“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory “- Ralph Waldo Emerson .
I think its been over a year since strawberries featured on these pages ! About time we made some good use of the berry season !
This Strawberry bavarian cream cake is a mousse style cake .Not high on drama.It has three layers of white cake and two layers of the strawberry bavarian cream filling.
The cake is a butter based cake and is snowy white because it has only egg whites. It turns out light and fluffy. If you like your layer cakes moist and almost juicy, you can even soak it with syrup. I didnt use any syrup here as I didnt think it would be missed, It wasnt, And before you start wondering what to do with the leftover yolks , dont worry ! They go right into the bavarian cream. How great is that right ! I absolutely hate having egg yolks around. I save them thinking I ll use them some way. Then I start looking for recipes to use them. Then by the time I finalise on a recipe ( or forget about the yolks completely and then remember ) , they are all dried up and un usable !
Anyways…
The bavarian cream filling or bavarois is a custard that is lightened with whipped cream and then set with gelatin. It can actually be a whole dessert by itself, served like mousse or pudding. Now granted, it involves more ingredients, steps and possibly labour than some other cake fillings. But what it lacks in ease, it more than makes up for in flavour and texture. It is light and creamy, almost billowy. Like whipped cream but richer and firmer. I borrowed the recipe from here
Looking back, I feel this cake will do as well with lesser layers (and fuss!). Maybe a bigger cake, sliced in two with just a single thick layer of generous bavarois in between.
I initially planned to frost the cake , but when I saw the cake, I kinda liked the way it looked. That and laziness. But what do you think – too plain ? or just rustic enough ?
Strawberry bavarian cream cake
Ingredients
For the white cake
- 113 grams or ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar
- 200 grams or about 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla I used clear vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- 160 ml or 2/3 cup milk at room temperature
For the strawberry bavarian cream
- 240 ml or 1 cup strawberry purée
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 3 egg yolks
- 75 grams or 1/3 cup granulated or caster sugar
- 240 ml or 1 cup milk
- 240 ml or 1 cup heavy or whipping cream chilled
- 1 tablespoon gelatin
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 180 C.
- Grease a 6 inch round pan with butter and dust with flour. Line the bottom with parchment. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Keep aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar until light , fluffy and creamy.
- Beat in the egg whites until fully incorporated.
- Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Now add in the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, and beat after each addition. so, 1/3rd of the flour mixture -beat- 1/2 of the milk- beat - 1/3rd of flour - beat -remaining milk - beat - remaining 1/3 of flour mixture- Beat. Scrape your bowl as needed.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.Bake at 160 C/325 F for 42 to 50 minutes until the cake springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the cream
- Sprinkle gelatin all over the strawberry purée. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a small mixing bowl until pale and thick. Set aside.
- Place the milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer ( small bubbles begin to appear on the edges).
- Add a little of the milk into the egg yolk mixture while whisking . This is called tempering. Add some more while whisking in the same way. Continue until all the milk is mixed with the yolks.
- Now , pour the egg yolks and milk mixture into the saucepan.
- Continue cooking on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula until thickened.
- Now take the saucepan off heat and stir in the strawberry-gelatin mix.
- If gelatin hasnt dissolved completely , you can heat the saucepan on low while stirring.
- Strain the mixture and stir in the lime juice
- Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- Whip the cream until medium stiff peaks formed.
- Whisk in ⅓ of the cream into the strawberry mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whipped cream.
To assemble
- Slice the cooled cake horizontally into 3 layers. Line your cake tin with plastic wrap so that it is above the edges of the pan (to pull out later ). If using a springiform / loose bottomed pan , just line the bottom with parchment. You can skip this and just assemble like you would a regular cake.
- Place a layer of cake on your serving plate / cake tin.
- Spread about a 1/3 of the cream filling.
- Place the second layer on top, press gently. Layer with cream .
- Place last layer on top and press gently. Spread a little cream on top and smoothen.
- If assembling on a plate , spread some on the sides of the cake and smoothen.
- Chill for atleast 4 hours . Remove from pan and decorate as needed.
- Serve after bringing to room temperature (half hour out of the fridge)
Notes
The white cake can be made beforehand but make the bavarian cream just before assembly.
You can also make this cake in a 7 inch pan (bake at 180 c for 35 - 38 minutes) and slice into two.
To whip your cream well , keep the cream inside a metal bowl and chill this along with your beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes before whipping.
Use the freshest strawberries for the best flavour!
My measuring cup is 240 ml.
This cake is super light – the cake is light and the cream is silky smooth and uber creamy ! You can dress it up further if you choose with a white chocolate or dark chocolate ganache frosting or drip. Or maybe decorate with strawberries for a fresh punch . Do let me know if you try this one!
Some other cool ways to use up some strawberries :
Eggless lime and strawberry cake
Honey pannacotta with strawberry compote
Strawberry cheesecake brownie cake
Can I make and assemble the whole cake with cream 24 hours in advance of serving?
Thanks for your pro tips 🙂
Hey.. yes you can make this a day in advance !
I made this and the frosting turned out runny. Not sure what I did wrong. I cooked the milk and egg mixture till it thickened. And let it cool to room temperature. I’m hoping that putting it in the fridge to chill a bit helps
Hi Cristina.. yes , the frosting sets only after chilling.. so fill your cake with it when soft and then chill.. it will set in a mousse style. Hope this helps !