Vanilla whipped cream and fresh strawberries sandwiched between moist and light chocolate cakes: that’s something worth waiting for.
Simple tips and tricks| | Go directly to the recipe
”Mommy, I cannot wait for Miyu’s birthday party!” Gabby said.
Of course, turning 5 is a big deal, especially your best friend.
Gabby and Ana were counting down the number of days to this birthday party.
We bought the presents. We wrapped the presents. We talked about the party a lot, every night before sleep, for a month!
The wait was almost over. Well, almost…
3 days before the party, Gabby got some sore in her mouth. We didn’t take it seriously.
1 day before the party, Ana got mouth sores too. And, she got a little white spot on her hand!
“OMG, IS THAT HAND MOUTH AND FOOT?
Should I bring them to see our doctor so she can cure them in a day and we’ll make it to the party?
How am I going to explain to them they are c-o-n-t-a-g-i-o-u-s!
How am I going to deal with their disappointment?”
I was totally in the panic mode and lost all my senses.
I knew I must calm down and figure out a way to help them deal with this disappointment. “Let me think about it while preparing dinner”.
I remembered I’ve read a parenting book a while ago called “How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk“.
A very useful principle in this book is:
Instead of imposing something on kids, you describe the situation, you acknowledge their feelings, don’t let your frustration ruin what you’re trying to say, and eventually, they should be able to figure out and propose a solution to you. So that would be what I was aiming for this time.
(The same principle can be used to talk to your spouse too:-).
First, describe the situation, and make it relatable to them:
Instead of starting “Girls, we cannot go to the birthday party tomorrow, because…….”, I said:”Do you remember the last time when your classmate was sick, you were sick too 2 days later. “
“Yes?”
“Now it’s happening between you two. Gabby got sores in her mouth, now Ana got it too.”
“Oh, so I got Gabby’s germ, that’s why?” Ana asked.
“No… actually, you got her VIRUS.” But it’s a lesson for another day. I continued: “If we go to the birthday party tomorrow, maybe Miyu will get it too.”
“That’s not good.”Gabby said.”But I really want to go!”
”I know it’s very disappointing if we cannot go…(acknowledge their feelings) What will make you feel better?” I asked.
“I want to play with Miyu. I want to eat the birthday cake!”
“Are your mouth hurt? “
“Yes.”
“Imagine if Miyu gets the sores like yours, how will she feel?”
“I don’t want her to hurt too.”Gabby said, and was thinking…”How about this, mommy, you’ll make a birthday cake, for Miyu. When we don’t have germs anymore, she can come to our house and play with us, and eat the cake.”
“That’s a good idea!” Ana acclaimed.(She followed her big sister, as always.)
“So what this cake will look like?” I asked.
“Miyu loves chocolate and strawberries,” Gabby said. ”And us too!” Ana added.
So we started picturing this cake.
It was a long process…
But we’ve created something to look forward to a strawberry chocolate layer cake in 2 weeks, and slowly let go the fact that no more birthday party for tomorrow.
Teaching kids to WAIT is probably the most difficult thing for a parent. Especially after already a long wait, then the disappointment, and then the need to wait AGAIN? But it’s a skill that children need to learn, and will benefit them in the future. Everyday moments like this one are the best for giving a small dose of training, preparing them to deal with all kinds of difficult situations later.
(I can’t always do right as a parent, to be honest. But I was so happy that I was able to fix this situation, by making a cake!)
So, here it comes, this beautiful strawberry chocolate layer cake which has:
- Super light and moist chocolate cake layers,
- Real vanilla bean flavored whipped cream,
- Fresh strawberries inside and out, (you can decorate any way you like),
- A visual appeal that is very easy to achieve,
- And you don’t even need to level the cakes.
The following will be cake talks:
The batter may look very runny here, but don’t worry, the baked cakes will hold well and stay moist. I like to use a flat whisk to incorporate the flour into egg mixture, it won’t deflate the mixture too much and you won’t find a big clump of flour as you will using a balloon whisk. I baked my cake in these 5 layer cake pans set, and popped them all at once in the oven. It took about 15 minutes and the cakes slid right off.
I did use a kitchen scale to make sure I put the equal amount of batter into each pan. If you don’t have five 6-inch cake pans, you can also divide batter into two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans and bake about 30 minutes. Then you can slice each cake in half to build a 4-tier cake. A little trick to avoid domed cakes is to swirl the batter around so it will cling to the sides of the pan. Since the center of a cake tends to rise up faster, this method helps outer edge of a cake to climb higher. As you can see below, the cake is just slightly higher in the center, you don’t even need to level the cake layers.
Since I have to make this the day before, I’m a little bit worried about the whipped cream filling won’t hold. There won’t be any buttercream icing to surround and to stabilize the cake, and it’s five-tiers, tall and loaded with strawberries. I googled to see if there are some tricks to keep whipped cream hold shape longer. There is an article on The Kitchn website that compared a couple of methods (add melted marshmallow, dry instant vanilla pudding, melted butter or Crème fraîche), and found out that an immersion blender with the whisk attachment whipped long lasting cream without adding anything. I guess it’s because it can get to the bottom of a mixing bowl better, but I don’t have this tool. I’ve read also some professionals who use instant ClearJel to stabilize the cream, but I always avoid adding ingredients that I cannot understand (ClearJel ingredients: modified food starch) or cannot pronounce. I think the simpler the better.
While hesitating, I remembered Gabby’s birthday cake I made 2 months ago stayed in the fridge for a week, the top cake has only whipped cream filling and it held pretty well during that time. So I decided to whip my cream like usual.
The key is to achieve a firm but still smooth texture. A lot of time whipped cream won’t hold its shape is because it is over-whipped in the first place, so water starts to separate from cream and it will get worse over time.
To achieve a perfectly whipped cream to fill a layer cake:
1) Start with a cold mixing bowl (you can put some ice in the bowl and put the whole thing in the fridge for at least 15 minutes). And heavy cream itself should be very cold as well.
2) Begin with medium speed (4 in a KitchenAid mixer), so cream won’t warm up too fast from the beginning, Add icing sugar when you can see the whisk starts to leave trails in cream. Then you can increase the speed to medium-high.
3) Under-whip cream a little bit with an electric mixer, don’t forget to stop in the middle and scrape down the sides of the bowl and make a few turns so no under-whipped cream is left on the bottom of the mixing bowl, then finish the last few strokes by hand, you can add vanilla extract now.
4) The finished cream should have this exact texture: smooth, glossy with a stiff peak attached to the whisk. If the cream looks grainy, most of the cream clings to the sides of the mixing bowl, leaving an empty hole in the middle, it is over-whipped. Don’t panic, if it’s only slightly over-whipped, add one tablespoon of fresh cold heavy cream one at a time and whisk by hand, until it returns to smooth state. If it’s really over-whipped, that you can see water separates from the solid, you can just go all the way and make butter, which is actually pretty good (see, I’ve been there:-)
After I piped first three layers of the cake, I felt the cake layers started to slip sideways a little bit. So I made sure that I straightened all the layers and put my half-assembled cake in the refrigerator for about an hour. The piping bag with whipped cream and the rest of the strawberry slices stayed in the fridge as well. So the cream layers had a chance to solidify under low temperature. I then proceeded to finish the rest of the cake.
The second morning, the cake was pretty solid after an overnight refrigeration. The only problem is that a streak of pink appealed on one of the cream layers. Before I put sliced strawberries onto the whipped cream filling, I actually used a paper towel to absorb some excess moisture from the berries. I guess that a few were overripe and especially juicy. So remember to choose your strawberries wisely.
Since the cake is quite tall, it may not be the best choice using a knife to cut it, since the knife will crush the cake and make a mess. I used some dental floss. A cheese string will work too.
I know, missing a birthday party is so very disappointing! But having the best strawberry chocolate layer cake 2 weeks later totally made up for them! Don’t you think?
Because…
Great treats/things come to those who wait!
”Can I have more, please, Mommy?”
