Strawberry Sponge Cake is a light and soft cake essential to numerous recipes. Valentines Strawberry Sponge Cake is a light and soft cake with an airy batter texture essential for the making of various cakes such as Mokas, Operas, Black Forest, Strawberries or Pears.

Ingredients:

5 egg whites

5 egg yolks

2 tsp Grated lemon rind shopping list

1/4 cup boiling water

2 tblsp lemon juice

1 1/4 cups Self-raising flour

500 g Sliced strawberries for Toppings

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tblsp icing sugar

1 cup caster sugar ( Berry Ex-Fine)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350F to 190C.

Grease and flour 2 - 8 in round or square cake pans. Stir together the sugar and the lemon rind

Beat egg yolks until light, then gradually beat in sugar. When very thick and creamy, stir in boiling water and lemon juice

Sift flour twice, then sift over top of egg yolk mixture. Fold in lightly but thoroughly. Whip egg whites until thick & fold in lightly

Divide mixture evenly between pans.

Bake for 30 mins or until top springs back when touched.

Turn out on wire racks to cool. Whip cream with vanilla and icing sugar until stiff

Chop most of the strawberries and fold through 3/4 of the cream. Save the remaining cream & some whole strawberries for decoration.

With a long, sharp knife, carefully cut cakes across the center, making 4 layers.

Sandwich layers together with the strawberry cream mixture Pipe remaining cream in a lattice pattern over the top and decorate with the remaining strawberries