Christmas on the Snow (Strawberry Cake Recipe)

Just baked this cake for leisure indulgence, and saw its pure white creaming with bright red strawberries on it. This reminds me of the.... Christmas which is approaching!

Besides the log cakes, I think this cake makes wonder for my Christmas this year. I am gonna bake this same cake again for the Christmas and I am confident that this will be a big hit for the children of my friends over the small gathering I am going to have during the season.

It's very simple to bake and decorate. I am sure you will like to have one for your festive celebration. Yeah, how about having this "Christmas on the Snow" for the eve, and a.. chocolate log cake for the actual day? Sounds great, isn't it (chuckling)?!

Yields  12 - 14 slices
Ingredients

200 grams of sponge cake premix (I used Optima Ready Mix from Bake King brand)
3 large eggs
50 ml mixture of milk + water (about 1/4 small cup)
10 grams of butter
1 teaspoon of strawberry emulco

Filling, Creaming & Decoration:
200 ml of (non-dairy) fresh cream, whipped
4 large fresh and ripe strawberries, trimmed and diced
8 - 10 large fresh and ripe strawberries, trimmed and halved


Glazing (Optional):
50 gram of apricot gel, boiled in 50g water until dissolved, and cooled for later.

Method:
1) Mix cake premix flour, butter, milk mixture, and eggs into large mixing bowl. Use electrical mixer to beat cake mixture well at medium speed (No. 2), for 8 – 10 minutes. Add strawberry emulco and mix well.

2) Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes, set temperature to 180°C.

3) Grease and line a sheet of grease-proof paper evenly on a 8” square or round baking pan. Pour in cake mixture. Place baking pan at centre rack. Bake for 30 – 35 min using 180°C (top and bottom heat on), or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out completely clean.

4) Allow cake to cool on wire rack, for about an hour. When cake is completely cooled, slice it into 2 layers, using bread knife.

5) For filling: Use half the amount of whipped cream and mix in diced strawberries. Combine all well. Spread a thick layer of filling evenly on the bottom layer of cake. Leave some space around the edges of the cake.

6) Top another layer of cake. Then, spread a thick layer of (another half amount of cream left) whipped cream evenly covering the whole cake. Next, arrange strawberries on top nicely with flat surface down. Lastly, glaze the top of the fruits with apricot gel solution for more shiny appearance. Chill decorated cake in the refrigerator till ready to serve.


A slice of my strawberry cream cake counts about 300kcal.

Homemade Whipped Cream Recipe

"Simple Homemade Non-Dairy Whipped Cream for Topping and Filling"

Whipped cream is easy to make. You can have the whipped cream made, to use it as topping of cream cake, cold pie, fruit tart, and even fresh cut fruits.

A good quality whipped cream can be stored in the refrigerator for at least 2 days.

Most of the time, the more commonly used whipping cream is dairy, and heavy. Heavy whipping cream which contains about 40% of fat, required lesser whipping time than the light whipping cream.

With no particular reason, I chose Frozen Non-Dairy Whipped Topping, for topping use as well as filling of cake. In fact, it was recommended by the seller, to use it. Non-dairy whipping cream appears much softer in texture, even after whipped. Hence, the decorated cake has to be stored in the refirgerator once done, until ready to serve. Oh yes, the price of this Red Man brand's non-dairy is only S$4.59 for 1Litter (made in Singapore), while other imported (from UK) dairy whipping creams carried by them, cost about S$6+ for same 1Litter package.

In fact, I tried another famous imported brand, Emborg, too. It costs about $4.80 for just 200ml which good enough for only one small cake! As for taste wise, I did not really find a great difference between these two types of whip cream. I guess it was because I did not have just the whipped cream spreaded on the cake. I had the whipped cream mixed with plenty of mango, where the taste of mango overwhelmed the creamy flavour.

Not to worry about the choice of heavy or light, and dairy or non. No fuss rule, the choice is yours.

For topping and filling of one 8" cake
Ingredients
200ml of whipping cream (non-dairy whipping topping cream or dairy whipping cream)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:
1) Place whipping cream (liquid form) into a mixing bowl.

2) Whip the cream with a wire whisk or eletrical mixer. If using eletrical mixer, like I did, beat (in circular motion) the mixture with medium-low speed till slightly thickened.

3) Add brown sugar and vanilla essence. Continue to beat for 5 - 6 minutes, or until cream forms soft peaks.

4) If you are not too sure if the cream is ready, use a spoon to scoop a little and turn the spoon upside-down. Sucessful whipped cream should adhere to an upturned spoon. Ready to use.

1 tablespoon of non-dairy whipped cream yields about 60kcal.

Tips: Please whip the cream when it's cold. Do not leave it till room-temperatured.
*If the whipping cream is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator half a day, before use.