A few people have emailed asking about how to make an Asian bakery-style strawberry and cream layer cake. What’s the difference between Asian bakery layer cakes and western cakes? The Asian ones tend to be based on lightly sweet baked sponge cakes whereas the western ones typically involve richer and sweeter butter layer cakes. Both are good types of cakes to prepare and when they’re baking, the entire house smells of butter, eggs, and sugar. What a great air freshener.
When I make a strawberry and cream layer cake at home, I use my French-style sponge cake recipe as that’s what is typically made in the Vietnamese repertoire. You can also use layers of coconut cake for the cake layers; it's a little easier to prepare and richer in taste. Frankly, the cakes at Asian bakeries are so light and tasteless sometimes that all I get is a spongy chew. You can do much better at home! For the filling, I prepare a strawberry and liquor mousse. The use of unflavored gelatin (agar agar doesn’t work well here so resist) prevents the strawberries from weeping their liquid into the cream. I buy 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and that’s enough for the filling and frosting. Should you like to indulge, well whip up an extra ½ to 1 cup of heavy cream.
You can make the sponge cake layers several days in advance and refrigerate them, or freeze them. If you do that, the cake comes together very easily. This is a great celebration type of cake, suitable for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or just afternoon tea. I recently prepared one to honor one of my husband’s colleagues who is retiring this year. A homemade layer cake is always a showstopper.
RECIPE
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Makes 1 cake, enough to serve 8 to 12
2 (9-inch) round Sponge Cakes (make a double batch of the Homemade Sponge Cake recipe, baking the cakes in high-sided 9-inch round pans for 20 to 25 minutes), or Coconut Cake (make 1 batch of the recipe as prescribed)
Strawberry mousse filling:
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec
1 ¼ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 pint strawberries
¼ cup sugar
½ cup heavy cream, chilled
Whipped cream frosting:
1 ½ cups heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1. If you’ve made the sponge cakes in advance and refrigerated or frozen them, return them to room temperature.
2. To make the strawberry mouse, put the liquor in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside.
3. Wash and pat the strawberries dry with a dish towel. Hull and cut enough berries into small pieces about the size of your thumbnail to make a brimming cup. Set aside the remaining strawberries for garnish.
4. Put the strawberries in a small skillet and add the sugar, stirring to combine. Heat over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar has melted. Remove from the heat and add the liquor, stirring, until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. When the berries have sufficiently cooled, you will be able to mound them with the liquid into a jam-like mixture.
5. While the strawberry mixture cools, whip the ½ cup cream using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until soft peaks form. (Aim for a soft, thick marshmallowlike texture.) Refrigerate until ready to use.
6. For the frosting, combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Then whip using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until just shy of stiff. Lift up the beaters and nice peaks should form, clinging onto the beaters nicely. In the cake above I whipped the cream about 15 seconds too long and it turned slightly grainy so watch it! Refrigerate the cream until ready to use.(See the comments below on stabilizing whipped cream.)
7. To fill and frost the cake, put the cake on a cake stand or platter, with strips of wax paper or parchment paper underneath to form a collar that will keep the stand or platter dirty clean. (This is a neat cake frosting trick to keep in your back pocket.)
Finish the strawberry mousse by combining the strawberry mixture with the ½ cup of whipped cream; a rubber spatula is a great tool to use. It’s okay for tiny bits of red to be suspended in the pink cream. Then spread the strawberry mousse on top of the cake layer. Place the second layer atop. Then frost the cake with the 1 ½ cups of whipped cream. Use an offset spatula to help you achieve nice straight/level surfaces. (See the photo above to get a sense of what an offset spatula looks like.)
When satisfied, refrigerate the cake for 10 to 15 minutes, then gently pull out the pieces of wax or parchment paper. The cake can be decorated up to 3 hours in advance. Serve with the remaining strawberries on the side.
Lân says
Is it true that many Asian bakeries make their frosting from meringue powder rather than cream?
Gastronomer says
Oooh! That looks mighty wonderful, Andrea! It must be noted that Vietnamese people are strictly cake buyers. Years ago, Vernon had to make his own birthday cake because I was accustomed to my family's tradition of buying celebratory cakes ;-). In his mind, a non-homemade cake was SO wrong! Oh, how things have changed.
Andrea Nguyen says
Lan, I've actually not heard about that practice. However, I could see adding meringue powder to the cream as it whips because that would create a loftier cream (you'll be using less to create a thick layer of frosting). Plus, the whipped cream would stay stiffer longer. I wouldn't use just meringue powder because that's just yucky. You can add confectioner's sugar to the cream as it whips to stabilize it; the cornstarch in the sugar does the trick. However, the resulting flavor isn't as pure.
Cathy, Vernon's right. Your lovin' oven is what matters more to him! Viet people do tend to buy celebratory cakes. They're inexpensive at the bakeries. My mom, the overachiever, made her own cakes and that's how I grew up.
When I was in college and living with sister and brother, we'd go to Monterey Park on Saturday afternoons and select 10 to 12 slices of western-style cakes and pastries from one of the Chinese pastries. Each slice was about 50-75 cents I think. Then we'd taste and critique them.
And that whipped cream, Lan, was never the kind of whipped cream that I was used to.
Ngoc says
Wow - I will definitely have to try this recipe, Andrea. I can't stand the "spongy chew" that comes with all the celebratory cakes my parents buy. Hopefully, I'll be able to talk them into making this for our next special occasion. 🙂
Andrea Nguyen says
Ngoc, it can be like eating a sponge -- the kind that you wipe the counter with, huh? Or, just make the sponge cake (banh bong lan) and serve it with some fresh berries and dollop of whipped cream! Use the cream from the can, if you want. It's okay to do so!
red ribbon bakeshop says
I try to do your recipe and my friends love the taste!Thanks for sharing this yummy cake recipe.
-Ava
Viet says
Oh my goodness this was SUPER TASTY :3 I loved how this turned out and really glad I decided to try out this recipe!! (my parents always prefer asian style cake vs american style) The cake is super light and not too sweet. This recipe was easy to follow even though it had a lot of steps but it was all worth it when everyone complemented me. I made it for dessert tonight and in 10 minutes, it had been completely devoured 😀
Andrea Nguyen says
Viet -- Thanks for the delicious feedback!
sildenafil says
my parents always prefer asian style cake vs american style The cake is super light and not too sweet. This recipe was easy to follow even though it had a lot of steps but it was all worth it when everyone complemented me.thanks for the information.
Alice says
The cake was delicious! I made it for my nephew's 3rd birthday and he ate every drop of cake that was given to him, even pieces that had fallen onto his chair. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Kim at Rustic Garden Bistro says
Hi Andrea,
I made this cake yesterday. It was incredibly delicious, and reminded me of my own childhood birthdays (I asked for this strawberry sponge cake every year). Thanks for helping me re-live those memories!
[K]
Jordan 11 Space Jam says
Put your heart and soul into the things what you do that you will feel more easy than before. This is my idea that carry out many years ago.
tadalafil says
Nice recipe. Seems to be easy yet tasty. And photos look great and delicious =)
Thank you for sharing.
ugg bailey button says
The lanscope belongs to the man who looks at it .
Women Supra Style says
A great breakfast is oatmeal and fruit
Finasteride Generic says
Good recipe, but as usual I had to futz with it.
Huy says
Can I use the same directions for the mousse filling except replace the strawberry flavor for an orange flavor?
LONNIE says
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH BUDDY ITsAN AWESOME CAKE I<3 IT (NOT)
H.L. says
What type of gelatin did you use?
Lily says
What can I use to replace the Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec? I'm too young to even buy them -_-
Alex says
In the baking isle of the supermarket where vanilla extract is there should be some orange essence. You can use that instead of Cointreau 🙂 there are many other alcohol substitutes there as well. (imitation rum etc...)
Alex says
By the way this is a really nice cake recipe, I wasn't a fan of cake up until making this one and I have continued to make your recipe for many occasions. Love it. I tell my friends that it is like eating vanilla air, so light and fluffy!!!!!! 😀
tadalafil 20mg says
looks really amazing. going to try to make it this weekend. thanks for recipe.
suprayouth says
well this blog is great i love reading your articles.
ralph lauren says
Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies
marlon says
Oooh! That looks mighty wonderful, Andrea! It must be noted that Vietnamese people are strictly cake buyers
[email protected] says
Andrea,
How tall is your banh bong lan after it cools from the oven? Mine is about 1 1/4 inch tall. Yours just looks taller. I used an 8 inch round pan. Thanks.
Schwere LKW Diagnosesystem says
Please choose the language version when you are placing the order.csh
Princess says
I really liked reading the background/introduction to this cake. Such positive, happy writing that brought me happiness, too. The cake sounds amazing! ♥
Andrea Nguyen says
It's a fun cake to make. It's a project that results in something pretty and delicious!