Strawberry & Vanilla Sponge Cake with Nutella

INGREDIENTS

for sponge cake

  • 1 cup egg whites and ½ cup yolks, about 6 small eggs
  • 1 cup golden caster sugar
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1¼ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbs unsalted butter (softened)
  • seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod

for layers

  • 800 g strawberries (washed, drained and hulled)
  • 30 or more small fresh mint leaves
  • 350 g good quality chocolate spread (I used Nutella)
  • 600 ml whipping cream
  • ¾ cup fine white sugar

EQUIPMENT

  • 9” (22,8 cm) round non stick cake tin with removable bottom or even better 3 of them
  • spatula
  • food processor to beat eggs and whip the cream
  • cake stand or disposable cake base

layered vanilla sponge with strawberry and chocolate filling

METHOD

  1. To prepare sponge cake beat in a food processor egg whites with salt until stiff, add sugar and beat some more.
  2. Stir in also yolks and vanilla seeds.
  3. In a small bowl combine baking powder and flour and gradually add it to the egg mixture only until well mixed.
  4. Pour it into buttered cake tin (if you are using 3 tins make sure that you put even amount of cake dough in each of them) and bake in preheated oven to 180°C (356°F) for about 25 – 30 minutes, until golden.
  5. Remove from the tin and let it cool down.
  6. In meantime choose 250 g smaller strawberries, halve them lengthwise and set aside.
  7. Then slice the rest of strawberries and prepare whipped cream.
  8. To make whipped cream mix cream and sugar, using food processor, until thick.
  9. When sponge cake is cooled down completely, cut it into 3 layers if you used 1 tin, using very sharp knife.
  10. Place first layer (top one) upside down on the cake stand or cake base. Spread half of the chocolate on it with spatula, arrange half of sliced strawberries on the top and cover with ¼ of the whipped cream.
  11. Place another layer of sponge cake (middle one) on the top of it, spread the rest of the chocolate, arrange the rest of sliced strawberries and top with ¼ of the whipped cream.
  12. Cover with the last layer (bottom one) of sponge cake, turn it upside down so the hard part is on the top.
  13. Spread left whipped cream all over the top and sides of the cake.
  14. Now decorate cake with halved strawberries and mint leaves.
  15. Place in a fridge and let it cool down for about 2 hours.

Make about 8 – 10 servings.

NOTES

I made this cake today for my step son’s 13th birthday.

Originally my Godmother made this sponge cake with pineapple, peaches and grapes instead of strawberries and jam layer instead of chocolate.

Do not discard empty vanilla pod, use to to make homemade vanilla sugar.

Your thoughts…

  1. chocolate and strawberry, hmmm.. what a perfect match.

  2. This looks incredible! I don’t think I can ever bake a cake like that. your son is lucky! :wink:

  3. happy birthday to your son. He’s so lucky to have a sweet mom like you :wink:
    the cake looks so refreshing with the strawberries on top.

  4. That looks fabulous! Happy birthday to your son – hope he liked the cake.

  5. Margot, that is a great looking cake! So delicate!

  6. prettyyyy. i just wish i could see a slice of the inside. delicious-looking all the same though!

  7. That is a great looking cake! Very summery and fun looking–I bet it was delicious!

  8. Thank you everyone for such a nice comments!! :)

    Becky – I wish myself that I took the photo of inside, but the cake disappear so fast, that I did not get a chance…. ;)

  9. That sounds perfect for a bridal shower I am co-hosting! My sister and I are baking a cake for it this week and this may be the one we use! I LOVE baking!! any excuse and I will take it!

  10. Well now…that looks beautiful….and completely delicious!

  11. This looks so good! Your photos are so pretty.

  12. fedrica says:

    I am going to try and make this cake but i dont think it will turn out as good as yours :!: :mrgreen: :neutral: :eek: :grin: :razz: :roll: :wink: :oops: :grin: :evil: :cool: :???: :smile: :shock: :mad: :lol:

  13. Again, thank you for all the comments and nice words :D

    Fredrica – I’m sure your cake will come out perfect, it was my first time with this type of cake… and I will be making similar one (with different fruits) again in two weeks for my daughter’s birthday.

  14. no offence meant but im trying this cake today, and i really dont think that 1 cup of flour will be enough to make the cake as big as what you made. I will get back to you when it is made.

  15. Hi Elizabeth… yes, 1 cup is enough, I tried this sponge cake recipe more than once, this is my Godmother recipe. You can see another cake made with the same sponge layers at:
    https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=2799

    I’m glad that you decided to try it.

  16. I made the cake for Elizabeth, she’s my partner’s daughter, and it kinda went wrong at the “take out of the oven” stage. Now, I’ve made a cake or 2 (more like 200) in my time, and I was ultimately confused by the cup measurement. In the end I used roughly 115g each of flour and golden sugar, and I even folded the whites with the flour mixture (albeit after Elizabeth had blended them for a little while). I did note that the mixture wasn’t as “fluffy” as it should have been, but as it was a new recipe I went ahead ad popped it into a preheated oven til the top was golden brown. It came out lovely, but immediately sank to about an inch thick. Any ideas?

  17. Hi Henry,

    Thank you for your message. A cup is equal 250ml, you can take a look at measurements here:
    https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=156

    Recipe was saying cup of each: flour, sugar plus 1 cup of egg whites and half a cup egg yolks, not 115g of each. I made this cake twice and both times come out perfect.

  18. Thank you! It was hard to find the measurements whilst trying to bake with a 6 year old girl and and a 6 stone rottwieler :)

  19. Hi,

    Love the cake soooo much.
    I made it for my mum’s birthday in April and it was eaten so quickly. Am planning to make it again for a farewell party we are having.

    I love cooking puddings and cakes and have always made a victoria sponge cake. The recipe was perfect in terms of amounts. When making the cake the cake did sink a bit and I did get worried that I had done it wrong, but the cake was lovely. I would recommend it to everyone.

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