In the quest of looking for the perfect cake recipe, this strawberry surprise cake is the epitome of everything needed in a cake. The finest of both are combined in this lively, surprise cake for an extra-special birthday celebration (or any occasion). You'll be glad you baked the cake from scratch when you see the excitement on your visitors' faces as they savour a slice of Surprise Cake with Strawberries. From the first bite to the last one, one can experience the flavour and taste of strawberries. The best part is the 'surprise' – raw strawberries inside the cake. All that is needed for this cake is butter, cream, milk and lots of strawberries! This heart-shaped cake will be the perfect cake to make for one’s loved ones. One can never go wrong with strawberries. Strawberry cakes are often associated with shortcakes. The short in shortcake refers to something crispy or crumbly, through the addition of a fast such as butter or lard.
Eliza Leslie popularised strawberry cakes when she included it in her book The Lady's receipt book. These cakes were made of a thick unleavened cookie of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, split, layered with fresh strawberries and covered with a hard sugar-and-egg white icing. Strawberry cakes thrived even before the inception of baking soda and powder in the 1800s. But baking powder revolutionised baking, and by the 1850s, leavened shortcakes were a popular pastry for American strawberry cakes and the term strawberry shortcake was established. Cream was an addition to shortcakes and strawberries in the 1860s.
Ingredients
1. 4 cups all-purpose flour
2. 4 teaspoons baking powder
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 3 sticks of butter (at room temperature)
5. 2 cups sugar
6. 8 large eggs (at room temperature)
7. 1 cup whole milk
8. ¼ cup strawberry puree
9. 2 teaspoons vanilla
10. 1 cup vanilla buttercream
11. 12 strawberries
12. 3 cups red buttercream
13. ½ cup green buttercream
Strawberry cake/ unsplash.com
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
3. In another large bowl, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy and light. Add eggs one at a time. Alternate between adding flour mixture and milk until fully incorporated. Pour vanilla and strawberry puree into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between all the cake pans.
4. Bake all for 20-25 minutes. Let it cool before assembly.
5. Cut a round cake in half. Place the square cake at an angle to resemble a diamond. Place halved round cake pieces on the top creating a heart. Line the heart with vanilla buttercream and repeat this by stacking two more squares and rounds on top of each other.
6. Use a large round cookie cutter to cut through one layer of the heart.
7. Remove the cake and fill it with strawberries. Top with remaining cakes and cover with a thin layer of red buttercream. Place remaining red buttercream in a piping bag with a small star tip.
8. Cover the entire cake with dots to resemble a strawberry. Top with green buttercream to resemble the greens of a strawberry. Slice and serve to reveal hidden strawberries.
9. Voila! Your delicious strawberry cake is ready to serve.
