strawberries in paris

Strawberry Seduction Challenge…

Here is my valiant attempt at a strawberry whipped cream (layered and flavored) filled angel food cake for the S.S. Challenge from Mike’s Table! Here is the link to all of the posts!

From a Cook’s Country recipe and a general Tartelette inspiration, I concocted this cake!

The layering, although beautifully creative in my mind, would have turned out a bit more elegant if I had used angel food cake to separate the whipped cream layers!

Ingredients:

Cake:
6 egg whites
1 cup sifted cake flour
1.25 cup superfine sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt

Frosting and Filling (made two batches):
1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled slightly in freezer)
1 tsp vanilla
(For pink: Drops of red food coloring and 1 tsp of strawberry extract)
3 chocolate wafers, pounded in ziploc bag
1 quart of strawberries

Directions:
1)Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs form medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining sugar 2 tablespoons at a time. Beat on high speed for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Add the vanilla and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute.
2) Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it very carefully into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour in 3 equal additions, sifting and folding until it’s all incorporated.
3) Pour into charlotte pan lined with parchment paper. (Note: Angel food cake is meant to be baked in an angel food pan, not a charlotte pan! (I liked the size of my charlotte pan and thought I would give it a whirl!))
4) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. When I pressed into the top of the cake, it sprung back so I took it out, inverted and let it cool for 30 minutes.
5) Cut a one inch piece off of the top and fork out a 3 inch deep “hole” leaving 1 inch perimeter. (This was good that I took out the insides, because it was not cooked in there!)
6) Beat cream on high for ~ 1 minute, add vanilla and beat once more.
7) Spread 1/2 cup of white whipped cream into bottom of hole. Layer sliced strawberries on top of first layer. Then, spread 1/2 cup pink strawberry whipped cream. Add crushed chocolate wafers on top of pink. Add more pink layer, then strawberries, then white whipped cream.
Eight) Replace “lid” and frost the entire outside of cake with white whipped cream. Add sliced and whole strawberries for decoration and voila! time to eat!