This is a traditional Finnish strawberry layer cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It is very simple to make!
This cake is quite a small one made with a 6-inch sponge cake of 3 eggs. This cake serves 6-8 people.
Small cakes are great for parties since then you can make several ahead of time, and you have a fresh cake to serve if people arrive at different times.
This cake is sweet, the sponge cake is flavored with some lemon. If you like a fresh cake you can add mashed fresh strawberries in the layers also.
Remember to test also the Finnish strawberry Brita cake with meringue.
When do Finns eat this cake?
We love to make strawberry cakes when the strawberry season starts in June-July. It can be made for guests but also for different parties. At Midsummer a strawberry cake is traditional.
Nowadays we get lovely strawberries from Europe before the Finnish strawberry season starts, so this cake can be made starting from April.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- All-purpose wheat flour
- Potato starch can be left out or replaced with corn starch
- Sugar
- Organic lemon
- Vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Strawberry jam
- Fresh strawberries
- Milk or juice for moistening
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (175C) Whip the eggs and sugar to a foam. It takes 7-10 minutes with a hand mixer at low/medium speed. Eggs make the best whip if they are room temperature. Grate the lemon zest and add to the whip, add also the vanilla extract.
- Mix the potato starch and flour together. Add it with a sieve. Mix gently to a smooth batter.
- Spray your cake pan with oil. You need a 6-inch pan for this 3 egg sponge cake. ( if you want to you can add breadcrumbs). Pour your batter in the pan.
- Cook on the lower rack in the oven for 35 minutes. Try if the cake is done with a toothpick. Let the cake cool before cutting it. Read all the tips on the 6-inch sponge cake recipe.
How to stack the cake
- Cut the cooled sponge cake into three layers. Use the top one as the bottom.
- Whip your heavy cream, you can flavor it with some vanilla or grated lemon.
- Moisten your base with some milk. Add half of the strawberry jam and some cream, about half an inch. Do the same for the second layer. Do not moisten the top layer. If you want a less sweet cake you can mix some mashed fresh strawberries in the jam.
- Spread the rest of the whipped cream on the sides and top of the cake.
- Cut the strawberries into slices and add slices to the sides. Decorate the top with whole strawberries or ones cut as a fan shape.
How to decorate
In the pictures below, you see a really simple way to decorate your cake. You don't even need to pipe the cream, just spread it with a knife.
You can cut a nice fan shape to your strawberries by slicing the strawberry from a point slightly below the top stem to the bottom. Make thin slits from one end of the strawberry to the other. Gently spread the strawberry apart creating a strawberry fan.
You can also add mint or lemon balm leaves. Blueberries some lemon slices or other berries are a beautiful addition.
In the picture below you see some more ideas on how to decorate your strawberry cake. A star-shaped nozzle for the piping bag is quite traditional for cream patterns.
Variations
As a variation, you can fill the layers with lemon curd. Other fruit jams can be used. Many people love to add sliced bananas in the layers, but I am not a fan of it. Banana also turns out brown, so it does not keep more than a day.
Rhubarb jam can be added to the layer instead of strawberry jam.
In Finland, we often add some rahka, Finnish quark to the whipped cream in the filling. Quark is though hard to find in other parts of the world so it can be made without it.
Milk-free
Make a milk-free cake from plant-based whipping cream. Also, use some soy or oat milk for moistening the cake.
Storing
Store your cake in the fridge. It is best kept covered since the whipped cream can get some taste from other items in the fridge.
The cake stores for three days in the fridge. Keep it out for serving for a maximum of 1-2 hours since milk produce can spoil especially in the summer heat.
Questions
You can use frozen strawberries in the filling, but not on top, since they make a mess.
No, it will collapse and melt.
You can freeze the sponge cake as cut layers, but the assembled cake does not freeze well.
Finnish strawberry cake
Equipment
- 2-3 same size glasses
- 6 inch cake pan
Ingredients
- 3 eggs (cracked in glass)
- 1 glass sugar (same amount as eggs)
- 0.8 glass all-purpose wheat flour
- 0.2 glass potato starch or corn starch
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling and decorating
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup strawberry jam
- ¾ cup milk (for moistening)
- 200 g fresh strawberries
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (175C). Butter your cake pan or spray oil on it. You need a 6-inch one.
- Crack your eggs in a glass. Pour in another similar glass the same amount of sugar as eggs. Add the sugar in a bowl. Measure all-purpose flour 0.8 amount as the eggs are in volume. Add the rest as potato starch.
- Whip the eggs and sugar to a foam. It takes 7-10 minutes with a hand mixer at low/medium speed. When a pattern stays on the foam for a moment it is ready.
- Grate the lemon zest and add to the whip, add also the vanilla extract.
- Mix the potato starch and flour together. Add it with a sieve. Mix gently to a smooth batter. Pour into the cake tin.
- Cook on the lower rack in the oven for 35 minutes. Try if the cake is done with a toothpick. Let the cake cool before cutting it
- Cut the cooled sponge cake into three layers. Use the top one as the base layer.
- Whip your heavy cream. Flavor with vanilla.
- Moisten your base with some milk. Add half of the strawberry jam and some cream, about half inch. Do the same for the second layer. Do not moisten the top layer.
- Spread the rest of the whipped cream on the sides and top of the cake. Use a knife or palette knife. You can also pipe the cream into patterns.
- Cut the strawberries into slices and add slices to the sides. Decorate the top with whole strawberries or ones cut as a fan shape.
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