Friday, August 13, 2010

Eggless Sponge Gateau/Cake with Strawberry Cream Icing........and my 150th post!!!

Print Friendly and PDF


Another milestone post from me,yes it is my 150th post today.

Milestone posts are very close to my heart as I try making something different or exotic to make the post more memorable.Don't assume that I made this cake specially for my 150th post,I made this cake almost 5 months before on the occasion of my birthday and when the beautiful luscious strawberries were in season.Somehow I kept post poing doing this post because of my frequent breaks in blogging and I think now I got the perfect opportunity to showcase my beautiful cake for this special post.

And now to the flash back.......hmmm.....As my In-laws were expected to arrive on my birthday I could not control myself from baking a cake for my own birthday(I really hate to bake a cake for my own birthday,but could not help it) and so I preferred a egg-less version of the basic vanilla sponge cake which I adapted from Nita Mehta's Cake book.More than baking a cake I am very much interested in learning to decorate a cake and I always get excited to see the beautiful cake decorations by our fellow bloggers.One such decoration that sat in my head was this beautiful cake done by Deeba .Eventhough I am just a beginner, I thought of attempting to decorate such a exotic one and to my surprise the outcome was so good that my inlaws were excited and happy to see that cake and showered me with lots of praisings which made me to forget the pain I took in decorating it.

And coming back to the present,I personally thank all my bloggers friends for their constant support which helps me in reaching many more milestones like this.
I hope you all enjoy this post.

Ingredients:

For Eggless Sponge Cake:
1 1/4 cups Maida
1/4 cup cornflour

1/2 tin condensed milk
1/2 tsp level soda-bicarb

1 tsp level baking powder
1/2 cup oil
4 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

For Cream Icing:
1 pack whipped cream powder(I used some imported variety available here)
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar

4 tbsp finely chopped fresh strawberries

2 tbsp strawberry crush


for Sugar Syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

few drops of lemon juice


other Ingredients for decoration:
6-8 strawberries,finely sliced
8-10 Italian finger biscuits


Method:

Eggless Sponge Cake:
  • Sift maida with cornflour,soda bicarb and baking powder.Keep aside.
  • Beat condensed milk with hand blender and add sugar gradually and beat till fluffy.Add oil to the mixture and beat well.
  • Add half the flour mixture and half the quantity of milk and beat well.Add vanilla essence,remaining flour and milk beating well after each addition.Beat well for 3-4mins till the mixture is smooth and light and attains a thick pouring ribbon consistency.
  • Pour the mixture into a greased and lined round 7" tin.
  • Bake for 30-35 mins in a preheated oven at 150 degrees until the cake is done.Test it by using a toothpick test,if the toothpick comes out clean then the cake is well cooked.
  • Remove it from the mould carefully and let it cool completely on the wire rack.It is better to prepare the cake a day before you want to decorate it.
Sugar Syrup:
Boil water along with sugar until it forms a nice syrupy liquid,strain the water and let it cool.Add lemon juice to it and mix and keep it in fridge.

Whipping up the cream to spread and for piping:
  • Beat the whipped cream powder on medium speed till thick.
  • Only after it turns thick,then add powdered sugar and continue beating on high speed till you get the soft peaks.Chill it for some time.Check the sweetness at this point as some ready mix packets have sugar already in it,so add according to your taste
  • Divide the mixture into 3 parts.Reserve one major portion for topping the cake.
  • Add very finely chopped strawberries to the other portion of the cream and gently fold in.
  • In 4-5tbsp of whipped cream add 2 tbsp strawberry crush and gently mix well and pour it into the cone made up of baking paper and tie it with a thread and let it stand in a glass and keep it in the refrigerator until its usage.
  • In another piping bag which has star nozzle fitted fill in the 6-8 tbsp plain whipped cream and refrigerate it until its usage.
Assembling and Decorating the Cake:
  • Level the cake gently using a knife(to cut) to form a uniform surface.
  • Based on the size of your cake cut it into two or three pieces horizontal to form layers.I did mine into two layers. .
  • Place one layer on the serving platter
  • Pour the lemon-sugar syrup mixture all over the cake to make it enough moist.Do not add much as it makes the cake very soggy later.
  • Apply the whipped cream mixed with finely chopped strawberries on the first layer and place the second layer over it and pour again the lemon-sugar syrup mixture all over the cake to make it enough moist.
  • Apply the plain whipped cream all over the cake and make sure that it is uniformly applied all over and on the sides using a flat spatula by dipping it in water in between which helps in spreading the cream uniformly.
  • Cut the Italian fingers into two equal sized pieces.Slice the strawberries very thin lengthwise and keep them aside.Slice one strawberry with the leaves in tact with the layers of the sliced strawberry which is used for decorating on top.
  • Stick the Italian fingers leaving some space in between around the sides of the cake.
  • Slowly using the cone make a design of your own with the strawberry flavored cream cone This step is completely of your choice and to your creativity, just do it in the way you want.
  • Using the star nozzle cream cone make the straight line and a star down the line in between the two Italian fingers.Please check the pictures for detailed decoration as the pictures themselves explain how it is done.
  • Arrange the strawberry slices around the edge of the cake as shown in the picture and gently keep a sliced and layered strawberry in the centre.
Chill it in the refrigerator and slice it gently and serve chilled.

44 comments:

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

OMG!that looks amazing.Great job!Nicely decorated cake.yummmy!

Finla said...

Congragulations and that is a beautiful and delcious looking cake. Love the deco on top.

My Kitchen Antics said...

congratulations and that is one helluva good looking cake

Pavithra Srihari said...

wow , the way you have illustrated makies it look no work involved. Loved this yummy cake ,, i am bookmarking it ...

Rachana said...

Congrats! Thats such a gorgeous looking cake. Yumm!

Padhu Sankar said...

Cake looks gorgeous and congrats on your 150 th post

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Prathy
Congrats for the milestone......I can see you have put in lot of effort in decorating...It's looking wonderful
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Raks said...

Congrats and perfect cake for the occasion! Way to go! Pretty cake :)

aipi said...

Congrats :) 150 is a long way..... all the best for the next 150 and beyond...
The cake looks heavenly!!

Suman Singh said...

congratulations on ur milestone..wishing you many more such milestones ahead...Cake looks delectable..lovely presentation.

sanjeeta kk said...

Lovely recipe for the 150th post. Keep it up.
Best wishes.

Aps Kitchen said...

Congrats on ur milestone.... :)
Its totally beautiful....
Yum nd Wish I cud be there tht day to taste this delicious cake...:)

Sushma Mallya said...

That looks so professional & really very beautiful ...

Unknown said...

looks superb..must have tasted great too..

Vikis Kitchen said...

Congrats dear. Very cute cake....nice color combo. Like the way the red back ground merges and highlights the pink icing. Truly a beautiful creation dear.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Congrats on ur milestone and wish u many more like this prathy and the outcome is awesome ..hope u all had wonderful day.

Preeti Kashyap said...

the sponge gateau looks totally yummy!

Preeti Kashyap said...

and ofcourse, Congrats!!!!

Satya said...

cake looks awesome dear ..very very beautiful ...congrats for ur 150th post ...


Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Nithya said...

I'm simply in love with your decoration. Looks stunning. :)

Really happy for you dear. Congrats on your milestone :) Keep it going. waiting to see more from you :)

Sadhana Valentina said...

Congrats on your 150th post dear!!! The cakes looks really yummy.

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

congrats prathy n all the best for future posts..keepo rocking girl...
cake looks wonderful,divine n hevenly...
do send in ur entries for my ongoing event-A Visual Treat
http://creativesanyukta.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-100th-post-with-my-first-event.html

Sunitha said...

Ooh.. that looks fantastic! Congratulations on both counts.

Suja Manoj said...

Congrats dear..
Awesome work dear..cake looks very pretty,love it.

Unknown said...

Congrats Prathibha on your 150 post :)

WOW, what a beauitful looking cake. Amazingly decorated and well done :)

Joyti said...

What a beautiful cake! And eggless...I'm always looking for eggless cakes...I'm sure it was delicious.

KavyaNaimish said...

COngrats Keep Going :)

Shabs.. said...

thats a gorgeous lookking cake...very well made....congrats in ur milestone.

Lakshmi ...Rasoi ki Malkin..northern and southern spices said...

Wonderful cake with beautiful icing,Congratts for your 150 th post..

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

thats a lovely cake... And congrats on the milestone!

Catherine said...

You have a beautiful blog here with wonderful recipes!
So happy I found your site.
Cheers~

Bombay Foodie said...

Congrats! The cake looks lovely

Unknown said...

Looks like a professional cake...looks super yum!

Padmajha said...

The cake looks awesome Prathiba.So tempting and very very professional.Congrats on ur milestone and wishing u many more to come :)

Aparna Vijay said...

Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog. Congrats on your 150th post and the cake is really yummy!!! Keep in touch..:-)

Namitha said...

Congrats !!! Perfect way to celebrate..Great job Prathi..

Krishnaveni said...

congrats on your milestone, cake looks beautiful, with a great professional touch, yummyyyyyyyy

Radhika said...

Wow, it looks like a professionally baked cake. Love the pink piping work. Congratulations on 150th post, wishing you gazillion more

Nandinis food said...

Congrats on 150th post! Awesome cake and nice presentation!

chef and her kitchen said...

Thank you all for your lovely wishes..

Pari said...

Great Job dear. The cake looks breath takingly beautiful. Lot of hard work there surely. Hearty congrats and hope you acheive many more.
FOODELICIOUS

Prema said...

congrats dear! lovely cake.

jayasree said...

Congrats on the milestone... Gorgeous cake and detailed recipe. Good job. Wishing you to many more to come.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant and Bold cake clicks. Good job.

Post a Comment

Thank you for visiting The Chef and Her Kitchen.
Do leave your comments and feedback,they are always welcome.Please do not leave any links.

Hugs,
Prathy

 
back to top