Strawberry-Chai Cake
Strawberries and Chai are two flavours that complement each other extremely well, put them in a light and fluffy cake and you have a delicious easy cake made for any occasion.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
You will need to separate 10 eggs total for this recipe, 8 yolks and 8 whites will go into the batter separately, and the remaining two yolks will be used to make the filling. You will still have two egg whites left that you can use to make your breakfast eggs a little bit bigger the following day. If you`ve never separated eggs before, you can do it in many different ways, I recommend using the 3-bowl method and just separating with your hands. Have one small bowl and two medium ones ready, you will crack the egg on the small one and separate it with your hands, place the yolk on one medium bowl and the white in the other. Only then, move on to the next egg, this way if one of your yolks breaks you won`t have contaminated all the other whites, because that would prevent them from getting whipped. Simply reserve that egg for your next day`s breakfast, clean and dry the bowl and continue the process. Make sure there is no water or yolks in your egg whites.
In a large bowl, whisk together 8 egg yolks, 100g of unsalted-softened butter, and 1 ½ cups of sugar until smooth. Mix 1 cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs and 1 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder, and 1 teaspoon each of ground cloves, cardamom, and all spice into the yolks and mix until fully incorporated. This mixture will be really thick, but don`t worry, once the whipped egg whites go in, it will become more of a cake batter consistency.
If you have a stand-up mixer or an electric whisk this part will take about 7 minutes, if you`re using a manual whisk, you can cancel your gym membership for the month, it will be a lot of whisking. In a large bowl, whisk the 8 egg whites until you have stiff peaks. It might take some time (and effort if you are doing it by hand) but it is worth it, this is what will make your cake very light and fluffy.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the cake batter gently with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The difference between folding and mixing, is that when you mix it, you end up agitating the egg whites too much and they lose their aeration, which will flatten your cake. By gently folding it with a spoon, meaning you incorporate the whipped egg whites in a slow circular motion from the bottom side and into the middle and repeat all the way around until you can`t see large clumps of the whites anymore. Oil and flour the entire surfaces of a 9-inch springform pan and add the batter to it. Place it in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Once you poke a toothpick through the middle of the cake and it comes out dry, it is ready.
While the cake is in the oven, start making the filling. Thinly slice 10 strawberries and add them to a small pot with 2 egg yolks, 1 can of condensed milk, 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, 2/3 cup of milk, and 1/3 cup of heavy cream. Cook on medium heat stirring constantly to prevent It from scorching until it becomes thicker but not hard. If you feel like it got a little bit too thick, add a splash of heavy cream and cook for a couple more minutes until you reach the desired consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. You can also add a very small droplet of pink food colouring at this point if you want it to look more pink than the strawberry`s natural colour, just dip the tip of a toothpick into the colouring and then dip the filling, mix it and add just a tiny dip at a time until you get the colour you want, a little bit goes a very long way. Divide the filling in 3 parts.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down to a point where you can easily touch it. Use a sharp bread knife to divide the cake into 3 equal-sized circles. Let it cool completely in the fridge.
Spread a 1/3 of the cooled filling on top of your lower slice of cake, top it with the middle slice and spread another 1/3 of filling on it, top it with the last slice of cake and cover the top with the last 1/3 of the filling. Decorate with 2 strawberries, powder sugar, coconut flakes, the whole form of the spices we used and any other beautiful things you have in the kitchen that you would like to add to the top. We went very simple with it, just allowing the strawberries to speak for themselves.
Slice it and enjoy on any occasion.
Strawberry-Chai Cake
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 10
Cake Ingredients
8 Eggs, yolks and whites separated
100g Unsalted Butter, softened (7 Tbsps)
1 ½ Cup Sugar
1 Cup Unseasoned Breadcrumbs
1 Cup AP Flour
1 Tbsp Cinnamon Powder
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ground Cloves
1 tsp Ground Cardamom
1 tsp Ground All Spice
Filling Ingredients
2 Yolks
1 Can Condensed Milk
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2/3 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
12 Strawberries, 10 thinly sliced and 2 for decorating.
Step-by-Step
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks, soft butter and sugar until fully combined. Add in flour, breadcrumbs, baking powder and spices. It will be a thick batter for now.
3. In a separate clean and fully dry bowl, whip the egg whites until you have stiff peaks with an electric hand whisk or a stand-up mixer.
4. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the cake batter. You don`t want to move the whites too much, just gently incorporate them into the batter.
5. Bake in a oiled and floured 9-inch springform pan for 40 minutes, until a toothpick put in the middle of the cake comes out dry.
6. While the cake is baking, make the filling. Add all ingredients to a medium pot and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly to not let it scorch. Once it thickens, about 15 minutes, take it off the heat and let it cool completely. Divide it in 3 equal parts.
7. Let the cake cool slightly and divide it into 3 equal rounds with a bread knife. Place them in the fridge for the cake to cool completely.
8. Spread a thin layer of the filling on top of the first cake layer, top it with the second slice of cake and repeat. Decorate the top of the cake with the remaining filling, fresh strawberries, icing sugar and any other topping you may like.
