“A party without a cake is really just a meeting.” – Julia Child

Summer is almost here. I can taste it in the sweet strawberries especially the ones I or my kids picked. They are warm and sweet and somehow taste more real because I can see the plant they came from. This is the time for a perfect little cake with lots of cream and lots of strawberries.

I am hoping for a better summer this year. We have been all cooped up for year and a half and the kiddoes, usually calm and not overly concerned with vacations, are clamoring for a BIG vacation this year. We all need it. I have some things planned out but I am hesitant because, because… oh, you know, anything can happen. Like a new virus pandemic. I am not taking anything for granted anymore. And, I am not carving anything in the stone because nothing is guaranteed in life. So let’s make the best of it, of this summer, of this year. Let’s start with a perfect strawberry cake.

*End of Summer update – I realized I never finished my post. Summer was sun, and busy, and complicated at times, but alive and vibrant. Just like the sweet bursting strawberries, it was full of flavor but short lived. The fall is at the door with the wonderful layers, I am ready for it! I might as well say hello to it with a light and fluffy end of the summer strawberry cake.

STRAWBERRY SPONGE CAKE

Recipe by ElmaCourse: Dessert

Prep time

30

minutes

Baking Time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 5 eggs (room temperature), separated

• one lemon – juice and zest

• 100 ml milk

• 200 gr flour

• 5 spoons of caster sugar or 3 spoons of powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

• 500 ml heavy whipping cream

• 500 gr mascarpone cheese

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 100 gr of white grated chocolate

• 1 lb. of strawberries, cleaned and halved

Directions

• Beat the egg whites with the mixer until fluffy – gently add the egg yolks. Using a hand whisk add the lemon juice and zest, flour, baking powder, milk and sugar. Butter an 8″ round cake pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes at 350°. Let it cool on the rack and divide the biscuit in two.
• Beat the whipping cream and sugar; add the mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract and the grated white chocolate – that’s it!
• On the first half spoon and spread about the half of the cream mixture, neatly add the strawberries and top with the rest of the cream. Top the cream with the second biscuit half. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!