Japanese-style Strawberry Shortcake

A lovely recipe to try in early Summer as the best strawberries come into season, this light and fluffy Japanese-style Strawberry Shortcake is a family favourite!

Ingredients

Sponge cake

• 40g unsalted butter

• 30ml milk

• 4 eggs

• 120g white sugar

• 120g plain flour

• Spray oil/butter for greasing

Sugar syrup

• 40ml water

• 40g white sugar

Cream topping

• 480ml whipping cream (double cream will do)

• 40g sugar

Garnishes

• 500g strawberries

• Blueberries

• Mint leaves

Key equipment

• 10 inch / 25cm Cake tin

• Baking paper

• Sieve

• Mixing bowls

• Whisk

• Pot

• Chopping board

• Knife

• Spatula

• Kitchen mixer

• Bread knife

Method

For the cake

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C/320°F. Grease and line your cake pan with baking paper.

2. Make sure your eggs and butter are at room temperature. Sift your flour to remove lumps.

3. Gently melt butter and milk in a pot then set aside.

4. Whisk eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes, till light and frothy.

5. Sift in flour and gently fold. Take a bit of batter out and mix with the butter-milk mixture. Fold the mixture back into the whipped egg mixture.

6. Transfer cake batter to cake tin. Gently bang the cake tin on the table to remove any large air bubbles.

7. Carefully put tin in the oven, and bake for 25 minutes till a skewer comes out cleanly.

8. Once baked, bang the tin on the table again to stop the cake shrinking.

9. Use a spatula to free the cake from the tin. Allow to cool on a cake rack.

10. Cover with a moist tea towel to prevent the cake from drying out as it cools.

For the garnishes

1. Clean strawberries and divide into two groups. Cut half in two for decoration, and cut the rest into 5mm slices.

2. To make the sugar syrup, combine all the ingredients and bring to a gentle boil in a small pot.

3. Whip cream and sugar till you have a soft peak.

To assemble the cake

1. With a bread knife, slice the cake in half horizontally.

2. Brush the top and side of the bottom layer with syrup.

3. Spread the whipped cream over the cake half, then cover evenly with the 5mm sliced strawberries.

4. Cover the layer with more whipped cream, then gently place the other half of the cake on top.

5. Whip more cream (either new cream or left-over from step 3) till it forms a more solid, firm peak.

6. Brush the top layer with sugar syrup.

7. Cover the entire cake in whipped cream using a spatula to make it nice and smooth.

8. Transfer remaining whipped cream into a piping bag and decorate with the rest of the strawberries.