DAILY DOSES OF SUGAR: Most Valued Birthday Cake

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake!! ♥♥♥

The one thing I always wanted to bake well is a sponge cake. Any combination of fruits and flavor will make a good cake as long as the base is done right. With that said, I think I have just achieved an impressive feat this weekend-- just in time for my Dad's birthday! Hurray!

The taste and texture of this sponge cake was everything I looked for. Egg-y and fluffy (even overnight!!). It closely resembles the ones you would get at an Asian bakery. My dad claimed that it was up to par with the professional bakeries out there!(;

Foolproof Sponge Cake
recipe from Fresh from the Oven
-makes 1 9-inch round cake (cut in half for 2 layer)
or 2 9-inch round cake (evenly divide batter into 2 pans)

Softened unsalted butter for the pans
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9" cake pan and cover pan bottom with round of parchment paper.

Whisk/sieve the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Take the sauce pan off the heat and add in vanilla extract; keep the mixture covered and warm.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a medium mixing bowl and reserving the yolks in a large mixing bowl (you will be adding the whites and flour mixture on top of the foamy yolk later).
With hand mixer, beat the whites on high speed until foamy. (Tips: start beating on medium-low speed for a minute first then slowly increase speed to high-- this will create stronger and more stable foam)
Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites to soft, moist peaks.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and turns a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes.
Add in the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

Sprinkle/sieve the flour mixture over the egg whites and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. (I had to mix for about 25 seconds to get the flour well incorporated)
Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl.
Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
Make sure that you have incorporated the butter into the mixture. There should not be visible grease/oil as you pour the mixture into the cake pans.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched. (Since I only made 1 9-inch, I baked for about 30 minutes)

Cool completely on rack.
Run a thin knife around the inside of the cake pan.
Invert the cake onto a rack or cardboard to release the cake from the pan. (A spring form pan makes this easier.)
Remove the parchment paper.

Strawberry Cream filling/ topping
plenty of strawberries, chopped and drained excess water
1 cup of heavy cream
sugar, to taste

Beat heavy cream until medium peaks form.
Lightly fold heavy cream into chopped strawberries.
Add and mix sugar into strawberry cream until desired sweetness.

To assemble
Cut sponge cake into 2 layers.
Spread cream on the bottom layer.
Layer thin slices of strawberries on top of cream.
Put top layer on.
Spread cream again.
Sprinkle sliced almonds around the edges of the cream
Garnish with whole/ halved strawberries and chocolate curls*!

*I followed The Pioneer Woman Cooks's tutorial in making the chocolate curls. (Do not add water to the chocolate mixture if you find it too thick to spread! The curls will not harden if done so. Just reheat the chocolate if it gets too cool or hard to spread.)
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