Chocolate Sponge Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling

The final day of my strawberry posts is finally upon us.  I’ve had such a wonderful time posting all of these strawberry recipes this week.  However, Eric and I now have way too many desserts in our house!  I have a feeling this one won’t last very long, though.

My favorite thing about making this cake was that I got to use my new kitchen scale.  Weighing provides more accurate measurements and can really come in handy when precision is key.  In this case, it also saved me the time of converting the recipe.

Having never made or eaten sponge cake before, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was very happy with the results – a light, airy cake.  Sponge cakes get all this airiness from beating the eggs and sugar until the eggs have quadrupled in volume.  The rest of the ingredients are then gently folded in.  For this cake, the recipe called for sifting the dry ingredients three times, which incorporated even more air into the cake.

With such a delicate cake, the whipped cream filling was perfect.  Nothing more than heavy cream, powdered sugar and strawberries, it provided the perfect complement to this cake.  I decided to add sliced strawberries in between the top two layers, just to give a little bit of extra strawberry flavor and texture.  The cake tastes fabulous, with all the components working together harmoniously.

Chocolate Sponge Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling
Ingredients:
For the sponge cake:
75 grams sugar
3 eggs
75 grams, minus 3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
200 milliliters (about 6 3/4 ounces) heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (increase if strawberries are very tart)
100 grams strawberries, chopped
For the ganache:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350º.  (The original recipe called for 180 Celsius, so I baked mine on the equivalent, which is 356º.)
-Butter and flour (or line with parchment) two 6 inch pans.
-Sift the dry ingredients three times and set aside.
-In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until quadrupled in size and thick ribbons fall from the beater, about 10 minutes.
-Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
-Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, using figure eight movements so the air does not escape.
-Pour batter into prepared pans and bake about 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
-Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then cool completely on a cooling rack.
-To make the filling, add heavy cream and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Gradually increase speed and beat until stiff peaks form.
-Fold in the chopped strawberries.
-To make the ganache, place chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl and set aside.
-Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until simmering.  Immediately pour over chocolate and allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Whisk by hand until all the chocolate is melted.

Source:  Adapted from Passionate About Baking