Strawberry Cheese Cake for Momsie Elin

It's my second time blogging here, so a big thanks to my mum for giving me the opportunity for a blog ( and kitchen! ) invasion once again. Yesterday was the day the world celebrates the most important woman in our lives, and so I decided to jump unto the bandwagon and give my dear mummy a surprise! ( Or at least as much a surprise as can be with an eagle eye trained on you ) Contrary to popular belief, I'm not totally inept in the kitchen ( hey, at least I haven't caused a fire .... yet ) and so I decided to bake one of the cakes that caught my attention whilst I was busy sneaking peeks at mum's many recipe books. Decadent with succulent strawberries, fluffy sponge, creamy cheese and wobbly Jell-O.. you can understand how this cake jumped  up and screamed for attention right from within the pages of the book. 

This was my first time making a sponge cake, and I must say, it does require a certain amount of tender loving to create that airy, fluffy texture. Mum was right at my elbow the whole time, giving me orders advice to not overdo the beating, and to fold the egg white into the batter GENTLY ( in her panic, her voice was tinged with hysteria and not very gentle ............ *imagine an irate French chef going non! non! non!. )  But then, this was supposed to be my "surprise" gift, so after a while, my kindly mother allowed me a wider berth .... and in the end, the cake did turn out rather light and fluffy .... *phew!*

Once the cake was done, I moved on to prepare the cheese mixture that would be sandwiched between the layers of sponge. Diced lots of juicy strawberries and set them aside too. And erm, I'm not very dexterous, hence the lack of photos regarding the preparing of the cheese mixture .... 

As you can see, I decided to emulate and pay tribute to the volcanic ash cloud that's been lurking around the skies of UK ... *cough cough* .. or rather ... I-accidentally-poured-the-Jell-O-before-the-cheese-could-set *oops!* : p

The unveiling of the cake ...

And voila ! *eccentric French chef goes oui oui ..ooh la la!* So, that concludes my labour of love ... 

Do enjoy the recipe below, Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there and since I whisked part of  the batter by hand without the electric mixer,  I'm off to go compare bicep sizes with the brother .tee hee... au revoir !! 

Strawberry Cheese Cake (adapated from Cadware Baking Cookbook )

( Printable Recipe )

Ingredients: Base

2 slices of sponge cake (9" round )

Ingredients: Cake

(A) 

120 ml fresh milk

4 egg yolks - Grade A

160 gm caster sugar

(B) 

2 tbsp gelatine powder

75ml water

(C)

250 gm  cream cheese

(D)

350 gm whipping cream

(E)

120 gm strawberry - diced

Ingredients : Topping

(F)

150 ml water

150 gm strawberry pie filling

8 gm instant jelly powder

Method:

1. Melt ingredients A in a bowl over hot water until smooth and creamy. Melt ingredients B in another bowl over hot water until the gelatine powder melts.

2. Whip (C) until thick and creamy ( about 2 minutes) . Add in ingredients A and B. Blend well. Finally add whipping cream and stir till smooth.

3. Layer 1 slice of sponge cake on a 9" cake ring. Pour half of the batter on the cake. Sandwich a layer of strawberries and layer another slice of sponge cake on top of the strawberries. Pour the remaining batter on top. Even the surface and chill in the refrigerator until it is almost set.

4. Mix ingredients F and melt over heat. When the mixture is cooled, pour it onto the cheese cake. Re-chill the cheese cake in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy !

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