Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

Yesterday was my brother's 26th birthday and he requested for a strawberry shortcake. Not strawberry cheesecake or some other cake, but strawberry shortcake. The Japanese one, to be precise.

So I hunted for recipes and decided on this recipe by La Fuji Mama because it has pictures to follow. I was a bit skeptical and scared to try because it's a cake without artificial leavening agent and I haven't done any cake that uses whisked egg whites. What if the cake doesn't rise!!

The cake did rise, but not enough cos the bottom fell flat. Maybe I should have baked in 2 tins instead of 1 cos the top was fluffy enough.

I had another problem as well. The whipped cream frosting that totally failed. Maybe I didn't do the gelatin properly? It's my first time handling gelatin as well! Omg so many firsts!

Here's the recipe:

For Noriko’s sponge cake:
4 large eggs, white and yolks separated
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 9.5 tablespoons) granulated sugar, sifted once
3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 14 tablespoons) cake flour, sifted 3 times
1.2 ounces (22 grams, 2.3 tablespoons) butter, melted

For the stabilized whipped cream frosting:
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
4 teaspoons cold water
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the simple syrup:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

To make Noriko’s Sponge Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.  Grease a 7-inch circular cake pan with butter. I should have used an 8 inch pan instead.
2. Add the sugar to the egg whites, and beat the egg whites until they are stiff and glossy.
3. Add the egg yolks to the egg white mixture, and gently whisk until the yolks are incorporated.
4. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and flour (in that order) to the batter and gently fold them into the batter with a spatula. Fold in the melted butter until it is well combined.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, and get rid of any air bubbles in the batter by dropping the pan on a counter once or twice. Bake the cake for 30 minutes (for 7 inch pan). Let the cake cool completely. 

To make the Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting:

1. Put the cold water in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water and let stand for 5 minutes (do not stir). Place the saucepan over low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon just until the gelatin dissolves. Remove the saucepan from the heat and cool to room temperature. I think I didn't let it cool enough, or I heat it too much when allowing the gelatin to dissolve.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla and beat until slightly thickened. I think I didn't beat enough! Boo. 
3. Then, while beating slowly, gradually pour the gelatin into the whipped cream mixture. Then whip the mixture at high speed until stiff.

To make the Simple Syrup:

1. In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and water. Bring the water to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

I was happy when I saw the cake rise in the oven, but it didn't rise enough. As a result, the bottom third was thick. Maybe I didn't whisk the egg whites long enough that when I mixed in the flour etc, some of the whisked eggs deflated.



Then the whipped cream. Letting gelatin bloom was okay, heated it up and immediately it dissolved. I added to the 'whipped' cream which I now suspect wasn't whipped enough, then I left to wash some dishes and when I checked, the horror! It became clumps! I was sooo sad. Luckily there's remaining whipped cream which I didn't bother to whip, I just mixed with confectioner's sugar and poured over the strawberries haha.

 

The cake out of the oven. Was so happy to see it rise until...

 

 

See! Deflated a little. Sobsob.

 

 

The end product haha. Taste-wise, it's good, but because of my errors, it turned out ugly and the bottom could really do with better baking.

 

 

Oh wells! Now that I know how to whisk egg whites and make a cake with such little butter, I'm more confident to try out again. Maybe get myself an angel cake tin to make chiffon cakes too!