Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

simple yet quite technique based

Whenever I go to a Japanese bakery, I always gravitate to their strawberry shortcake. It’s such a simple dessert of sponge cake, whipped cream, and strawberries. Yet, this combo is just so good! Not too sweet, but packed with flavor. The cake and cream are the perfect components to make the strawberries truly shine!

I used Just One Cookbook’s sponge cake recipe found here.

She goes into quite the detail in making this cake, so you should definitely check out her recipe for more details!

Ingredients
1 9-inch round cake pan

Sponge Cake
60 grams unsalted butter, melted
45 milliliters milk
6 large eggs, room temperature
180 grams granulated sugar
180 grams cake flour, sifted

Syrup
55 milliliters water
60 grams granulated sugar
Splash of liquor of choice, optional

Whipped Cream
2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 dollop vanilla bean paste
Pinch of salt

~12 large strawberries

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Directions

1. Sponge Cake
   -Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
   -Line your 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
   -Combine 60 grams melted unsalted butter and 45 milliliters milk in a bowl and set aside.
   -Add 6 large eggs into the bowl of stand mixer. Break the eggs apart. Then add 180 grams granulated sugar. Mix all together. Heat the bowl over a pot of simmering water, while constantly whisking, until the eggs reach the temperature of 104 degrees F.
   -Return the bowl to the stand mixer with a whisk attachment and beat the eggs on high for 2-2.5 minutes. You want the eggs to triple in volume and become pale and fluffy. Ribbon stage.
   -Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Then sift in 180 grams cake flour. Gently fold the flour into the batter just until no streaks remain. Then scoop out some of the batter and add it to the milk/butter mixture. Mix it together then pour the mixture back into the batter. You want to pour the batter onto your spatula (instead of just dumping it right in) so that it does not deflate the batter. Fold the mixture into the batter.
   -Pour your batter into your cake pan. Then tap it against your counter a few times to rid it of large air bubbles.
   -Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick entered in the center of the cake comes out clean.
   -Straight from the oven, drop the cake against the counter to “shock” it. This will aid in stopping it from shrinking. Remove the cake from the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Set the cake aside to cool completely.

2. Syrup
   -Heat 55 milliliters water and 60 grams sugar in a small pot or sauce pan over medium high heat just until the sugar fully dissolves.
   -Pour your syrup into a bowl then add a few splashes of your liquor of choice. I used apricot liquor. Set aside

3. Strawberries
   -Slice your strawberries. 6 into slices and 6 in half.

4. Whipped Cream
   -Add 2 cups heavy cream, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, a dollop of vanilla bean paste, and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Beat the cream with a hand mixer until you get whipped cream.

5. Assembly
   -Cut off the top dome of your cake with a serrated knife. Then cut your cake in half so that you get two layers.
   -Place one of your cakes onto a cake board. Brush the syrup onto your cake. Then dollop some whipped cream on top and spread it into a thin layer. Add your layer of sliced strawberries then cover the strawberries with another layer of the whipped cream. Top this with the other cake and brush it with the syrup as well.
   -Cover the cake with a layer of the whipped cream created a sort of crumb coat. Then cover with a second layer of the whipped cream.
   -Top with the strawberries.

6. Enjoy!