3rd Time's the Charm! Guess who can finally make a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake?

After 2 fails, I thought that I would never master this recipe and settled for another simpler but similar Italian sponge cake recipe. I kinda gave up trying because this cake requires you to buy strawberries and heavy cream, and then if you fail, you are stuck with a large box of strawberries. I don't particularly like eating strawberries as is (too sour for me), and they're quite pricey. So, whenever I open my fridge after a failed baking attempt and see them I just feel as if they are taunting me. =(

But Rena's birthday came around during my graduation, and she requested that I make a cake for her. So I gave it another shot, this time with mom's help. During the process, Mom did everything counter intuitive to me. Heck, she didn't even LOOK at the recipe! She just asked me a few questions and then started preparing things on her own. And then instructed me to do things DIFFERENTLY than what the recipe called for. I was retaliating and frantically making a point about how baking has to be exact since it's chemistry, and recounting all my failed attempts from not following the recipe to a T.

Of course, this made absolute sense in my head even though she's a pro baker and the BEST baker I know in both Kuching and in California. Her pastries way surpass even the popular 85 degree bakery here! No doubt I should just trust her. But no, I was so adamant the cake would fail because I wasn't following the recipe. She must be thinking of a different one, she dismissed it after all! And yet people think they'll trust in God once they see a miracle. LOL. #nooblogic

Being the "good" daughter that I was, I did everything she told me while protesting all the way, and this time, the cake actually rose! I was beyond excited, because all my previous attempts never rose and were super dense! I guess I finally learned the correct way to fold batter. Still, the cake was very lopsided because we didn't have the correct pan size and height, so we made do by trying to build our own "wall" around the pan using parchment paper. Let's just say instead of a nice, round tall cake, we got a nice, round, tall but tapered cake. Hahahaha. But I got it right!

3rd time's really the charm, eh?

Anyway, since I got it right with mom's supervision, I decided to try it a 4th time on my own. So I made a mini one. 6 inches diameter:

And it turned out gorgeous! Super duper happy now! I have successfully baked a Japanese strawberry shortcake!

I learned quite a few things in the process:

• always level your cake before icing. 
• removing the crust layer (if slightly overbaked) will give the cake a softer texture.
• let cake stand overnight before slicing and icing to reduce crumb fallout 
• letting sponge cake cool directly in the pan keeps it moist
• not all ovens are created equal, so baking times can vary a lot! (Sigh. Going to move out soon and have to figure out my new oven's setting and quirks all over again.)
• Despite the science behind baking, the recipes are more forgiving than I thought, so long as I understand the basis behind each step.

Who knew baking was so difficult. But I've come to appreciate it a lot more now! Guess who's going to get strawberry shortcake for their birthdays this year? Everyone! Hahahahaha.

Till next time!