Love cake AKA Butter sponge with Limoncello Cream and Strawberries

I made cake...a heart shaped cake. I've wanted a heart shaped cake pan for a while now and I finally bought one last week. They are not expensive, mine was just over 8 dollars with tax. I've made a cake just like it on my blog, kiwi cake. It is slightly different but that basics are the same. I used Julia Child's Butter Sponge...which is amazing! I had a thought a couple weeks ago about making a Limoncello whip cream. So I tried it out with this cake. It was ok but I think I should of added more Limoncello. For those of you who don't know, Limoncello is a lemon liquor.

You will need
4 tablespoons butter melted
4 eggs, the yokes and whites separated
2/3 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp vanilla extract ( or as much as you want to add)
1/4 cup Limoncello
1 cup whipping cream ( 35% milk fat or more)
1/2lb strawberries washed and slices
pinch of salt

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Place the egg yokes in a bowl and gently whip them. After a minute add the 2/3 cup sugar and the vanilla Whip until silky and light yellow.
2) Whip the egg whites with a pinch or salt and 2 tablespoons sugar.
3) Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the egg yolks and fold in. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites to much
4) Add 1/2 of the remaining egg whites and 1/2 of the flour and fold to incorporate.
5) Fold in 1/2 of the melted butter
6) Add the remaining egg whites, flour and butter.
7) Place in a greased and floured cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean.
7) Let cool.
8) Add the whipping cream, sugar and Limoncello to a bowl and whip until thick. Do not over mix, you will end of with a sweet Limoncello butter.
9) Cut the cake in half width ways and place a layer of strawberries on the top of the bottom piece. Place 1/2 of the whip cream on top of the strawberries and spread to make a even layer.
10) Place the second half of the cake on top of the first half. Using the remaining whip cream spread it on top in an even layer.
11) Place the reaming strawberries on top

Enjoy!

Kiwi Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes to eat. It is a white cake with a layer of whip cream and kiwis. Then the whole cake is covered in white cream with toasted almonds around the sides and topped with more kiwis. You don't have to use kiwi's for the cake, I've used strawberries and blueberries before. I think that almost any fruit would work really.

The cake itself is just a plan white cake. I've made it from fresh and from a box, I prefer it from fresh. I don't really like the taste of boxed food, it taste to fake to me. Anyway I use a really simple white cake recipe.

White Cake
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

1) Pre heat your oven to 350f. I tend to put the oven a bit higher then this then when I put the cake in I lower the temperature to just under 350. I do this for almost everything I make because all ovens are different.

2) Sift flour and baking powder together

3) Cream together butter and sugar.

4) Beat eggs into the creamed butter and sugar. Beat one egg in at a time, making sure that the egg is combined before adding another egg. You can also add the vanilla now.

5) Add the flour mixture to the wet eggs,sugar and butter.

6) Add the milk and mix

7) Put in a greased cake pan and cook for about 20 minutes.

The cake when it comes out of the oven

Let the cake cool completely

Toast Almonds

250g of blanched sliced almonds

I toast the almonds right after the cake is done. I do this because the oven is already on and I don't have to worry about preheating it. Arrange the almonds on a baking pan in a single layer and place in the oven. It takes about 10-15minutes for the almonds to toast. I would check them often because they burn easily.

The whip cream

500ml of whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

vanilla(optional)

wine of your choice (optional)

1)Mix the whipping cream and the sugar together. You can add some vanilla or some wine to the cream. I have used a strawberry wine that I really like but this is optional. If you do add some wine I would not add alot. Maybe 1/4 cup.

2)Using a mixer or a whisk beat the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks. Do no over mix the whip cream. If you over mix the cream it will become butter. Set the whip cream aside.

To assemble to cake

1)Peel and cut 4 or 5 kiwis.

2)Take the cake out of the pan and cut in half width ways. You should have two pieces of cake, a top and a bottom.

3)Take some of the whip cream and spread it over the bottom piece of the cake. Then take some of the kiwis and place them on top of the whip cream.

4) Put the top on the cake and cover the side of the cake with a thin layer of whip cream. This will help the almonds stick.

5) Cover the top of the cake with whip cream.

6) Put the rest of the kiwi's on top of the cake.

7) Take the almonds and gently place them on the side of the cake. I find that the almonds tend fall off at first but if you apply a little bit of pressure when putting them on they should be fine.

8)Enjoy!