Strawberry Fresh Cream Cake

There's not much to say except that we celebrated our 11th anniversary with this delicious Strawberry fresh cream cake over the weekend. This is a very simple cake which can be made in a jiffy , but tastes rich and exotic. Strawberries can be substituted with pineapple or any fruit of your choice.

Ingredients:
For the Sponge Cake:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs (at room temperature)
1tsp Vanilla essence


For the cream:
250ml Fresh cream
2 tblsp powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence


For sugar syrup to soak the sponge
1tblsp lemon juice 
4tblsp warm water
2tblsp sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 350C.
Prepare two 8inch  round cake pans. Line the base and the sides with parchment paper.
Beat the eggs  and sugar over simmering water for about 6-7 minutes.
Take the vessel out of water, let it cool for a minute add the essence and then beat again for 2 -3 mins till pale and creamy
Now slowly add the flour with a soon and mix gently with a spatula. Do not over mix.
Mix just until the flour is incorporated.
Pour the batter in the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 mins.


Cake test - The tooth pick inserted in the center should come out clean. The edges of the cake will pull away from the pan at this stage.
Cool the cake completely  on a wire rack .

Prepare the cream.
Chill the bowl and the beater in the refrigerator for about an hour. 
Add the cream and powdered sugar in the chilled bowl and beat for 6-8 mins in medium speed , till the cream becomes thick and clotted. 
Take care as overbeating may result in grainy or curdled cream


To Assemble:
Chop the strawberry to tiny pieces
Cool the cake completly before Decorating.
Mix the lemon juice and water in a small bowl.
Place one layer of the cake in the decorating plate
Brush the top of the cake with this syrup or you can go ahead and sprinkle it.
Add the cream on the cake , level it and add the chopped strawberries on top. 
Place the next layer of the cake and gently press down. 
Now again apply the sugar syrup and then the cream.
Gently level the cream over the top and the sides of the cake. 
Pipe desired pattern over the sides and the bottom of the cake.

Chill the cake for atleast an hour before serving.