Japanese Strawberry Short Cake

The two little figures are the cherry blossom fairies.

That's the best I could do!

With all the ingredients I bought from Japan, I guess it's best I make a Japanese strawberry short cake(s) while the ingredients are still fresh. I made two cakes this time. One is the normal strawberry short cake, and the other one with a slight touch of Cherry Blossom. How I wish our country could also have the Cherry Blossom celebration like Japan. I didn't do a good job of mixing the pink into the fresh cream. I got it too pinkie instead of the pastel pink. But I couldn't do much as I ran out of the fresh cream ,after I used up most to ice the cake.

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However, I have no complain of the result of the cake. The sponge is soft and light. After I cut a piece and put on a plate, I could see the Jello effect when I give it a light shake. That's the most satisfying thing you could get after all the hard work. Many people are quite intimidated by making a sponge without any rising agent to help with the sponge texture. But it's not as 'Scary ' as what I used to think. I have tired many different recipes in the past. But I couldn't achieve the best result, till I came across the recipe from Nisshin and I adjusted the ingredients which is what I finally got it right!

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Ingredients for cake sponge:

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Large Eggs 3

Sugar 80g

Nisshin Violet Flour 90g

Melted Unsalted Butter 30g

Vanilla Essence 1/2 tsp

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Icing:

Japanese Fresh Cream 350ml}

Sugar 30g } Whip together till firm.

Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp }

Enough strawberry for both sandwich and topping.

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Method:

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1. Mix eggs and sugar over hot water till the sugar are melted.

2. Move away from hot water and with a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg in high speed till ribbon stage. Bring the speed to low and continue for another 1 minute to stabilize the air bubbles.

3. Fold in sifted flour very gently till all well blended. Mix a small portion of the batter to the melted butter and give it a good mix, then pour the buttered batter back to the egg batter and mix well.

4. Pour batter into a lined 7 inch round tin and bake in pre heat oven at 170'c for 28 minutes.

5. When the cake is baked, unmould the cake and let it cool an wire rack.

6. Decorate the cake as you wish after the cake is completely cooled.