Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

The softest, most delicate Japanese strawberry shortcake recipe with homemade stabilized whipped cream is perfect for your next dinner party! This beautiful cake is so light and delicious it will impress all of your guests!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Servings 6-inch cake

Calories 8529kcal

Author Takes Two Eggs

Ingredients

Genoise Cake

3 large eggs 156 g
71 g (1/3 cup) sugar
13 g (2 teaspoon) honey
75 g (2/3 cup) cake flour sifted
13 g (2 teaspoon) milk
8 g (1/2 tablespoon) butter

Simple Syrup

50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
60 g (1/4 cup) water

Whipped Cream

485 g (2 cup) heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
2 teaspoon gelatin + 2 teaspoon water+ 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream optional

Garnish

1 lb strawberries washed and sliced

Instructions

Genoise Cake

Preheat the oven to 325°F or 160°C. Line a 6-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
Heat the egg mixture to 104°F or 40°C. In a medium-sized heat-proof bowl, add the egg, granulated sugar, and honey. Place the mixing bowl inside a large stainless steel bowl and fill it with hot water. Using a hand mixer whisk the mixture on low-medium and bring the temperature to 100-105°F. (This will melt the sugar and allow the batter to gain volume easier.
Whisk air into the egg mixture. Once it reaches 104°F or 40°C take it out of the water bath and continue mixing on high until the batter is pale yellow/ivory and the volume has increased. To test if it's the right consistency you should be able to lift the batter and produce a trail on top of the mixture, if it holds its shape it is ready. Or you can stick a toothpick in and if it holds then it is ready.
Tighten the air bubbles. Once you achieve the right consistency, take the hand mixer and whisk gently on low to remove all the large air bubbles for about 1-2 minutes. The final result should be smooth and silky.
Sift in the flour. Sift in the flour and fold it in gently. Be careful not to remove all the air by over mixing. Stop immediately when it is combined.
Melt the butter in the milk. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter over low heat and mix until the butter has melted and reaches 140°F or 60°C. Place in a small heat-proof bowl.
Add the butter mixture into the batter. Take a small amount of the egg batter and mix it in the small bowl of the butter mixture. This cools down the butter and milk and creates less shock to the batter. Then pour this into the original batter and gently fold until combined. Do not over mix.
Transfer to the cake pan, tap the cake pan on the workspace once to release air bubbles, and bake at 325°F or 160°C for 30-35 minutes. Test to see if the cake is ready by poking the center with a toothpick.
Once you take it out of the oven, tap the cake down onto the workspace again to prevent the cake from collapsing as it cools. Remove the cake and turn the cake upside down to cool for 10 minutes.
Let the cake cool completely before slicing the cake into 3 sections of about 1.5 cm each.

Simple Syrup

In a small saucepan, on medium heat mix together the sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved pour into a heat-proof bowl and set aside.

Vanilla Whipped Cream

If using gelatin, add cold water to a small heat-proof bowl. Then sprinkle the gelatin across the top, immediately whisk to mix this ensures all the gelatin will be absorbed by the water. Let the gelatin bloom for 5 minutes. Then microwave the gelatin for 5-7 seconds or until dissolved. Add 1 tsp of heavy cream and mix to chill the gelatin.
Whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. In a chilled mixing bowl, using an electric mixer beat the heavy cream until frothy. Then add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. If using gelatin, slowly pour the cooled gelatin in when the cream is at soft peaks and mix until combined and until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over whip where the cream is thick and chunky.
Transfer to a piping bag. Set aside.

Assembly

Brush on simple syrup onto each cake slice. Using a pastry brush, brush an even coat of simple syrup onto the tops of each of your cake slices.
Add whipped cream and strawberries. For each layer, spread on a generous layer of whipped cream followed by halved strawberries and another layer of whipped cream.
Decorate! Place the cake slices above the whipped cream, even out the whipped cream, and decorate

Notes

Bring the temperature of the egg mixture to 104 F or 40 C this allows the air to be incorporated and the sugar to melt completely.

Make sure to whisk the egg mixture until pale yellow/ivory. Take the time to test whether the mixture is whipped enough by placing a toothpick in the mixture. If it holds then it is ready.
Tighten the bubbles in the batter. By whisking the mixture at low speed AFTER it has reached peak fluffiness, it removes the unwanted large air bubbles in the mixture.
Make sure to fold the flour until JUST combined. Over mixing will reduce in lower cake volume whereas under mixing will result in a dense cake bottom.
Shock the cake before and after it comes out of the oven. Shock the cake by dropping it onto your workspace from about 5-6 inches above your workspace. Do this once before you place the cake into the oven to remove any remaining large air bubbles. Repeat again right after you remove the cake from the oven to prevent your cake from sinking as it cools.
Use cold heavy whipping cream. For the whipped cream, it is best to use cold straight from the refrigerator whipping cream. This will make whipping the cream so much easier and quicker.
Don't pour the gelatin into the whipped cream until soft peaks form. This will guarantee the whipped cream will hold at room temperature without melting. Also, this will prevent the gelatin from being shocked by the cold cream and cause tiny little gelatin pieces in your whipped cream.
Storage Instructions. You can store an undecorated cake by wrapping it in plastic wrap and placing it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. If the cake is already decorated, you can store the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days.

Nutrition