Strawberry Jam With Pectin

Strawberries Sponge Cake

Strawberries Sponge Cake

Ingredients

For the Cream and Berries

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 125g package brick cream cheese, at room temperature 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla pod paste Icing sugar, for dusting
• 1/3 cup good quality strawberry jam
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

For the Sponge Cake

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

1. For the Sponge Cake
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F
3. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, but do not grease the pan
4. Whip the eggs and sugar on high speed until they are almost white in colour, more than triple in volume and hold a ribbon when the beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes
5. On medium speed, add the zest and juice
6. Sift the flour and salt and, still on medium speed, add the flour
7. Spoon about a cup of the batter into a bowl, and stir in the melted butter and vanilla
8. Add this all back to the full batter and stir until blended
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until the centre of the cake springs back when gently pressed
10. Cool the cake completely in the pan
11. For the Cream and Berries
12. For the cream, whip the cream until it holds a soft peak when the beaters are lifted
13. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese to soften, and beat in the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla or vanilla bean paste
14. Fold in the whipped cream in 2 additions
15. Chill until ready to assemble
16. When ready to assemble the cake, stir the berries with the jam to coat
17. Run a palette knife around the inside edge of the cake pan to loosen it, then remove it from the pan and peel off the parchment paper
18. Slice the cake in half horizontally
19. Spread half of the cream over the cake and top with half of the berries
20. Place the top of the cake over the berries, and top this with the remaining cream and berries, leaving an inch or two of the cake exposed around the outside edge
21. Dust this edge with icing sugar and chill until ready to serve
22. The cake can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance