Strawberry Crunchy Layer Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Line a 9x9-in. baking pan with parchment. Preheat oven to 350°. Finely crush 24 cookies. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake until firm, 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack., Spread vanilla ice cream onto crust; freeze, covered, until firm. Spread with strawberry ice cream and then whipped topping; freeze, covered, until firm. , Coarsely crush remaining cookies. Combine cookie crumbs and freeze-dried strawberries; sprinkle over whipped topping. Freeze, covered, until firm, 8 hours or overnight. Remove cake from freezer. Lifting with parchment, remove from pan. Gently peel off parchment. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. If desired, garnish with fresh strawberries.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease the base and sides of three deep, round 6-inch (15-cm) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• To make the cake, sift together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl, and set aside. Mix the milk and elderflower cordial in a small bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest for 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture looks like it's starting to curdle, add 1 tablespoon (8 g) of the flour mixture. Turn the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk and elderflower. Stir in the remaining flour and divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes for 35 to 37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up.
• To make the purée, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Slice the stems off the strawberries, cut them in half and put them into a baking dish. Toss the fruit with the sugar and vanilla. Roast the strawberries in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring once halfway. The strawberries are done once they are soft and fragrant and the juices have turned into a syrup. Leave the strawberries to cool completely before transferring them to a food processor or blender and pulsing until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
• To make the buttercream, add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer or a heatproof bowl. Make sure there are no traces of grease in the bowl as this will stop the meringue from whipping up. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the base doesn't touch the water. Whisk the eggs and sugar constantly until the mixture reaches a temperature of about 150°F (65°C). If you don't have a thermometer, rub a little of the mixture in between your fingers. The eggs should be hot to the touch with all the sugar dissolved.
• Remove the bowl from the heat and start whisking the egg whites on high speed in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with an electric whisk. Beat until the whites are thick and have doubled in volume. Once the bowl is cool to the touch and with the mixer still running, add the butter a piece at a time. The meringue will deflate and will start to look a little runny or curdled. Don't panic-this is normal. Continue beating until you have added in all of the butter and the mixture is smooth and glossy. If after 10 minutes, your meringue buttercream is still soupy, chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes and then beat again. Add about 1/2 cup (125 g) of the strawberry puree and beat the buttercream for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Leave the buttercream at room temperature until you are ready to assemble.
• Unwrap the cakes from the fridge and if any of them are domed, level them with a serrated knife or a cake leveler. All the layers need to be completely flat to ensure you don't end up with a wonky cake. Brush each cake layer with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of elderflower cordial. Place one layer of cake on a cake board and put this board on a turntable, if using. If your buttercream has firmed up, whip it up again in the mixer until smooth. Add a scoop of buttercream and spread it out evenly with an offset spatula, pushing the buttercream right to the edge (it's fine if it spills over). Place the next layer on top of the first, but this time add about 1 tablespoon (8 g) of strawberry purée on top of the buttercream layer, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) clear around the edge. Place the last layer topside down to give you a perfectly flat top.
• Frost the top and sides of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Smooth the edges as much as you can with a bench scraper or palette knife. This is the crumb coat layer that will trap any stray crumbs and act as a base for the next layer. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up before adding another layer of buttercream on the top and sides. Fill a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (I've used Wilton 8B) with any remaining buttercream and pipe swirls across the edge to make a wreath. Top the cake with fresh strawberries, a drizzle of any leftover puree and fresh elderflower (if in season).

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
• Combine milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract in another bowl.
• Beat sugar and lard together in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and beat to combine. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture and strawberry puree, making 3 dry and 2 wet additions. Beat for 1 minute. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
• Drop cake pans 2 to 3 times on the countertop to break any air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers of the cakes comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto the rack to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes more.
• Ice cooled cake using vanilla frosting between the layers and on the top and sides.

Steps:

• Fill a small saucepan with about 1 inch of water and set over medium heat until the water steams.
• Meanwhile, coarsely chop about a quarter of the strawberries and combine in a medium heatproof bowl with the sugar. Cover the bowl tightly and set it over the saucepan. Reduce the heat if necessary to keep the water just below a simmer and allow the berries to sit, swirling the bowl once or twice to dissolve any stubborn sugar clumps, until they've released all their juices, are mushy, and swim in a translucent red liquid, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, uncover and strain through a fine-mesh strainer. (You should have 1/2 to 3/4 cup of strawberry syrup.) The mushy berries will have given off their color and flavor, and even though you won't use them in the cake, they're still tasty. Reserve the berries for spooning over pancakes or yogurt.
• In a separate medium bowl, combine the heavy cream, crème fraîche and salt. Whisk the mixture vigorously by hand, or beat with a hand mixer on medium-high, until thick, light and holding a medium peak. Chill the bowl of whipped cream. Thinly slice the remaining raw strawberries lengthwise.
• Invert the sponge cake on a flat serving plate or cake stand. Holding a long serrated knife horizontally and parallel to the work surface, use it to lightly score all around the side of the cake at the midway point. Then, using long, even strokes and still holding the knife parallel to the surface, slice clean through the cake, using the score marks as a guide, to cut it into two even layers. Set the top layer aside.
• Use a pastry brush to dab several tablespoons of the strawberry syrup across the bottom layer, lightly soaking the entire surface. Pull the bowl of cream from the refrigerator and dollop about half of it across the soaked layer, then spread in an even layer all the way to the edges. Arrange half of the sliced strawberries on top of the cream, then place the second cake layer on top of the first, cut side up. Lightly soak the top layer of cake with the strawberry syrup, reserving any remaining syrup for serving. Spread the remaining cream on top of the cake, then pile the remaining sliced strawberries over top. (If not serving immediately, cover loosely and refrigerate until ready to serve.)
• Slice the cake with a serrated knife and serve. Drizzle the slices with any remaining strawberry syrup. The cake is best served the day it's made, but will keep, covered and chilled, for up to 3 days.