My first bakery experience

  I could not imagine baking can be that fun!

i enjoy watching AFC & Master chef so much especially they making gorgeous dessert!

till last week i decided to give it a try~

so i go through plenty of recipe online via blog and youtube

then i found this gorgeous strawberry shortcake recipe at thelittleteochew originally from ochikeron

so you check out the excat recipe and also a video tutorial! 

but i still can failed twice!!

first try put flour at wrong stage then second try flour problem also!

Cake 

- 2 egg

- 60g caster sugar 

- 60g cake flour

- 20g unsalted butter (melted and cooled) 

Syrup 

- 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar 

- 20ml very hot water 

- 1 tsp rum (i love the rum sense!) 

Cream (super delicious!) 

- 300ml dairy whipping cream

- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar 

- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract 

- 1 tbsp rum  

Decoration

1 punnet fresh strawberries (250g) 

- for the sandwich layer, slice off the tops and cut into halves 

- for decorations on top, all up to you! 

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Beat eggs and sugar over a bain-marie (hot water bath) until the mixture warms up. This is to dissolve the sugar. The mixture should be pleasant to the touch - you can dip your finger in without getting scalded. Remove the mixture from the bain-marie and continue beating the egg mixture till it triples in volume and turns very pale (almost white). It took my electric handheld (single) whisk almost 30 minutes. 

2. Towards the last 2 to 3 minutes, beat on the lowest speed to stabilise the mixture and eliminate large bubbles. When the egg mixture has reached the "ribbon stage", sift in the flour a little at a time. Cut through the mixture with a wire whisk after each addition. 

3. Sprinkle the cooled melted butter over the batter and fold in using a spatula. 

4. Pour the batter from a height of 30cm into a lined tin. Towards the end, pour the remaining batter to one side of the tin. 

5. Lift the tin and drop it gently onto the table top twice to eliminate air bubbles. 

6. Bake the cake for 25 minutes. While it bakes, make the simple syrup solution. Dissolve 1/2 tbsp sugar in 20ml of very hot water. Then add rum. Stir to mix well and set aside. 

7. Now, make the cream. Whip the cream, sugar and rum (preferably in a metal bowl) sitting over an ice bath. Whip till soft peaks form. Keep it chilled in the fridge, covered, at all times. 

8. When the cake is done, turn it onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool with the pan covering it. Proceed to slice the cake in half, horizontally. 

9. Now, brush sugar syrup onto the first layer of the cake (sliced side). This keeps the sponge cake nice and moist. 

10. Spread a layer of cream and then top with halved strawberries. Add another layer of cream over. 

11. Brush the remaining layer of cake (sliced side) with sugar syrup, then place it on top of the strawberries and cream. Proceed to frost the entire cake. 

12. Any remaining cream can be plonked onto the middle of the cake for decorative purposes. The mound of cream helps "hold" the strawberry garnishes. You can use whole strawberries or halves, or a mixture of both, for decoration. 

13. Keep the cake chilled until time of serving. The colder the cake, the easier it is to cut

can't wait for my next attempt!