LIGHT & FLUFFY STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

It’s that time of the year of strawberry season!

One of the things I really like about living in Germany is their appreciation and encouragement of seasonal produce. Strawberry season lasts from April until the end of summer and we are seeing these plump beaming red strawberries at the grocery stores and markets.

How do you like to eat your strawberries? Though they are a seasonal fruit, they are quite versatile in our foods. You can put them into smoothies, salads, baking and in our breakfast muesli. Strawberries in cakes are my weakness. I feel they add additional sweetness and bring light and freshness into the flavour.

One of my favourite is strawberry shortcakes. But, due to its high fat and sugar density, sometimes I feel guilty for indulging more of it. So, here is my take on a re-modified strawberry short cake with higher protein, less and lower fat content. Say whaaaat?! It’s juicy, light and fluffy yet satisfies your sweet tooth without any sense of regret for grabbing another slice.

I hope you enjoy!

-Ari Yori

STRAWBERRY QUARK/GREEK YOGURT SHORTCAKE RECIPE

prep time: 30 minutes

baking time: 25 minutes 

portion: 6-8 slices (20cm round baking form)

The photo uses 14cm, half of the recipe)

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INGREDIENTS

For cake batter:

3 eggs

100g sugar

1 pinch salt

100g baking flour (405 flour), all purpose-flour substitute

1 teaspoon baking powder

for the quark filling:

500g of magerquark (greek yogurt, skyr)

200g whipped cream

1-2 tbsp sugar

2 packages of whipping cream stabilizer or 1 tbsp cornstarch

250g strawberries, diced´1.5 cm width

for garnishing:

150g strawberries, diced or sliced horizontally

2 tbsp crushed pistachios (optional) or fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 356 Fahrenheit/180 Celsius.

2. Grease your 20cm round baking form using butter

3. Using a hand mixer at the highest setting or a whisk, beat the eggs, sugar, and a pinch of salt until it becomes foamy and light in colour for about 4-5 minutes.

4. Add sifted flour and baking powder to the wet foamy mixture and mix well by folding (gently mixing from outside in). We are aiming to bake a fluffy cake so don’t want to deflate the foam by mixing to harshly.

5. Pour the cake batter into the baking form and bake for 20-25 minutes. Prick with a toothpick to check it comes out comes clean. If you see wet batter on your toothpick, bake for additional 2-3 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a rack until cooled completely.

For the quark filling:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix quark/greek yogurt/skyr with sugar.

2. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the whipped cream using a hand-mixer until you reach stiff peak then add your stabiliser and mix gently by folding.

3. Add the strawberry cubes and mix gently. You don’t want to deflate your whipped quark/yogurt cream mixture.

For cake decoration & garnishing:

1. Slice your cooled cake in half horizontally. You want to have 2 evenly sliced cake rounds.

2. Place one of the cake slice on your cake stand. Before, add a tablespoon of whipped quark on the cake stand so the cake stays put. Using a icing spatula, add about half of the strawberry whipped quark.

3. Lay your second cake layer and spread the rest of the whipped quark.

4. Garnish with some additional strawberries and crushed pistachios or fresh mint.

Let me know what you think!