Strawberry Sensation

By S. L. Gore

With summer comes sweet, juicy plump strawberries crying out for shortcake and whipped cream. But I find those packets of little saucer-like spongy cakes at the grocery store, easy as they may be to serve up, a bit tired. And true shortcake made from biscuit dough is equally ho-hum if you’re looking for a real special occasion sensation.

The first tier with strawberry jam, vanilla custard cream, toasted almonds and strawberries. Heavier ingredients are on the bottom layer for stability with whipped cream reserved for tier 2 and top.

With my American version of a Danish classic lager kage, a bit of effort produces a wow statement that is really quite easy. Nothing except the whipped cream and toasted almonds is made from “scratch.” I use boxed cake mix, Bird’s custard powder, strawberry jam from a jar and strawberry glaze from a tub.

You’ll need three cake pans of the same size to bake the layers. The larger the cake pan, the better as the circles will be larger and thinner. This cake is made with standard-sized American cake pans, so my taller version is not as easy to slice and serve as its Danish cousin.

Three cake pans of the same size. The larger the diameter, the better. In Denmark, the layers are quite thin and the cake easier to slice. Ready-made layers are packaged in threes at any supermarket. Bird’s custard powder is English; you can substitute Jello vanilla pudding. Any strawberry jam will do. The strawberry glaze is sold at fruit stands everywhere in our area.

Ingredients:

Blanched, slivered almonds ¾ c (you might not use all in the cake)
Heavy whipping cream 1 ½ c (you might not use all in the cake)
Fresh strawberries 3 small boxes
Strawberry cake mix 1 box – white cake also good
Bird’s custard cream or similar
Strawberry jam
Strawberry glaze (available at most fruit stands) – optional
Granulated sugar
Powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Grand Marnier – optional

You can use any fruit to make this cake. Fresh peaches are divine!

Steps:

Slice strawberries, add a sprinkling of granulated white sugar and 1 shot of Grand Marnier, mix well and set aside in refrigerator for minimum one hour. Several hours is best.
Mix up the strawberry cake mix and divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans.
Bake and cool thoroughly.
Toast almonds (see below) and toss onto plate to cool.
Slice the rounded top off of each cake layer with a bread knife.
Place the first cake layer on a plate.
Spread with a layer of strawberry jam.
Cook up the custard cream following the directions on the can for “hob” (stovetop in British.) If you can’t find Bird’s, try vanilla pudding.
Spoon on a layer of custard cream while still warm. It will cool immediately and thicken.
Sprinkle thoroughly with toasted almonds.
Add a generous layer of marinated strawberries. They should have created their own syrup and be very soft and moist.
Put on second tier of cake.
Spread a layer of strawberry glaze.
Whip up the heavy cream with a capful of vanilla extract and a heaping Tbsp of powdered sugar. note: heavy cream doubles in volume when whipped.
Spread a layer of whipped cream on top of strawberry glaze.
Add a generous layer of marinated strawberries.
Spread another layer of whipped cream.
Put on top layer of cake.
Spread a layer of whipped cream.
Pile on the strawberries as many as you can.
Refrigerate until serving. Serve with any extra whipped cream and toasted almonds.

Note: This looks very heavy but is really light as can be.

To toast almonds:

Heat a skillet (a small wok is perfect), add blanched slivered almonds and keep turning with a wooden spoon until the almonds are golden brown. Lift the pan from time to time. Turn out onto a plate to cool. NO oil.