Summertime Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chantilly

I am so glad I made this cake! I was absolutely delighted with how well it turned out. This is a good cake to make when you will have others around to enjoy it with you. It is too beautiful to enjoy alone. The cake was spongy with a hint of lemon flavor and decadent strawberry syrup soaked into the cake. This would be best made the day before serving so the juices really have time to soak into the cake to make it nice and moist. The icing could probably be held off until just before serving, but really - make the cake ahead of time and pour the simple strawberry syrup over it and stick it in the fridge for at LEAST a few hours. It makes all the difference! The white chocolate chantilly that topped this cake was so creamy and delicious. I mean really, who doesn't love melted and then stiffened white chocolate? You will want to lick the bowl after you've applied all that you can to the cake - trust me.

I actually made this cake for someone. Can you believe it? This was my very first culinary item to actually have someone pay for! I really think making it layered is key. I guess a sheet pan might work, but it just would not be as aesthetically pleasing as the layered cake would be. Of course, if you look at the side of this cake it isn't all that pretty. Hopefully you're better at icing the side of a cake than I am. I'll learn one day.

I followed the recipe exactly except for the Porto Wine. I didn't have any and didn't feel like buying any, but I'm sure it would be a nice addition.

Original recipe from Delicious Wordflux.

Strawberry syrup:

Cut and wash 1 lb. of strawberries.

Add sugar (1/2 cup) (and porto wine(1/4 cup) if you have it) to a glass bowl and stir gently until well incorporated.

Set in the fridge for thirty minutes to an hour (or overnight if you have that kind of patience.)

For the Cake:
zest of one lemon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 3/4 unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

3 Tbsp. whole milk (I used 2% and it worked fine)

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and flour (DO NOT skip the flour).

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, stir together sugar and lemon zest. Add eggs in one at a time. Continue beating on medium speed with an electric mixer for about three minutes, until it becomes a pale yellow. You'll be able to tell when it's ready.

Add dry ingredients and slowly incorporate olive oil. Mix well.

Divide batter evenly between both pans and cook for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before adding the white chocolate chantilly.

White Chocolate Chantilly:

12 oz. white chocolate (I used white chocolate morsels)

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 Tbsp. sugar

Place a bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes (this is what you'll use to mix everything in).

Melt white chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals for a minute and a half. Check and stir a little bit after each 30 second interval. When it's melted, stir with a whisk or a fork to make it smooth. Let sit until lukewarm in temperature.

When bowl is ready, remove it from the freezer and use an electric mixture to whip the heavy whipping cream until small peaks form. This will take about 2-3 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of heavy whipping cream to white chocolate and stir to combine. Now add the rest of the white chocolate to the heavy whipping cream mixture. Beat until well incorporated.

Assembly:

Place first half of the cake on cake stand (or wherever you plan on storing it). Use a fork to make holes in the top of the cake and pour half of the strawberry syrup on the cake.

Now put the cake in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight, to let all of the juices soak into the cake. (This step can be omitted if you're in a hurry but it is strongly advised.)

Add a layer of chantilly, some cut up strawberries, and another layer of chantilly. Add the second half of the cake, make holes with fork, add layer of chantilly, strawberries, chantilly, and the last layer of strawberries. I decided to pick the prettiest strawberries for the top of the cake, and the ones that were a little bit thicker.

Refrigerate in dome container.

Serves 10-12, approximately.