Happy Father's Day! Today I'm making a banana cream pie, as requested for dessert, but wanted to post something because it's been a long time. Last month I went to a British Baking class at Sur la table. We learned to make meat pies, scones, and this cake. It's a basic yellow sponge cake with a strawberry and whipped cream filling. I made it last week for my in-laws and it was just as yummy as I remembered! What's interesting is that you use a food processor to mix the cake, which I had never done before. When I made it at home I used my KitchenAid and it worked just as well. They also had us whip the cream by hand, which I recommend for children if you have lots of bored kids at home in the summer like me. ;) I'd like to try it with a different filling like peach, or raspberry. I also love that the only decorating you have to do is sprinkle powdered sugar on the top!
adapted from surlatable.com
Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
1 cup self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup whole milk
Filling
½ cup strawberry jam
3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP powdered sugar, for dusting cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and position the rack in the center. Lightly butter the bottoms and sides of 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Dust pans with flour and shake out the excess (or use baking spray with flour).
2. To prepare the cake: Place all the ingredients except the milk in the food processor and process into a thick batter. Add milk and pulse until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cakes are springy to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.
3. To make the strawberry filling: Place jam in a medium skillet and warm it over medium heat to loosen the consistency. Remove from heat and fold in strawberries.
4. For the cream: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment add cream and sugar; whisk on medium speed until cream holds firm shiny peaks.
5. To assemble cake: Transfer one of the cooled cakes to a cake plate. Spread the strawberries over the top of the cake. Top the berries with the whipped cream using a spatula and starting from the center of the cake and smoothing it out towards the edges. Place the second cake on top. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the cake generously with powdered sugar and serve.
Makes 1 (9-inch) double layer cake
