Japanese Strawberry Shortcake is my favorite go-to party cake. It’s a crowd pleaser, especially among adult crowds.
(this cake recipe is being posted on my birthday because it’s one of my more favorite cakes in the entire world!!)
It’s best served after being set overnight, as the cream, cake, and fruits get a good time to mix flavors.
The recipe doesn’t require anything special as far as ingredients go. It’s all about the technique!
Cake
You’ll want to separate your egg yolks from the whites. When you do this, make sure none of your yolks leak into the whites. Any fat in the egg white will cause it to have trouble while whipping up.
Once the egg white reach a frothy state, begin to drizzle in the sugar while you keep whipping.
Whip until you reach medium to stiff peaks and the egg whites are white and glossy.
Mix together the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
Grab a spatula and fold half of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Once that is fully incorporated, add the remaining egg whites into the mixture and fold in.
You want to be gentle when you do this and mix as little as possible. We are relying on the fluffy egg whites to keep this cake soft, the more you mix the more you pull air out of the egg whites.
Next, add the flour, baking powder, and baking powder and gently fold. Finally, add the milk and oil.
At this stage, you have two options. You can bake the cake in two even layers, or three. I would recommend three layers in an 8 x 8 in square pan. But 2 layers on a 8×8 works as well.
Bake at 320 for 14 mins and cool fully before you assemble.
Whipped Cream
This is a rather simple, straight forward homemade whipped cream recipe! All you’ll need is sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Whip the heavy cream and slowly add the sugar. Once you get to the 3 tbsp stage, taste the cream and see how much sweeter you want it to be. I prefer 5 tbsp. Add the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and mix well.
Assembly
Take your first layer of the cake (you can level your cakes if you want to / they didn’t rise evenly) and add a layer of the cream. Add 1/2 of the strawberries and add more cream to cover the berries. You should have used 1/3 of the cream.
Repeat the same assembly for the next layer using the remaining strawberries and another 1/3 of the cream!
Spread the remaining cream (reserve a small bit to fill in any gaps) on the top layer of the cake. At this stage your cake will look like this.
Trim about 1 cm off of the sides of the cake to expose the cross section of strawberries. Use any leftover cream to fill any gaps.
Save your trimmings and any extra cream! It’s still good to eat!
Cover and store in the fridge overnight for the flavors to fully develop! Always serve your Japanese Strawberry shortcake cold / chilled.
Japanese Strawberry Shortcake
Equipment
- 8 x 8 Baking Pan (one is fine but two is preferable)
Ingredients
- 1 Lbs Fresh Whole Strawberries
Cake
- 4 Large Eggs
- ⅔ Cup White Sugar
- 1½ tsp Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
- 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tbsp Milk
- ¾ Cup All Purpose Flour
Whipped Cream
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3-5 Tbsp White Sugar
- Pinch Kosher Salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 320°.
- Separate eggs whites and yolks (make sure you don't get any yolk in the white or the recipe won't work!)
- Whip the egg whites and slowly drizzle the sugar into the whites until they reach a medium to stiff peak consistency.
- Mix together the vanilla extract and egg yolks.
- Fold in the egg whites into the yolks by folding half of the egg white mixture into the yolks, then fold the remaining the whites into egg mixture. Be gentle as you do this, you don't want to deflate the mixture.
- Fold the all purpose flour and baking powder into the egg mixture gently.
- Then mix in the vegetable oil and milk.
- Line the 8 x 8 baking sheet with parchment paper and pour 1/3 of the batter into each of the trays.
- This is a 3 layer cake, I had to bake the cake three times but the process will speed up if you have two of the 8 x 8 sheets. You want 1/3 of the batter in each go in the oven.
- Bake for 14 – 16 minutes, the cake bakes very quickly but will still be a little soft and pale so take it to the 12 minute mark before you pull it from the oven. Let it take on a very pale golden color before you remove it.
- Let the cakes cool fully before you ice and stack them.
Whipped Cream
- Whip the heavy cream and slowly add sugar in until the cream takes on a thick consistency. Taste the cream once you get to the 3 tbsp make and add more if you want some.
- Add the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and set aside while the cakes cool and you prep your strawberries.
Assembly
- Rinse and thoroughly dry your strawberries. Cut the tops off and slice the regular sized ones in half and the large ones into quarters. Reserve few of your best looking strawberries for the top but don't cut them.
- The cream needs to be split evenly between 3 sections, so be mindful as you frost the cake. The strawberries will be split between two.
- Place down one layer of the cake and spread some of the cream on cake. Add half of the strawberries and spread more of the cream on top of the strawberries. Spread the cream to the edge of the cake. You should have used 1/2 of the cut strawberries and 1/3 of the cream.
- Add the second layer of cake and repeat the above step.
- Add the final layer of the cake and spread the remaining cream on the cake. You don't need to spread any cream on the side of the cake as we will be trimming the edges.
- Once the top layer of cream is applied, trim about 1 cm of the cake off on each side so you can see perfect layers and cross sections of the cake on all four sides.
- (Save the trimmings and enjoy them with any of the leftover cream!)
- Place the remaining whole strawberries on the top of the cake and serve the next day. Don't use cut strawberries on the top because they will leak juices and mess up the cream.
- This cake is best served after sitting and soaking for 24 hours!