CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE...Quite the Ultimate Combination!
18 January 2008
William Butler
It was my sis-in-laws birthday a couple of days ago...& it was time to bake a cake again! I was really waiting for this cake baking opportunity because strawberries had begun appearing in the market. The idea had been germinating in my mind for long, & I was actually restless to give it a go! I planned to make 2 sponges; 1 chocolate & the other a strawberry flavoured one; sandwich them with whipped cream & strawberries; & top the cake with a ganache. That's exactly what I did...& the cake was just too delicious for words. A droolicious combination!! Almost too good to be true! 
A burst of flavour & colour!
Chocolate & Strawberries are quite the ultimate combination...
Strawberries are one of the first fruits of the season and have long been associated with rebirth and Spring. They are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. Strawberries are low calorie and a good source of vitamin C and fiber.The strawberry plant is a member of the Rose family.
- Line & grease a 8" spring form tin.
- Sift the cornflour + flour + cocoa + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
- Beat the eggs & sugar well till it holds thick ribbons; about 10 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla essence.
- Gently fold in the flour mix, a tbsp at a time, in figure 8 hand movements so that the beaten air doesn't escape.
- Turn into the prepared tin & bake for 25-30 minutes/ until done.
- Remove from tin after 5 minutes, take off the lining & cool completely on rack.
- Whip cream, essence & sugar till it holds peaks.
- Reserve 1-2 tbsp cream in a baggie for the spiral/ web on top.
- Fold in the strawberries.
- Don't make this too much in advance, since strawberries macerate with sugar, & might make the cream runny.
- Put the chocolate & cream in a pan. Keep on low heat, stirring constantly, till the chocolate melts. Remove & stir vigorously with a spoon.
- If you want to pipe decorations on top, pass about 1/4 cup through a sieve & reserve separately. I've found that unless you sieve the ganache, its not easy to pipe it through an icing set. Its fine for spreading though.
- Set aside to cool. It will thicken as it cools & get a spreadable consistency.
Finishing it off:
- Cut each sponge into 2, so there are a total of 4 layers.
- Sandwich them with the strawberry cream, using 1/3 each time.
- Spread the ganache over the top & sides of cake. Use sprinkles on the sides if desired.
- For the marbling, see pictures. Draw a spiral, with the cream in the baggie reserved from the filling, beginning from the centre outwards.
- Then drag a wooden pick from the centre outwards, at a 60 degree angle, to equal points on the edge.
- Do the same in the opposite direction (ie outwards to the centre) between the earlier lines. This will create a webbed pattern.
- Pipe a ganache edging if you like. Then finish off with sliced strawberries & flaked chocolate etc. Chill till required.
- Note: Serves about 15-18
Many hues & many views...
"Other things are just food. But chocolate’s chocolate."
Patrick Skene Catling
January 20, 2008 6:39 PM
Deeba, there are no words left for praising, its simply beyond superlatives in all respects, thru the making till the piping n decoration!! Lovely stepwise collage, elegant in truest sense and sheer torture to just keep gazing at it and not hv any! Poor tastebuds! :D YOU ROCK THE BAKING WORLD, DEEBA!!
January 20, 2008 6:41 PM
Deeba, that is honest to goodness pretty. You always make sure your cakes are dressed to the nines :) I love strawberries! I love chocolate! Now, if only someone would fix my family, because my dad dislikes chocolate and my brothe hates strawberries.
January 20, 2008 8:37 PM
WOW! That IS the ultimate cake...and It's absolutely beautiful! I can only imagine how amazing that cake would taste! I don't know that I would ever attempt to make that myself :D
January 21, 2008 1:06 AM
oh dear Deeba! I missed your last 2 posts (no I can't blame food blog desam... that'd be a lame excuse!). Such a beautiful cake with 2 of my fav ingredients... choc and strawberries and a wonderful soup. I know I haven't tried one single recipe of yours yet... i just can't seem to make up my mind yet:) now for this beautiful cake (lucky sil sigh...) can it be made 2 days ahead and how many adults did it serve?
January 21, 2008 1:50 AM
This looks fantastic!
January 21, 2008 6:06 AM
You embarrass me Purnima...& put me on top of the world at the same time!
Thanks Manggy...may I say I'm inspired to a great extent by your creations...perfect to the 't'!!
Meeso...you gotta try it. It tasted seriously good.
Hi Latha..thanks for the lovely words. This can be made 2 days in advance, but put the strawberries a couple of hours before serving, or they tend to lose their fresh look. The sponge can be made 3-4 days in advance too.
Thanks Mer...:0)
January 21, 2008 10:57 AM
Hey Deeba, Is this perfect or what ?? It took me a while to stop looking and drooling at the pics and comment here..U truly amaze me :)..Great job...
January 21, 2008 11:13 AM
I have a question Deeba, what is the white spiral on the top made of?? U mentioned in the ganache, to mix the cream and the choc. So, wht is the white spiral ?? Sorry, might be a silly question..
January 21, 2008 11:11 PM
Deeba - how could I not stop in and say what a beautiful site and dessert you have!
I have added you to my blogroll and subscribed to your feed.
Thanks so much for sharing your recipes with us!
~Lewis
http://tablebread.blogspot.com
January 22, 2008 4:10 PM
Hi Deeba, you have taken my breath away with this truly outstanding piece of art work!! You really should be selling your bakes if you're not already!
Utterly beautiful creation and one to very proud of :D
Rosie x
January 22, 2008 4:16 PM
Hi Debba,
Excellant stuff,
Really have no words for it.
Even I enjoy baking a lot, bUt iam still trying my hand at it!
I presume you are in gurgaon, Even i stay in delhi, It will be great if I could get in touch with you and get some tips from you, Please contact me at karishhma@hotmail.com.
Hope to hear from you soon.
January 22, 2008 5:30 PM
Hi Maya, have added a cross-ref now. Did you get my mail? it's done with the bit in the baggie from the topping. :0)
Thank you Lewis...honoured to be on your blogroll & in your kitchen! You're on mine too..
Everytime I bake a cake,I think of a 'Peace of Cake' & you, Rosie. Thanks for the great words!
Hi Karishhma, thanks for stopping by. Have mailed you; did you get it?:0)
January 22, 2008 10:13 PM
wow, debba this cake is amazingly beautiful and i can imagine how delicious too! i can't wait to try this later in the spring once strawberries come in season over here in new york.
January 24, 2008 5:42 PM
Deeba, tom is my son's bday and I m thru with the sponge. May I please use your pattern on mine(with your permission?) also wd like to know how much time in advance can I prepare the frosting n filling, ie usage of whipped cream (if I ready the cake in morning around 10 am for a 7 pm party, is it fine?) Since its cold here, around 10 deg C -what wd b the refrigeration time and how much time in advance
do i need to take that out of cooling? Pls let me know ganache -when do i need make it? Ho-pe u dont mind my silly queries!!!
January 25, 2008 6:20 AM
Hi Purnima...would be delighted if you use it...I'm fine with it! You can assemble the whole thing now if you like; including the filling & ganache etc. Just put the strawberries about 3-4 hours before to keep them looking fresh. The taste matures as it sits, & the sponge becomes nice & moist if the filling is done the previous day. Make the ganache first, then start the filling, by which time the ganache should have cooled down...eveyrthing can be done a day before!
Will wait to hear the end result...BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR SON!!!
January 25, 2008 10:28 AM
Hey Deeba, its me again, am bothering you too much. Any cake like this and with marzipan that you suggest or have made for a boy's birthday ?? How do we shape something with marzipan for a boy's birthday cake ?? Any suggestions ??
January 25, 2008 1:04 PM
Hi Maya,
Its strange that I'm missing some mails coming intomy inbox. Spotted yrs here by chance. You can either to a 'Spongebob' cake;similar till the ganache, then buttercream the spongepob on top OR do a racing track in a figure 8 shape, with marzipan racing cars.Will just try & mail u pics...:0)
January 28, 2008 2:23 PM
Hi Deeba,
While making pastries, how do we spread the syrup on the cake base evenly? Previously when i did, I tried systematically spreading the syrup all over and the pastry turned out soggy.
Please let me know.
k
January 28, 2008 2:48 PM
Wow! I just had to leave you a comment here... this cake looks Fantastic and delicious!!! I wish one day I could bake something similar to this. My birthday is getting near, I'm bookmarking it! Maybe I dare to bake it :D
January 28, 2008 11:11 PM
What a completely beautiful cake!!! and such a wonderful combination of flavours!
I made a strawberry yoghurt cake (not blogged yet) but there is a light aftertaste to it, sort of bitter but not exactly, would you know why that happens?
February 2, 2008 9:48 PM
Hey Deeba, I wish you win the Napa trip ticket, have voted for you already! Tks for letting me know!
February 4, 2008 6:22 PM
Hi Deeba,
I tried using your recipe for the sponge. I do not have a traditional oven. I have a Samsung oven (ce1031LATB/XTL). In this oven, I tried the convection mode and used the same temperatures that you have mentioned in your link. But unfortunately the cake did not rise. With your baking experience, can you guess what could be the reason?
Thanks,
Vani
February 4, 2008 8:38 PM
Hi Vani,
I think you'll have to check the recipe book which must have come with the oven for basic temperature guidelines. Every oven behaves differently; was yours a microwave with convection? If yes, then microwave recipes are very different from conventional ones because of time & heat distribution etc., & I'm only comfortable with the latter. Did you remember the baking powder?
Even if it didn't rise, is it soft? You can still use if it tastes fine. Make a trifle pudding out of it if all else fails, using either custard or whipped cream.
Lemme know
Deeba
February 5, 2008 1:04 AM
wow, that looks so pretty Deeba!! man, you can really bake beautiful cakes:) I made a molten chocolate cupcake with raspberry filling yesterday..check it on my blog!
February 5, 2008 8:51 AM
Sigh!! awesome..can I have a piece????
Lovely presentation!
Waiting to see your DB presentation :DD
February 5, 2008 9:13 AM
That's a cake that's too beautiful to be eaten!:-)
February 5, 2008 7:54 PM
what a stunner that cake is!!
February 10, 2008 7:22 PM
HOLY-MOLY! I wish I were there.... Oh, if only this were not a "virtual" contest. However, your photos & descriptions give the reader full flavor. Thank you!!!
February 12, 2008 11:01 AM
A true work of art! Your cake is gorgeous!!! Absolutely beautiful!!!
April 26, 2008 5:56 AM
wow us the only word i can say for this.... amazing blog... too good... pictures... i dunno wtelse to say... the cake is a masterpiece... i love chocolate and my hubby loves strawberry... looks as if the cake is made just for us..... love it.... really amazing..... will surely try to make it...dunno if i can even reach a bit to what u have come out with ... toooo good...
do check my blog too whenever u can.... would love u comments