P-p-p-partayyy: Let them eat cake!

My baby blog just turned one month old 2 days ago! I was going to post something on Thursday, but nothing exciting happened. I think I had regular peanut butter toast. I already sort of did a post on peanut butter toast when I had huge cravings for thick toast, and I didn't want to post about my unexciting leftovers in the fridge.

Today, I got to go to a friend's house for a Thanksgiving dinner, which gave me an excuse to bake something interesting. I was going to make a pie originally, but I got tipped that cake was a better option.

I based my recipe off of another YouTube cooking channel for my cake, Ochikeron. It's another Japanese one, but her stuff generally turns out quite well, and her directions are fairy straight forward. The only thing is that she tends to use a lot of "instant" stuff here and there, which I am a little iffy about, but otherwise, worth the watch~

Things I have learned today about short cake:
- It is decently easy to put together.
- It's more like a biscuit than a cake, and you don't necessarily need to use leavening agents...?
- It tastes good with creamy things and a cup of tea.
- Strawberries are probably still the best fruit to use in a short cake :)

Things I have learned today about custard:
- Custard can be used for a tart filling, but also works as a good layering base in a sponge cake.
- Custard can be made with non-dairy milk, and no one will notice unless you tell them.
- Vanilla really makes the custard
- It can be made in a jiffy which rocks.

I wish I had taken some pictures of the process, but it was kind of a hurried thing. I basically baked the sponge cakes this morning, went to work, came back to make the whipped cream topping and custard filling and assemble it before going over to my friend's house. I literally finished making the thing 10 minutes before we (me and E) got there.

People likely didn't notice, but I didn't cut all of the strawberries the same way...While I was hulling and halving them, I ended up quartering some of them, so half of the ones on the outside ring are quartered, and the other half are halved... > <

 Strawberry Custard Cream Layered Cake? (adapted from Ochikeron - She also has a blog called "Create Eat Happy".)

*Makes 1 layered cake* (dairy-free, complete with filling and topping - you can definitely use regular cream and milk)

Shortcake: (I made two shortcakes for my sponge bases.)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 tbsp corn oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 7 1/2 inch round pan with parchment paper.

2. Beat 2 eggs in a lightweight medium size bowl.

3. Add sugar and mix until combined.

4. Fill 1/3 of a slightly larger bowl with hot water, and whisk the eggs and sugar over the hot water until the sugar melts. Remove from the hot water immediately afterwards so it doesn't cook the mixture.

5. Pour the mixture into the large bowl of a stand-in electric mixer, and beat until white and fluffy.

6. Sift and add the flour in 4 portions, using a spatula to gently fold the flour into the mixture. Be careful not to overmix.

7. Add the oil, and fold gently until just combined.

8. Carefully pour the mixture into your parchment-lined pan, and bake for 25 minutes.

9. Place a paper towel over a cooling rack. Remove the parchment around the sides of the cake, and carefully place the cake (with the pan on) upside down on the paper towel to cool.  

10. Once cooled, carefully wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble.

• As far as assembly, I started with one shortcake, spread half the custard on the cake, placed some strawberries, spread the rest of the custard, second shortcake, spread whipped cream, arrange the rest of the strawberries on top.

Topping:

1 can of coconut milk

2 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp granulated sugar

16 oz. fresh strawberries (1 box from Save-On Foods)

 

1. Chill the bowl for your stand-in electric mixer in the fridge for at least 30 min.

2. Carefully flip the can of coconut milk upside down and open the can.

3. Remove the layer of liquid and save for use in smoothies/other baking or cooking. Empty the creamy coconut milk into the chilled bowl.

4. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream, gradually adding sugar to sweeten, and starch to thicken the mixture.

5. Spread the cream on the top of your assembled cake.

•  The whole amount of coconut whipped cream that you end up with is a bit much for the top, so you can spread it over the sides of the cake if you want to. I was in a hurry, and it sort of looked okay? :S 

6. Wash, hull, and halve strawberries, and arrange as desired. You could spread some jam or honey over the strawberries, but I don't like super crazy toothachy sweet stuff.

 

Custard:

1 cup soy milk

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

 

1. Gently boil milk in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, separate 2 eggs, and reserve the egg whites for use in other baking/cooking recipes.

3. Beat egg yolks, sugar, and flour in a bowl until combined.

4. Once the milk has boiled, remove from heat and gradually add to egg mixture while stirring.

5. Return the whole custard mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low heat for a few minutes until the custard thickens enough to be spread on the cake.

6. Ready to use on the cake as you wish! If you want it to be thicker, chill in the fridge for a bit before use.

 

Yay for dairy-free cake with cream! :) You may have noticed that instead of using less sweet substitutes, I actually went ahead with the granulated sugar. I wasn't sure how brown sugar would work with the eggs in a custard or fluffy cake mix, and I didn't want to test too many new things when I was bringing this over for other people. I also found that the sponge of the cake was a bit drier than I would have liked. It wasn't bad, but perhaps I'll invest in some actual cake flour...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

-M