Strawberry Cake with Berry Liqueur
Ingredients: Base: 250 g sugar, 250 g butter, 3 eggs, 10 tablespoons berry liqueur, 350 g flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 packet vanilla sugar. Cream: 400 g sweet cheese, 600 g strawberries (400 g for the inside of the cake and 200 g for decoration), 400 ml liquid cream (300 ml for the cream, and the rest for decoration), 120 g sugar, 3 packets vanilla sugar, 2 eggs, 50 ml berry liqueur, 10 g gelatin. And for soaking, a fruit-flavored syrup.
The cake base is the perfect foundation for a delicious cake, and its preparation begins with creaming the soft butter together with granulated sugar and vanilla sugar. This process is essential to achieve a light-colored, airy cream that will add a fine texture and refined taste to the cake. Once the butter and sugar are well combined, we add the egg yolks, carefully separating them from the egg whites, and our favorite liqueur, which will provide a subtle and delicate fragrance. We mix the ingredients with a spatula or a mixer until the mixture becomes homogeneous and creamy.
In a separate bowl, the egg whites are whipped with a little salt until they become firm and shiny, resembling a meringue. These whipped egg whites will add lightness to the batter, so they need to be gently folded into the butter and sugar mixture, mixing from the bottom up to avoid losing the incorporated air. Then, we add the flour, previously mixed with baking powder, continuing to stir carefully until well combined.
The resulting mixture is poured into a round cake pan, greased with butter and dusted with flour, with a diagonal of 22 cm. It is important to ensure that the pan is properly prepared to avoid the cake sticking. The cake is baked in a preheated oven at a moderate temperature for 40-45 minutes. After baking, we let the cake cool in the pan, then remove it and cut it into three equal layers, preparing for the assembly of the cake.
For the delicious cream, the gelatin is dissolved in about 100 ml of cold water, then mixed with the chosen liqueur. In a saucepan, we combine the cottage cheese with granulated sugar and vanilla sugar, thoroughly homogenizing the mixture. As we mix, we add the egg yolks, continuing to stir over a double boiler until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. After removing the saucepan from the heat, we add the dissolved gelatin, stirring well to ensure it is evenly distributed. We let the mixture cool.
The egg whites are whipped, and then mixed with the whipped cream, resulting in a fluffy mixture. When the cheese cream has cooled, we add the whipped cream and egg whites mixture, gently folding it in. The strawberries are sliced thinly to be used between the layers of cake and cream.
Assembling the cake is a special moment. The first layer of cake is placed on a platter and soaked with berry juice, followed by half of the prepared cream, topped with the sliced strawberries. We continue with the second layer of cake, which is soaked, adding the remaining cream and strawberry slices. Finally, we place the last layer of cake, generously soaking it, and the cake is ready to be left in the refrigerator to set and allow the flavors to combine. Enjoying this cake will be a true delight for the senses!
