Time flies! My adorable niece Helena is already one year old! And what a smart, happy and fun kid she’s turning out to be! My mission for this weekend was to bake her a birthday cake, big enough for a crowd of 50. Scary…

Now, I happen to think that kid’s birthday cakes should be brash, fun and even a little kitsch. Or at least, that’s the excuse I’m using for the strawberry extravaganza I ended up creating. It didn’t turn out as perfect as I had imagined it, mainly due to the time constraints, the hot weather, and my lack of experience with this type of cake decoration.

Lessons learned:
- Marzipan really should be made with icing sugar instead of caster sugar, for a nice smooth texture.
- Swiss buttercream has indeed a great consistency, but will be a bit runny if you add strawberry puree to it. (I adapted my buttercream from a recipe of my favourite food blogger, Deb from Smitten Kitchen)
- My piping skills need way more practice.
- That owners of that fruit stall in Alvalade Market WILL rip you off if you only give them the chance. (and I did - my bad! I’ll never buy from them again)
- Proper cake decoration takes time and concentration, and shouldn’t be done in a kitchen full of passing guests

By the time we sang Happy birthday, and cut the cake, the decoration was already falling a bit apart, but Helena was fascinated by it, and kept pointing at my rustic marzipan doll in awe. One year old’s are so easy to impress! In the end, the cake tasted really good, and that’s what matters. It might be a bit wonky, kitsch and rustic, but if you use enough strawberries, you can never go wrong!

So here’s the recipe for a regular sized cake. (I did three times as much for this party)

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Almond cake layers:
140g ground almonds
140g sugar
8 medium eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 250ºC and line a 40cm x 30cm tray with baking paper. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until it gets pale and frothy, and then stir in the ground almonds. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks, and then fold in the rest of the mixture.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the top is starting to brown. Let it rest in the tin for a while, before taking it out, and then cut it in half so you can stack it. (Alternatively, you can use a smaller pan, and bake it in two batches, or bake a taller one and then slice it horizontally, but this is a delicate fluffy cake, so this it’s not the easier way)

Filling:

150 ml of whipping cream
1 tbsp of sugar
Chopped strawberries

Add the sugar to the cream and whip it until quite firm. Spoon half the mixture onto the center of the first cake layer, leaving about 2cm around the edges. Add the strawberry chunks on top of the cream, packing as many as you can, and then cover them with the rest of the whipped cream. Stack the second cake layer on top, and then press gently to level them. The strawberries and cream should come all the way to the edge of the cake, but be careful not to let them pop out…

Strawberry Swiss Buttercream Frosting:

3 egg whites
300g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup strawberry purée

Whisk the egg whites and the sugar in the top of a double boiler, until the sugar completely dissolves. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl, and whip it up (it’s better to use a hand held mixer…).

When it doubles in size and it’s all white and glossy, start adding the butter, one spoon at a time, until it’s all incorporated. If the mixture breaks down, don’t worry, keep whisking until it all comes back together again. Set aside a bit of the plain buttercream for piping over the cake.

Finally add the strawberry puree. The quantity of strawberries it will take depends a lot on how watery they are, so you might have to adjust it. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before you spread it onto the cake.

Decorate with strawberries, piped butter cream, red currants, shaped marzipan, or anything else you might get your hands on. My home made marzipan turned out a bit too sticky and rough, so I’ll add it here when I try out a better recipe.