Fresh Fruit on a Cake Saga

This post was supposed to come first, but I wanted the better cake (for this recipe) to be available, so I posted my recipe for Borracho Cake first. 

For the 4th of July, I wanted to make a pretty shortcake type cake, using a pan I had never used. The pan is about 11-inches across the top and 10-inches across the bottom. The bottom of the pan is indented upwards, so when the cake is turned out, it forms a bit of a well. 

My plan was to make a spongy cake that would absorb juices nicely, if they should get through, much like those little individual shortbread cakes sold in stores everywhere. I wanted a sponge cake, and while I have made sponge cakes many times over the years, I strayed from the tried and true and looked up cakes similar to a Victoria Sponge. Suffice to say, this is not in any way a sponge cake as I know it. Turns out, what the British call Sponge Cake is what we in the U.S. call Pound Cake. 😮 Read more about all that, here. 

Fresh Fruit Shortcake with Mascarpone Cream

★So, I ended up with a pound cake instead of the light and airy cake I had intended. The cake tasted great, so if that is what you would prefer, then just follow this recipe and you're all set. If you want more moisture, make a simple syrup of some kind, add a little liqueur of your choice for flavor, and moisten the cake with this syrup BEFORE topping with the cream and fruit.

If you prefer the soft, airy, absorbent cake I wanted, then make the cake I used for this Borracho Cake.

Cake and Cake Pan

All in all, the cake came out beautifully, and the cake pan I used has a well in the center, perfect for fillings. In this one, I wanted to make some kind of creamy filling, but absolutely not using something like cream cheese and Cool Whip! My desire, my plan, was to use Mascarpone somehow. Should I just make Mascarpone Whipped Cream? That was my first plan, but then I got thinking. I wanted something more, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I thought eggs! I wanted something a bit more cooked in texture, much though I love my Mascarpone Whipped Cream. So I started thinking about what to do.

I wanted to use some sort of liqueur, and finally settled on Limoncello. Lemony flavors go great with fruit. I mixed Limoncello into the Mascarpone cheese and set that aside. I planned to lighten the whole mass with plain whipped cream, and looking for flavors to incorporate, I went with a little Orange Flower Water, for its light, flowery and uplifting scent, and then a few drops of Angostura bitters just to mitigate sweetness levels. This might sound convoluted, but the flavors are stellar!

Mascarpone Cream & Fresh Fruit Cake

Makes one 10-inch, single layer cake
 

Fresh Fruit Shortcake with Mascarpone Cream

(POUND) CAKE:
1½ sticks (6 ounces) softened unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¼ cup boiling water
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract

LIMONCELLO MASCARPONE CREAM:
6 ounces / ¾ cup Mascarpone cream, room temperature
2 tablespoons Limoncello
2 eggs
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
¾ cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon orange flower water
3 drops Angostura bitters

Fresh Fruit for decorating: sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
2 tablespoons red currant jelly, melted

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch baking tin and line with parchment. Grease the parchment. Set aside. 

In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until very light colored and fluffy. Add one egg to the butter mixture along with a tablespoon or so of the dry mixture and beat until incorporated. Add a second egg with another tablespoon or so of the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Repeat this with the third egg and another tablespoon of dry ingredients. Add in the extracts, the boiling water and then the remaining dry ingredients and stir to combine. 

Bake the cake for about 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let rest in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out to a rack to cool.

Make the Limoncello Mascarpone Cream: Stir the Limoncello into the Mascarpone in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place the two eggs and 3 tablespoons of sugar into a wide mixing bowl, either glass or metal. Have a large saucepan with about 1 - 2 inches of water in the bottom at a simmer on the stove. The bowl with the eggs should be able to set atop the saucepan without the bottom of the bowl touching the simmering water. Off the heat, whisk the eggs and sugar with a large wire whisk until somewhat foamy. Set the bowl over the simmering water and continue to whisk until the mixture has started to thicken and has fine foamy bubbles.

        Mascarpone   -   Whisking eggs    - over simmering water     -   combined with Mascarpone

Without cooling, dump the egg mixture into the Mascarpone and whisk to combine.

In another large mixing bowl, combine the heavy whipping cream with the orange flower water and Angostura bitters. Beat the mixture until it holds stiff peaks, then fold into the Mascarpone egg mixture. 

Set the cake onto a serving plate and top with this Mascarpone cream, then set sliced fruit on top, as desired.

Mascarpone Cream         -          Spread over cake         -         Fresh fruit to decorate

Once fruit is in place, brush the fruit with the melted Currant Jelly; this helps keep the fruit looking pretty. Chill the cake for 2 to 4 hours before serving. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.