Japanese Christmas Cake with Whipped Cream and Fresh Strawberries

What you need

• 4 large eggs, room temperature, about 200 g without shells
• 190 g (scant 1 cup) granulated sugar, divided: 120 g for the sponge, 30 g for the syrup, 40 g for the cream
• 110 g (scant 1 cup) cake flour, sifted twice
• 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) whole milk
• 450 ml (scant 2 cups) heavy cream, 36% fat, very cold
• 450 g (1 lb) strawberries, hulled; keep 12 of the prettiest whole

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Line the base and sides of a deep 18 cm (7 in) round cake tin with parchment.

2. 2

   Melt the butter with the milk in a small pan and keep it warm.

3. 3

   Combine the eggs and 120 g of the sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set it over a pot of barely simmering water and whisk until the mixture is 40 °C (104 °F), warm to the touch, with the sugar dissolved.

4. 4

   Beat with an electric mixer on high 6-8 min, until the foam is pale, has roughly tripled and leaves a ribbon on the surface that holds for 5 seconds.

5. 5

   Switch the mixer to its lowest speed for 1 min to even out the large bubbles.

6. 6

   Sift the flour over the foam in 3 additions, folding from the bottom up with a spatula after each, until no streaks remain.

7. 7

   Stir a big spoonful of batter into the warm butter and milk, then fold that back into the batter quickly, until just blended.

8. 8

   Pour the batter into the tin and tap it once on the counter. Bake 30-35 min, until golden, springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.

9. 9

   Drop the tin once onto the counter from about 15 cm (6 in) to release steam. Turn the cake out onto a rack, peel off the paper and cool completely, about 1 h.

10. 10

    Simmer 30 g sugar with 60 ml water for 1 min, then let the sugar water cool.

11. 11

    Whip the cream with the remaining 40 g sugar in a chilled bowl until it holds medium-stiff peaks, 3-4 min. Keep it in the fridge.

12. 12

    Slice 250 g of the strawberries about 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. Cut the cooled cake horizontally into 3 even layers with a serrated knife.

13. 13

    Set the bottom layer on a plate and brush it with the sugar water. Spread a thin layer of cream over it, arrange half of the sliced strawberries on top, cover with more cream and level it.

14. 14

    Add the middle layer and repeat with sugar water, cream, the rest of the sliced strawberries and more cream. Top with the last layer, flat side up, and brush with sugar water.

15. 15

    Coat the top and sides with a thin layer of cream and chill 20 min. Reserve some cream for piping, then smooth the remaining cream over the cake.

16. 16

    Pipe 8 rosettes of cream around the rim and top each with a whole strawberry. Place the remaining whole strawberries on the top. Chill at least 1 h and serve cold.

Imported from combinegoodflavors.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.