Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

 

I made this for my husband’s birthday who loves Japanese Strawberry Shortcake recipes. This was probably one of the best strawberry shortcake recipes that I’ve tried. I baked them into two 6-inch pans for ~13 min.

 

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake - Drive Me Hungry

 

Ingredients

8 oz strawberries - washed and dried

 

Dry Ingredients:

½ cup cake flour - (65g) sifted

¼ cup white sugar - (44g) for egg yolks

2 ½ Tablespoons white sugar - (37g) for egg whites

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt - (½ g)

 

Wet Ingredients:

3 large eggs - whites and yolks separated

2 ½ Tablespoons avocado oil - (31g) substitute with neutral vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon water - (12g)

1 teaspoon corn syrup - (6g) substitute with honey

¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

 

Whipped cream frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream - - should be cold

6 to 8 Tablespoons powdered sugar - - add more or less depending on taste (used 8 tablespoons sugar)

 

Cake syrup:

3 Tablespoons sugar

⅓ cup hot water

 

Instructions

 

Egg yolk mixture:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, add together egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar, salt, corn syrup, vanilla, and water. Beat on high with a stand mixer or hand mixer until fluffy and pale yellow with ribbons form when lifting the whisk. Set aside.

 

Egg White Meringue:

In a large bowl, add the egg whites and beat on high until it starts to get foamy. Start adding the 2½ tablespoons of sugar in three equal parts, beating each time to incorporate. Beat the egg whites on high until firm peaks form. When lifting the whisk from the bowl, the meringue should hold its shape while the tip drops slightly.

 

Batter:

Add ½ of the egg white meringue to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold it in until it's mostly mixed in. This should be light and airy. Next, sift the flour and baking powder into the yolk and meringue mixture in three equal parts, gently folding after each time.

Take out 2 Tablespoons of the combined batter from the previous step and mix this with the oil until it's not longer separated. Gently fold the oil mixture into the batter. Next, add the remaining half of the egg white meringue by gently folding it in.

 

Bake:

Pour the batter into a round cake pan lined with parchment paper. You can use one 8 inch pan or two 6 inch pans. Bang the pan twice on a flat surface to remove large air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. About 15 minutes for two 6 inch pans or 23 to 25 minutes for one 8 inch pan.

Remove the cake from the pan and remove the parchment paper. Let it cool on a cooling rack.

 

Slice and Decorate:

Add the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat it on medium speed until you get medium peaks. Watch it carefully and stop the mixer before it becomes grainy. See Note 2.

Slice the cake into even layers. See Note 3 for how to slice even layers. Make the sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar in the hot water. Then, brush on even amounts of the sugar syrup onto all the layers, including the top layer.

Cut half of the strawberries into thick slices for the inner layer. Leave the other half whole to decorate the top of the cake.

Apply a layer of cream to the cake sheet and then top it with sliced strawberries. Add another layer of cream on top of the strawberries and followed by another layer of cake. Repeat as necessary.

Next, frost the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream and decorate as desired. Place whole strawberries on top of the cake, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

 

Recipe Notes

You can use one 8 inch cake pan or two 6 inch cake pans. Avoid using nonstick pans as the coating prevents the sponge cake from fully rising.

Medium peaks - the whipped cream should be soft but hold its shape when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. The top of the peak should fall over but the body will retain its shape. The texture should be smooth with no graininess. Whipping too much will result in a grainy, lumpy texture and you may start to see cracks in the cream which indicate separation.

Slice even layers: First, you want to use a sharp, serrated knife. Next, I prefer to use this cake slicer attachment that works well. Otherwise, you can use toothpicks to mark where you want to cut the layers. Pierce the toothpicks all around the cake and use that as a guide for your knife. Avoid using wire cutter cake levelers as the sponge cake too soft for that tool.

*All cup and spoon measurements are based on the US cup which is 240ml or 8.45 imperial fluid ounces. The US tablespoon is approximately 14.8ml or 3 teaspoons. Please adjust if needed.

**If you have a kitchen scale, please use the gram measurements as those are more precise. The US cup measurements are approximations of gram measurements for easier conversion.