Tuesday, January 20, 2009

TWD - Berry Surprise Cake


This week’s TWD recipe is berry surprise cake and was chosen by Mary-Ann of Meet me in the Kitchen. This is essentially a sponge cake filled with a cream cheese and cream mixture and fresh berries. Absolutely delicious and great for this time of year – I think that this is the first time a recipe has been chosen where I can make it using in season fruit.

I halved the recipe and made a 6inch round cake. It actually still made a decent sized cake. The sponge was a genoise sponge. Some of the other TWDers said that their sponge sunk so much it was practically flat. My sponge did sink a little in the middle (Dorie said that was normal) but not too much at all. The sponge was lovely and light.



You then sliced a bit off the top and hollowed out the centre of the cake, filling the centre with a cream cheese and cream combination and fresh berries. Others had said that they didn’t think that the filling was sweet enough – I had to agree. I used icing sugar, as I wanted to make sure that the texture wasn’t grainy and I actually tripled the amount, using 3 tbsp for my half mixture. This turned out the perfect sweetness for me. I wanted to use raspberries, but the raspberries at the fruit and veg shop looked like they had been sitting there for a while, so I went down the strawberry path. Once the lid is put back on the cake, the whole thing is covered in whipped cream. This cake is really a twist on a Victoria sponge cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries.



My husband and I each had a sliver of cake for our pudding on Saturday night. Even though I would have loved to, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the rest yesterday, so I sent it on the building site for the builders etc today. Even though like any good sponge cake, this was at its best on the day it was made, it was still ok today and I am told the builders loved it.

See if the other TWDers enjoyed this cake as much as I did here.

21 comments:

Megan said...

It sure looks great - and I used powdered sugar for the filling as well.

Sihan said...

I agree with you about the filling being not sweet enough. But the genoise sponge was perfect wasn't it! Yours look so pretty. My slices were almost unrecognisable masses of sweet stuff after the slicing! Blame it on me being impatient.

BUt still, great work!

Jules Someone said...

It looks lovely. I didn't even try this one.

Cakelaw said...

I love your small cake - it looks lovely. I always get around the supply factor by making the full recipe and taking it to work :).

steph- whisk/spoon said...

looks yummy! gorgeous strawberries, too!

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks gorgeous. I love that you made the whole assembled cake.

Engineer Baker said...

Lucky you - my cake wasn't quite as agreeable :) Yours looks beautiful, and I'm sure the builders loved it!

Unknown said...

Your cake looks wonderful! I'm jealous of the gorgeous strawberries.

Mary Ann said...

It looks delicious and I am sure it tasted great with the strawberries. How nice of you to share!

vibi said...

Very nicely done, Tammy!
LOL I did the same thing and halved the cake... I was wondering if people would think we grow giant blackberries, when seeing the results!!! LOL
But obviously, you don't have that problem... your cake looks totaly dainty and precious!

Danielle said...

Great job on the cake it looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

i had to use extra sugar in the filling also because it wasn't sweet enough. it held up ok the second day, still tasted pretty delicious.

Snooky doodle said...

this is delicious !!

TeaLady said...

Your cake looks sooooo tasty. I will have to try this one on the rewind.

kimberly salem said...

it looks really beautiful! glad to hear that your genoise worked out well. the strawberries sound delicious and i might try that if i make this again!

Ivette said...

I'm glad you didn't have much trouble with your cake.. unlike me.. mine didn't rise.. but it tasted OH so good! Your cake looks really nice and yummy!

Peggy said...

Filling was not sweet enough for me either. Yours looks really good though.

Di said...

Oh, I'm envious of your strawberries. I'm glad you got to make this in season. =) I want to try it again when I can get fresh berries here.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad this cake worked out for someone! Mine (cupcakes) had a crater in the center so I just filled it without any top cake layer. Yours looks great :)

Cooking for Comfort by Jennifer said...

Beautiful job!!!

The Food Librarian said...

Looks lovely. I want to try it with strawberries next time.