Strawberries and Cream Castella Cake
A light, fluffy, and airy dessert made with a tender Taiwanese castella cake and fresh strawberry whipped cream. This cake is lightly sweetened and full of fresh flavors, perfect for dessert!
Servings: 1 9 inch cake
Ingredients
For the cake batter
- 1 cup (125g) cake flour or substitute all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup (60mL) oil
- 1/2 cup (118mL) milk
- 8 large eggs, separated room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from one lemon, optional
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) vinegar or substitute lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (125g) granulated sugar
For the strawberry whipped cream
- 2 cups (16oz) whipping cream
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries diced into very small pieces
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
Instructions
Make the cake batter
- Preheat oven to 300ºF and set an oven rack in the lower half of the oven. Line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Also prepare a larger oven safe dish to act as a water bath and a pot of hot, but not boiling water.
- In a large bowl, sift in the flour and add the butter, oil, and milk. Whisk until smooth, then add the egg yolks. Also add the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Whisk everything until just combined. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add the egg whites and vinegar. Beat with an electric mixer until frothy, then add the 1/2 cup sugar a little bit at a time, beating on medium-high speed until completely incorporated. Continue beating until the meringue forms medium peaks.
- Add one third of the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold until mostly incorporated. Then add another third of the egg whites and fold again until incorporated, making sure not to deflate the meringue. Then repeat one more time with the remaining third of meringue.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap the pan on the counter once to get rid of large air bubbles. Place the cake pan inside the larger dish and transfer into the oven. Pour the hot water into the larger dish around the cake pan until the water comes halfway up the cake pan.
- Bake the castella cake for 70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool to room temperature before running a knife along the edge of the pan and removing the cake onto a wire rack.
Make the strawberry whipped cream
- While the cake cools, make the strawberry whipped cream. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar on top of the diced strawberries and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the whipping cream and remaining sugar to a large bowl and beat on medium high speed until it reaches stiff peaks (be careful not to over whip).
- Once the strawberries have rested, add them and their juices to the whipped cream and gently fold until incorporated.
Frost the cake
- Once the cake has cooled completely, slice it into two even layers (or optionally just leave it as one layer). Add half of the whipped cream on top of the first layer and spread evenly. Then add the second cake layer on top and spread the rest of the whipped cream evenly over it. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Cold eggs are easier to separate so I recommend separating the eggs before allowing them to come to room temperature.
When whipping the egg whites, make sure to whip to medium peaks. Too soft and they will easily deflate, but too stiff and the meringue will be hard to incorporate.