A Sponge Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Whipped Cream

It's strawberry season again, y'all! Even though the weather here has been much cooler than normal, strawberries remind me that springtime is indeed here to stay.

When I told Mom that I wanted to make a cake for a friend's belated birthday, she suggested that I try this sponge cake recipe with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It's not your typical icing laden and often chocolate birthday cake, but it made sense in this scenario because I wasn't giving it to Charlie on his birthday and Sandy doesn't eat chocolate. Think of this cake as the birthday version of angel food cake, strawberries, and cool whip--richer and more decadent but still fresh and light.

This hot milk sponge cake recipe comes from my great, great aunt Ollie by way of my great grandmother Anne. My grandmother Eleanor then gave the recipe to my mom in the 1970s, telling her that the recipe was over 100 years old at that time. I cherish recipes with histories because I enjoy feeling connected to the women in my family who have come before me.

Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup hot milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 carton strawberries
2 tsp sugar
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tsp powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

The well used copy of the recipe that my grandmother wrote for my mother, the title reads: "Cake Aunt Ollie (Mother's cake)." 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure out all of the ingredients through the vanilla, making sure to cleanly separate the eggs. Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Beat egg yolks until they form stiff peaks. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and the sugar together until they reach a pale yellow color. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the egg and sugar mixture. Add vanilla. Fold in the egg whites. Line a 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with tin foil. Do not grease the pan or the foil. Bake for 25 minutes.

For the topping:
Cut up the strawberries into your desired size. Mix 2 teaspoons of sugar in with the strawberries. Begin the whipping cream on a low speed in the mixer increasing the speed as it thickens. Add 2 tablespoons of sifted powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla to the whipped cream.

Let the cake cool and turn it out onto the serving plate. It is not the prettiest cake uncovered as you can see above, so cover the top with whipping cream. Then, cut the cake and serve it with strawberries.

This was the first time that I have made this cake on my own, and although I did not taste it, I received rave reviews about it from those who had a piece or four.

Happy baking, y'all!