Strawberry Torte

Strawberries were so cheap lately I couldn’t just ignore them. Knowing my Hubby likes spongy-fruity cakes I found this strawberry torte recipe from malacukierenka.pl to be perfect for him. So without any special occasion to celebrate (anyway, who said you need a special day to have a torte?), I made it. It took a few hours and seemed like a long process, but looked so pretty and, according to everyone who tasted the torte, was delicious – not too sweet, moist and very strawberry, it was worth the time and effort.

Strawberry torte

Ingredients:

Sponge:

6 eggs, separated
170g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
170g flour
1 tsp baking soda

To soak:

150g strawberries, cleaned and washed
8-10 tbsp water

Method:

1. Whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks, add half of the sugar. Mix until glossy.

2. In another bowl mix egg yolks with the other half of the sugar, until almost white and creamy. Add vanilla essence.

3. Fold the beaten egg whites into yolk mixture.

4. Sift flour and baking soda over the egg mixture and stir carefully until well incorporated.

5. Pour into a round pan (24cm diameter, bottom lined with a baking paper). Smooth the surface and bake 50 minutes in 160C (fan-forced). Remove from oven and let cool completely in pan.

6. Slice into 3 even layers and put the bottom one back into the pan.

8. Blend the strawberries with water. Soak evenly each layer of the baked sponge (about 6 tbsp per layer).

Filling:

6 tsp gelatine
1/3 cup water
600-700g strawberries, cleaned and washed
250g mascarpone
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp vanilla sugar (optional)
5-7 tbsp icing sugar
400g chilled thickened cream

Method:

1. Put gelatine in a small pan and cover with water. Put aside.

2. Blend 200g of strawberries, chop roughly the rest of them.

3. Put the mascarpone in a bowl and mix adding gradually the blended strawberries. Add vanilla essence, vanilla sugar and icing sugar and mix well.

4. Whip the cream.

5. Place the pan with gelatine on a small heat and stir continuously until dissolved. Add slowly to the mascarpone mixture stirring all the time. Add whipped cream and chopped strawberries, stir until well combined.

6. Put half of the mixture on the first layer of sponge that’s waiting in the tin. Spread evenly and cover with another sponge slice. Repeat. Cover with the last sponge slice (soaked side down). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Decoration:

250g mascarpone
1-3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
250g chilled whipping cream
700-900g strawberries – depends on decoration

Method:

1. Mix mascarpone with icing sugar & vanilla sugar.

2. Whip cream and mix well with mascarpone.

3. Take the assembled cake carefully out of the tin. Cover top and sides with the cream. Decorate with strawberries.