Strawberry Cheesecake Sponge Cake

“This is a delightful sweet treat.”

This romantic and luscious cake that suits all occasions. I made this because my son loved strawberry and cheese. I thought the combination would make him thrilled, even on his dad’s birthday. Yes, this was the birthday cake for the dad’s, but with favourable to son’s liking. :D

Indeed, son requested 3 servings at one go, and wanted to go on, if I did not stop him. In fact, it was well-liked by everyone. Even I supposed to watch my diet, couldn’t resist and had 2 slices of it. :)

The texture of this strawberry cheesecake filling wasn’t too firm, more like mousse, with the present of cheesy flavour, I supposed. Good thing, it was not overly tasted.

Yes, give this soft, light and delicious sweet treat a try!

Serves 8
Ingredients
For strawberry cheesecake filling:
250g of cream cheese, room temperature
250g of fresh strawberries, diced
50g of caster sugar
20g of icing sugar
2-3 teaspoons of gelatin powder, mixed in 1 – 1.5 tablespoon of hot water

For sponge cake layers:
250g of spongecake mix
5 eggs, room temperature
50g of butter, melted
50ml of water

For frosting:
250ml of whipping cream
20g of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 teaspoon of strawberry essence

For decoration:
Fresh strawberries and gooseberries
Snow sugar (for dusting)

Method
(1) To make sponge cake: Beat cake mix, eggs and water in an electrical mixer for 8 – 10 minutes, or until light and pale. Fold in melted butter. Pour batter in cake tin with removable base. Bake in preheated oven at 165deg Celsius for 10-12 minutes. Cool on rack. Layer the sponge cake to halves, lengthwise.

(2) To make strawberry cheesecake filling: Place strawberries and sugar in a saucepan, heat on medium fire, until sugar has dissolved. Lower heat and simmer strawberry mixture until it turns soft and jam-like consistency, for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

(3) In mixer, beat cream cheese and icing sugar on medium speed. Slowly pour in strawberry purée, continue to beat until strawberry cheese mixture is well combined and smooth. Add gelatin water.

(4) To assemble: Return cooled sponge cake layers. Set aside a layer or sponge cake for later. Place another layer into lined cake tin. Pour strawberry cheesecake filling onto the layer. Even out the surface, and place cake in the fridge to allow cheesecake filling to set, for at least 4-5 hours.

(5) In the meantime, whip frosting by beating the whipping cream until soft peak. Add icing sugar and essences, continue to beat until firm peak. Keep in the fridge for later.

(6) When cheesecake filling is set, gently remove cake from cake tin and place on cake board. Top the reserved sponge cake layer on the cheesecake filling. Use a knife to trim and even up the sides of the cake. Do up the frosting. Place berries on top of the cake. Dust snow sugar on the berries. Serve, or keep in the fridge.

A serving of this delicate cake counts about 280kcal.

Tips: Use any brand of sponge cake mix and follow the instructions on the packaging to bake the cake. For my recipe, I used Redman brand, this time.