Strawberry Layer Cake (eggless)

We lost electricity today, so of course I spent the time cutting and arranging recipes from food magazines! My original plan was to make pumpkin ravioli for dinner, but my uncle/aunt invited us over for dinner instead (thank goodness for family). Anyhow, the power came back on so I decided to make dessert. My uncle loves cake, and my dad bought strawberries last week, so I figured I'd do something with that. I wanted to make a tall cake because I love how they look, so I doubled the cake and filling recipes and used 3 loaf pans, but if you want to keep it simple you can use the recipes as they are below and bake it in a single 8 inch pan. I'll describe how to assemble/decorate both cakes below. Also, you can save the strawberry juice (see strawberry directions below) and use it in other recipes or to make a glaze. I tried to make a glaze this time, but I think I overcooked it. It ended up sticky and toffee-like, so I'm not including that recipe on here.

White Cake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)

½ tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water (discard 2 tbsp)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3 tsp vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350˚F.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

3. Mix all the wet ingredients together except vinegar.

4. Mix dry and wet ingredients and blend on low speed until well mixed.

5. Pour into ungreased, unfloured glass baking dishes (either 2 loaf pans or 1 8 inch pan).

6. Add the vinegar and mix (not blend) RIGHT before baking.

7. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top of cake cracks.

Mascarpone and Whipping Cream Filling

Ingredients

1/2 pint (1 cups) whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp sugar

4 oz Mascarpone cheese

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl (the quantity will almost triple in size), blend the whipping cream, vanilla, and 1/2 tbsp of sugar on high until stiff peaks form.

2. Add the Mascarpone and blend again until very stiff. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Strawberry Filling

Ingredients

1 lb strawberries, cut into small pieces

2 tbsp sugar

strawberries, cut in half for decorating the top (optional - if doing this, take it from the 1 lb)

Directions

1. Mix the strawberry pieces with 2 tbsp of sugar. Let it sit for 30 min, then drain. (you can keep the water to add to a smoothie, or some other recipe if you want).

Tall Cake Assembly (see pictures on right)

1. Make a double recipe of everything and bake in 3 loaf pans. Once the cake cools, flip them out of the pan and cut the tops off so that all three cakes are level.

2. Layer as follows on a serving dish:

Layer 1: cake.

Layer 2: ~1/2 cup cream filling.

Layer 3: ~1/3 of the strawberries.

Layer 4: cake.

Layer 5: ~1/2 cup cream filling.

Layer 6: ~1/3 of the strawberries.

Layer 7: cake.

3. Use the remaining cream filling to cover the top and sides of the cake.

4. Spread the remaining 1/3 of the strawberries on top OR spread the remaining 1/3 of the strawberries on the bottom of the cake and arrange the strawberry halves on top.

5. Refrigerate until ready to eat.