Among my relatives the highest accolade I could receive for my baking is, "It's good - not too sweet." Is that an Asian thing? Maybe. Possibly. Definitely. When I saw the recipe for a Fresh Fruit Cream Cake from Cook's Illustrated's May/Jun 2024 issue I knew it was the exact dessert that my family would like. I decided to make it for a get together jointly celebrating my Dad's birthday and Mother's Day.
The cake itself is similar to a castella, the light and sponge-y cakes you would find in a Chinese bakery. There is no baking powder or baking soda in the recipe; egg whites are the only leavener used to make the cake rise. In the past I hadn't had the best luck with these types of cakes if they weren't baked in a tube pan. When I used a regular pan the cake inevitably ended up sinking during the cooling process. Happy to report no such issues with this recipe. The cake baked up nice and tall and didn't cave in when it cooled.
For the frosting heavy cream is whipped with instant vanilla pudding and sugar. The pudding mix helps to stabilize the whipped cream so that it can stay in the fridge longer. As for fruits I went for the classic berry combination of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
I'm looking forward to serving this to my family to get their review - let's hope it's a thumbs up!
