Tuesday, June 19, 2012

French Strawberry Cake-TWD Baking with Julia


How could I resist this recipe ? Anything that has the word strawberry in it goes straight to the top of my list.  Especially this time of year when strawberries are showing up at the farmer's markets and look so pretty in their little green baskets.  I discovered the Hood River variety of strawberries on a recent jaunt to the Portland State University Farmer's Market-sad to say I have not been able to find them locally so far (too fragile to transport) , I continue to look.


 I purchased Albion strawberries this weekend from the West Seattle Market-they are very sweet, but still nothing comes close to the Hood River berries I covet.  I'm also in search of Shuksan strawberries,another one with a short shelf life and difficult to transport.  I think I have convinced J that a road trip to Portland is in the cards to search for my beloved Hood River Strawberries! If and when I find either variety you can count on my buying several flats and then it will be strawberrypalooza at our house for a while.


This recipe is a basic genoise with whipped cream and strawberries.  A genoise is a whole egg sponge cake that instead of using leavening,it uses air suspended in the batter to give volume to the cake. You handle the egg batter very gently as you are whisking so that you create enough volume but not too much.  And again a gentle touch  is needed when folding in the dry ingredients. If you are gentle and follow directions and keep an eye on the oven you should easily succeed with your genoise.  I made a few little changes to the basic recipe-I used my rhubarb simple syrup that I had on hand instead of creating the one called for in the recipe.  I also used  the home made mascarpone I brought back from my cheese making workshop at Quillisascut Farm in place of the cream cheese in the recipe.



Thanks to Sophia at Sophia's Sweets  and Allison at Think,Love,Sleep,Dine for hosting this delicious recipe. You can find the recipe on Sophia's blog or even more fun,buy the book: Baking with Julia and join the group, Tuesdays with Dorie. Head over to our TWD blog to see how everyone's cakes turned out.




22 comments:

Cher Rockwell said...

Absolutely beautiful - amazing job piping. I just don't have the patience and am in awe of anyone who does...

Tomato Thymes said...

Truly beuatiful cake and great pictures.

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous and delicious way to decorate your cake!

Janis said...

Beautifully decorated cake! Your whipped cream looks so soft and billowy :-)

Amanda @ Auntie Treats said...

Wowzers, your cake is so pretty!!

365daysofbaking said...

You did a GORGEOUS job decorating it! Love the sliced strawberries on top instead of the halves!!

365daysofbaking said...

You did an absolutely GORGEOUS job decorating!! I LOVE the slices of strawberries on the top instead of the halves!!

Lynn said...

Your cake is beautiful! And if you find a source for Hoods in Seattle, let me know!

Kathy said...

Your cake looks absolutely perfect! Love the way you frosted it! It looks like something from a bakery! Stunning!

Unknown said...

Nothing wrong with a strawberrypalooza! Your cake is beautiful.

ferda said...

Your cake looks soo beautiful.. Great job on decorating it..

Unknown said...

How do you frost a cake like that??? AMAZING!

gfcelebration said...

Love your presentation. Beautiful. We also participated in TWD for this recipe and loved it.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful! I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but your photos are making me crave a slice.

Amanda said...

It looks absolutely perfect! Seriously!

Andrea_TheKitchenLioness said...

What a wonderful cake you made with perfect piping and decoration! I absolutely love the idea of using homemade mascarpone for the frosting, it is just so great if you can take classes, learn about cheesemaking and then use your homemade mascarpone cheese for this recipe. Great job!

Roadtrek Girl said...

Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by and leave such lovely encouraging comments-and Lynn I'm still looking for those Hoods ! I'm very tempted to try and squeeze in a Portland day trip on Saturday ...

mike509 said...

Pastry shop quality! Wow - so impressive! I love how thick and well-spread your whipped cream looks. I miss Seattle (lived there for 15 years) - and know W. Seattle well! Very beautiful cake!!!

Cathleen | My Culinary Mission said...

Spectacular! Your cake is so over-the-top!

Sweet and That's it said...

Being born close to the Italian border, I love Mascarpone!
But most of all I love the beauty and elegance of your cake.
This cake is gorgeous!

marilyn said...

Yes! I loved the Hood strawberries I tasted for the first time when I was in Portland a couple of weeks ago. The three of us ate a flat of Hoods, and one of Albions while I was there for just 2 weeks. you decorated your cake beautifully and your pictures do it justice!

Anonymous said...

wow... this is so amazing..:')
Wish i could bake as well as you!
-SimplyBakes