Japanese Lemon Strawberry Shortcake

I made some mini Japanese strawberry shortcakes on my old food blog a couple of years ago here. It was my most-viewed post and one of my favorites to make. The cake wasn’t exactly what I wanted though (I was looking for more moist and fluffy), so here is a remake to perfect the recipe:

Rating: 10/10
Why: This is the perfected version after a few tries.

P.S. If you want a generous amount of cream, double the cream recipe.

Japanese Lemon Strawberry Shortcake
Makes 4 mini cakes

Cake:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp oil
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Cream:

• 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 4 tsp cold water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 pkg fresh strawberries, chopped + extra for garnish
• toasted coconut, for garnish (opt.)

Directions:

Bring eggs to room temperature by either letting sit for 30 minutes or placing in a bowl of warm water to speed up the process.

Preheat oven to 325F and place a rack on the lowest position of the oven.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, water, oil, lemon peel and vanilla. Set aside.
Using a clean beater and clean bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
Using the same beater, add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and beat well. Then fold the egg whites into the batter in 4 additions until no white streaks remain.

Pour batter into 4 ungreased mini spring form pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until you can touch the surface with your fingertip and it bounces back. Invert the cakes immediately onto a cooling rack.
Once they are cool, use a knife to gently prod the cake away from the sides of the pan and then pull the cake out (if you try to immediately open the spring on the pan you will crack the cake).
Use a serrated knife to cut off the top of the cake and make it level. I also baked my cakes longer than I wanted to, so I sliced off the entire outside layer of the cakes to get rid of the golden brown that formed. Then slice each cake to make 2 layers.

For the cream:

Pour the cold water into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over that. Place over low heat, stirring until the gelatin dissolves. Let that sit while you make the cream.
With clean beaters and a clean bowl, pour the heavy cream into the bowl and begin beating. Once it starts to set up you can begin gradually adding the sugar. Add it just a bit at a time while continuing to beat. Then slowly drizzle in the gelatin while still beating. You are done once stiff peaks form.

To assemble:

Spoon the cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. On your cake bottom, pipe a layer of cream then top generously with chopped strawberries. Cover that with another layer of cream, and sandwich with the other cake layer.
Pipe a big mound of cream on the top of the cake, then use an offset spatula or knife to slowly spread that over the edges of the cake to ice it. Repeat with remaining cakes and garnish with extra strawberries and toasted coconut if desired.

Lemon chiffon cake adapted from Taste of Home. Stabilized whipped cream from HERE.

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