The Perfect Strawberry Sponge
A classic and beautiful combination: strawberries, whipped cream, and an airy sponge cake. Here are my thoughts on making the perfect one:
A good sponge is thirsty. It’s naturally a bit dry so it can soak up all the creamy, juicy goodness. Assemble with syrup, a middle layer of cream and berries, and a smaller amount of cream on the top layer, then let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 to 6 hours, or overnight. Finish with the rest of the cream and fresh berries just before serving.
Your batter doesn’t need to be complicated. Flour, egg (or egg replacer), sugar, and olive oil or butter make up the basic sponge. I always add a pinch of salt and vanilla. When I want more character, there’s ground citrus zest, cardamom and other spices, or floral waters to add to the batter in small amounts.
Whip your cream firm for a stable build and beautiful appearance. For the middle layer, you might want to swap the cream for pastry cream, or whisk in an egg yolk, vanilla, and extra sugar for a fluffy, raw custard cream. You can also play with using a pinch of ground anise instead of sugar.
Macerate your berries to push the juicy, sweet flavor of the strawberries, or leave them just freshly cut. Roasting strawberries is another beautiful way to coax out extra sweetness.
Balance your cake: If the batter has added citrus zest, then your whipped cream doesn’t need zest, and so on. Rather, think: if my sponge uses cardamom and vanilla, then lemon or lime zest might be a lovely contrast to add to the cream or the berries. It’s also never wrong to just keep it simple - fresh strawberries and a good sponge coated with elderflower or another syrup, served with plain whipped cream, is also fantastic.
You can divide the batter into two tins if you don’t like slicing through the cake for the layers. I usually use only one and enjoy the slicing part.
For a vegan sponge, use a vegan cake mix, as my recipe leans heavily on eggs. You can always substitute butter for olive oil and use vegan cream.
Recipe and Photography by Nina Olsson
The perfect strawberry sponge
Serves 6
uses a 15cm tin, plus baking paper
Sponge
Sponge: 4 eggs
100g sugar
100g flour
45g olive oil or melted not too hot butter
A few drops of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
Middle layer cream
200ml whipping cream
1 egg yolk 30g sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract
Top layer cream
200ml whipping cream
½ tsp sugar
Macerated strawberries
250-300g fresh strawberries, halved
A pinch of sugar, tossed and left for a few minutes
Instructions
Heat the oven to 170°C.
Whisk eggs and sugar on high speed in a stand mixer until white and glossy. This will take a few minutes.
Sift in the flour and fold by hand until smooth. Whisk in the olive oil, vanilla and salt.
Line your tin with baking paper and pour in the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Test by inserting a knife, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and leave to cool in the tin. The cake keeps well for 1-2 days.
To assemble
For the middle layer cream, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar and vanilla until pale, then fold into the firmly whipped cream.
Whip the top layer cream with the sugar until firm. Slice the cake horizontally into two discs.
Brush both cut sides generously with elderflower syrup and leave for a few minutes to soak in.
Place the bottom disc on your serving plate. Spread with the Middle Layer cream and top with the macerated strawberries. Place the second disc on top, brush again with syrup, and spread with a layer of the top cream. Rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Just before serving, finish with the remaining top cream and a few fresh strawberries. Bon appetit!
