight difference in the sponge cake Mum made and the one I made. Mine did not rise as high as hers. She said maybe because some egg yolks spilled into the egg white while I was separating them so I did not get a stiff egg white mixture.

When the two layers are done, the fun part begins! 

Ok. So the two layers of sponge is ready. Brush the top of the bottom layer with sugar syrup. The silicon brush my sis bought for Mum is quite handy here. The one on the right is baked by me and the one on the left is by Mum. Mum's is higher. Mum said with my sponge so thin, I may need three layers.

 

Then spread some whipped cream on top

I like arranging the strawberry slices into a nice pattern. There's something comforting about it.

Then add more cream on top of the strawberry slices

Put the second layer on top and brush it with sugar syrup

Fill in the gap in the middle of the cake with more cream. Looks like one sweet giant hamburger.

Creamed the whole cake

My hand was so tired from creaming the cake. Mum stepped in.

Meanwhile, I coated the strawberries with some neutral gel (I think that is what it is called) to give it a glossy look.

All eight done and ready to lay their big fat bottoms on top of the cake.

Mum like a flat smooth surface for the cream on the cake

I piped the border on top. Nice a not for a first-timer?

Top and bottom border. The cake stand is actually an old rotating watch display my dad picked up and gave Mum for her to use as a rotating cake stand. So cheapskate right? But then again why waste when you can reuse. I think it is quite brilliant!

Piped some pillows for the strawberries to sit

At least now the cake doesn't look so white

I haven't tried the cake yet so I don't know how it tastes. Mum said keep it overnight. I will have a slice for dessert after dinner tomorrow and let you know how it tastes. 

While shopping at Cold Storage I saw this at the baking aisle. It was between this and Fairy Cake mix. KC said this is more value for money since Mum can teach me how to make cake without cake mix. So this will be next weekend's project!