Description
Japanese Strawberry Cake is a delicate and airy sponge cake layered with sweet macerated strawberries and fluffy whipped cream. This recipe features a moist, soft cake made using a water bath for a perfect texture, complemented by rich, lightly sweetened cream and juicy strawberries. It’s a classic Japanese style dessert, ideal for special occasions or enjoying with tea.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 80 g (1/3 cup) whole milk
- 50 g (3 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 75 g (1/2 cup + 1/2 tablespoon) cake flour
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 large egg whites
- 70 g (5 1/2 tablespoons) sugar (caster sugar if available)
Strawberries
- 12 oz to 1 lb (340 g to 450 g) strawberries, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 280 g (10 oz) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon gelatin (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons cold water (Optional)
Cake Syrup
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
- Prepare the cake lining and oven: Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of an 8” round cake pan and line the pan. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Prepare a high-walled pan or baking dish as a water bath and boil water to fill it to 1 inch (2.5 cm) depth.
- Melt butter and mix batter base: Combine milk and butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave until melted. Stir well. Sift cake flour into this mixture and gently mix until smooth. Add egg yolks and mix to combine.
- Whip egg whites: Using a stand or hand mixer, beat egg whites on medium high speed until frothy. Gradually add sugar while beating until glossy medium peaks form.
- Combine egg mixtures: Fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it. Pour the lightened yolk mixture back into the remaining egg whites and gently fold together until just smooth without large egg white pieces.
- Bake the cake in a water bath: Pour batter into prepared pan. Drop the pan twice from 5” height to release bubbles. Place cake pan in water bath pan with hot water covering 1 inch. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and cake pulls away from pan edges. Do not open oven early.
- Cool the cake: Run knife along edge, invert onto cooling rack, and cool completely before decorating.
- Macerate strawberries: Slice 8 oz (225 g) strawberries into 1/4” slices, mix with sugar, and let sit for 1 to 2 hours until glossy and syrupy. Reserve the soaking liquid separately.
- Prepare cake syrup: Dissolve sugar in hot water to make syrup. Optionally mix in reserved strawberry liquid for enhanced flavor and slight pink coloring.
- Make stabilized whipped cream (optional): Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes, then melt. Whip heavy cream with confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Mix some whipped cream into gelatin then fold back into cream and whip briefly to soft peaks. Avoid over-whipping.
- Make regular whipped cream: Whip heavy cream and confectioners sugar until firm peaks form if not using gelatin.
- Assemble the cake: Once cooled, level cake using toothpicks and serrated knife to remove browned top and slice into two thin layers. Place bottom layer cut-side up on cake stand and brush with syrup. Flip top layer upside down and brush with syrup.
- Add cream and strawberries: Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on bottom layer, top with as many strawberries as will fit, then add another thin layer of cream over strawberries.
- Layer the top cake and decorate: Place top layer of cake onto bottom layer, align edges, and add dollops of cream to cover and smooth sides. Apply a thicker cream layer on top and sides. Use remaining cream to pipe decorations if desired.
- Finish and chill: Decorate with remaining strawberries on top. If stabilized cream was used, refrigerate uncovered for at least 30 minutes to set. Serve immediately with regular cream or refrigerate and serve within a few hours.
- Serving: Slice carefully with serrated knife once ready to serve, allowing stabilized cream cakes to come to room temperature for best texture.
Notes
- If you do not have a spinning cake stand, create one by inverting a bowl or cake pan, then placing a flat plate or removable pie pan bottom on top to rotate cake while decorating.
- Do not open the oven for the first hour of baking to prevent collapsing cake.
- Use gelatin only if you want stabilized cream that holds its shape longer; otherwise, regular whipped cream is fine.
- Reserve strawberry soaking liquid to add extra flavor to syrup if desired.
- Use a water bath during baking to create a moist, tender cake texture typical of Japanese sponge cakes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 1/8 cake)
- Calories: 310 kcal
- Sugar: 21 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
