Strawberry Shortcake

I followed a recipe from "Just Desserts" by Daniel Tay who is the owner of Bakerz Inn. Anyway, since i like their strawberry shortcake, i thought i would bake this today since i was quite free in the afternoon. The only thing i don't really like about his book is he measures everything including eggs. I had to do some 'homework' to find out how many eggs is 170g?! Even though i also weigh the eggs in the end, i still wanted to know how many eggs i need to use for any recipe before i try it right?! Other measures i suppose is ok but for eggs..i don't really like to weigh - but i guess this probably what the professional pastry chef does anyway..

Then cream..it states 1 litre of cream, in the end i think 500ml (2 cups) of cream is more than enough! I had too much cream on hand, and no more cake, so i just practise my piping skill and piped out a lot of whipping cream all over the cake..hahahahaha...my husband helped me put more strawberries slices on top of the 5 i already had! He said nicer this way..lol! Yes, now i have OTT cream piped all over my cake..cos i don't know what to do with the cream and i still have more kept in a container?!! *too sayang too throw away leh..*

Strawberry Shortcake (Adapted from Just Desserts by Daniel Tay)

Makes one 20cm (8-inch cake)

Genoise Sponge Ingredients:-
- Egg Yolks 110g
- Eggs 175g
- Sugar 170g
- Light Cake Flour 110g, sifted
- Unsalted butter 55g, melted

Chantilly Cream Ingredients:-
- Whipping Cream - 1litre
- Sugar - 100g
- mascarpone cheese 100g.

Method:-
1. preheat oven to 180C
2. prepare genoise sponge: Combined egg yolks, eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk on high speed for 10mins. Reduce to medium speed and whisk for another 10 mins or until the fine air bubbles form.
3. Lightly fold in flour, followed by melted butter, until fully incorporated.
4. Pour batter into a lined 20cm round cake tin. Level batter with a spatula and bake for 20-30mins or until the top of cake is firm to touch. Remove from heat and leave aside to cool.
5. Unmould cake and remove paper. Peel skin off the top of the cake and discard.
6. Prepare chantilly cream. Combine cream, sugar and mascarpone cheese in a mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed for 3mins. Increase to high speed and continue to whisk until light and smooth. Set aside.
7. Assemble cake: - horizontally slice genoise sponge cake into 2 equal layers. Place one layer on cake board andplace a 22.5cm cake ring over. Spoon half of chantilly cream over and around the sides of the sponge layer and level with an angle palette knife. Arrange some strawberries on top of cream, then place second sponge layer over. Spoon remaining cream over and arund the sides of the cake and level again. Refridgerate cake until slightly firm. Gently ease cake ring from cake and remove. Coat the side of the cake with ground almonds, if desired. Decorate cake as desired and serve chilled.