My boyfirend an I have been a couple for 2 ½ years now – 30 months! I know that it is usual to count the whole years, but for me half a year ist a big amount of time, so it deserves a kind of anniversary celebration.

As it is strawberry season again, I decided to bake a light strawberry cake. I must admit, that I had imagined it easier to prepare, but it came out great in the end. The dough is very fluffy and without any fat, just like my mother taught me to make a good sponge cake.

I got the recipe for the cream from www.mychefkoch.de, it is a typical German vanilla cream and fits perfectly the taste of sponge cake and fresh strawberries.

After one day in the fridge, it tastes the best, but you can eat it earlier if you want to.

Strawberry Cake Light

(for one cake pan, Ø 26 cm/10 inches)

Sponge cake:

2 eggs
100 g (½ cup – 1 tbsp.) sugar
75 g (2/3 cup) flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch salt

Cream:

4 gelatin leaves
1 pck. vanilla pudding powder
6 tbsp. sugar
350 ml (1 ½ cups) milk
200 ml (5/6 cup) whipping cream
200g (7 oz) heavy sour cream

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)
To prepare the sponge cake, stir the eggs in a large bowl. Add slowly the sugar while mixing. Continue stirring for about 2 minutes until the mixture increases its volume and becomes light and fluffy. Now add slowly the dry ingredients.
Put the dough into an oiled pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until a tothpicker comes out clean after testing.

Let the cake cool. Prepare the cream in the meanwhile.
Cream the whipping cream in a bowl. Set aside.
Heat 250ml (1 cup) of milk in a bowl. While the milk is heating, dissolve the pudding powder and the sugar in the rest of the milk. When the heated milk starts to boil, add slowly the pudding solution. Let the liquid thicken until it is creamy – after about 1-2 minutes. When done, transfer the pudding into a medium-sized bowl.

Put the gelatin leaves into a bowl of warm water. Let them suck up some liquid. They will become invisible in the water. Take them out and squeeze them carefully.
When the pudding has cooled down a bit, add the gelatin and stir until it is incorporated. Then add the heavy sour cream. Stir. Add the whipped cream with a whisk. Now you can put the cream onto the cake layer.
Cut the strawberries into slices and spread them on top of the cake. Let it cool in the fridge for about 2 hours.

ENJOY!