Fruit Cake
Round fruit cake made with sponge cake batter, sugar syrup, and whipped fresh cream, topped with cake crumbs and fruit.
Ingredients
cake flour
80g
egg whites (Ingredient A)
4
caster sugar (Ingredient A)
40g
egg yolks
4
caster sugar
40g
honey (Ingredient B)
1 tbsp
water (Ingredient B)
1 tbsp
unsalted butter (Ingredient C, brought to room temperature)
15g
milk (Ingredient C)
2 tbsp
caster sugar (Ingredient D, for the syrup)
1 1/2 tbsp
water (Ingredient D, for the syrup)
3 tbsp
cherry brandy (for the syrup)
2 tsp
whipping cream (for the whipped cream)
1 1/4 cups
caster sugar (for the whipped cream)
3 tbsp
strawberries (hulled and sliced)
15
fruit for decoration (strawberries, cherries, currants, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)
as needed
Instructions
1
Preparation
Bring the unsalted butter to room temperature and set aside; hull and slice the strawberries and set aside; preheat the oven to 190~200°C and set aside; line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside; cut a piece of cardstock into a 12 cm diameter circle to use as a mold for shaping the sponge cake and set aside.
2
Making the meringue
Place the egg whites from Ingredient A into a bowl and beat to 60% volume. Then add the caster sugar and beat with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form to make a meringue. Set aside.
3
Making the batter
Pour the honey and water from Ingredient B into a heatproof container, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 30 seconds. In a separate bowl, add the egg yolks, caster sugar, and the heated Ingredient B in order, mixing well with a hand mixer after each addition. Place the bowl over a bain-marie (water bath) and whisk until the mixture reaches a mayonnaise-like consistency.
4
Folding in the meringue and flour
Add half of the meringue from step 2 into the mixture from step 5 and fold gently with a rubber spatula from the bottom up. Sift in the cake flour and fold until just a trace of powder remains, then add the remaining half of the meringue and continue to fold until combined. Place Ingredient C into a heatproof container, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 30 seconds, then pour it into the batter while using a rubber spatula to control the flow, and fold until combined.
5
Baking
Pour the batter from step 8 onto the baking tray, spread evenly with a scraper, and bake in the oven at 190~200°C for 10~11 minutes until the surface is light yellow. Once baked, run a small knife around the edges of the cake, remove from the tray, and place on a cake cooling rack to cool.
6
Shaping and brushing with syrup
Peel off the baking paper from step 10 and place the cake face-down on the cardstock mold, then cut out 4 circles. Place Ingredient D into a heatproof container, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir in the cherry brandy. Brush the syrup onto the cake rounds from step 11. For the top and bottom layers, brush only the surface; for the remaining two layers, brush both sides.
7
Making cake crumbs
Use a coarse sieve to grate the remaining sponge cake into fine crumbs resembling dried fish flakes (katsuobushi). ※If you have a food processor, you can achieve an even finer texture and the process will be easier.
8
Assembly
Place the whipped cream ingredients into a bowl and beat with a hand mixer to 80~90% stiffness. Place one of the sponge cake rounds from step 13 on a turntable and use a palette knife to spread the cream from step 15 over it while rotating. Cover with strawberry slices. Repeat steps 16~17 two more times to complete 3 layers, placing the last sponge cake with the syrup-coated side facing down. Rotate the turntable while spreading cream over the top and sides, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
9
Decoration
Generously coat the surface of the cake with the cake crumbs from step 14. Place the remaining cream into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle. Pipe cream along the edges of the surface from step 20 and add a dollop in the center. Tuck various fruits of your choice between the piped cream and place a strawberry on the cream in the center.
