Individual Strawberry Cakes

I made this dessert as we expected some guests and I wanted to wow them....Also I had some frozen Joconde décor paste from my Chocolate and Orange Mousse cake. But if you want to make it from stratch I adjusted the measaurements to that.

Individual Strawberry Cakes

You will need: 5 dessert rings or 5 tinned vegetable tins(this is a cheap alternative to dessert or food rings) *more on this at the Tricks and Recommendations 

Joconde décor paste
50g unsalted butter, softened
50g icing sugar
50g egg whites
55g plain flour
Sugarflair red food colouring
1tbs melted butter

Joconde sponge
90g egg whites, at room temperature
13g granulated sugar
115g ground almonds
115g icing sugar, sifted
3 large eggs
40g plain flour
43g clarified butter, melted

Filling
300g strawberries
200ml double cream
250g mascarpone
1 tbs gelatine
1dl milk
150g white chocolate
5tbs Amaretto liqueur

• Preheat the oven to 220°C, 200°C Fan
• Line two 45cm x 30cm (half sheet) baking trays with baking parchment and brush with the melted butter.

• Make the joconde paste:
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then gradually add the egg whites, beating continuously.
• Fold in the sifted flour then add the food colouring.
• Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle.
• Pipe the mixture onto the buttered parchment in a swirl pattern and place in the freezer to harden.
• Make the joconde sponge:
• Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
• Add the granulated sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks are formed.
• Scrape the meringue mixture into a bowl and cover with cling film to prevent the meringue collapsing.
• Beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs in the bowl for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Turn the speed down to low and mix in the flour.
• Gently fold in the meringue mixture using a large spatula.
• Put the melted butter in a small bowl and mix in a cupful of the sponge batter. Pour this back into the mixing bowl and gently fold into the rest of batter.
• Remove the baking trays with the decor paste from the freezer.

• Divide the batter evenly between the two baking trays, spreading it smoothly over the decorations and into the corners ensuring it is level. An offset spatula is useful for this.
• Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the sponges are cooked and springy to the touch and have shrunk away from the edges of the pan.
• Turn out by covering the sponge with a sheet of parchment then flip the baking tray over onto the work surface. Peel off the paper to reveal the pattern, and lay it lightly on top of the sponge. Leave to cool.
• When cooled, cut 5 circle of sponges to line the base and lay it patterned-side down, in the bottom of the tin. Cut 5 additional circle to make the top of the cakes and set aside.

Cut the strawberries to half and stand them facing outward to the tins.

For the cream add the gelatine to the boiling milk and stir until it is dissolved. Set aside and leave it to cool slightly. In the meantime whip the double cream to stiff peaks then mix in the melted white chocolate, mascarpone and Amaretto liqueur. Mix the milk to the cream and wait until it starts to set(if you put to the forms too early the cream can leak in front of the strawberries...and that would ruin the cakes).

When the cream is almost set spoon between the strawberries and close each cake with a sponge, patterned-side up. Put the little cakes into the fridge for at least 1 hour, so the cream can fully set.

You can also use the Joconde sponge as the side of the little cakes. Here I cut them to size(first the sides and then the bottom-so it is hidden) and filled them with the same cream....