Strawberry Shortcake

I made this cake for my daughter's friend as she spent her birthday with us due to her parents' work commitment.

I baked a peach buttermilk cake and frosted the top with cream cheese frosting, 'fenced-up' the cake with lady-fingers and top it with big red strawberries.

Peach Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from forkspoonnknife's Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

• 1 cup flour 
• 65g butter, softened 
• 1/3 cup sugar + 2 T sugar for the meringue 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 2 egg yolks 
• 1 egg white 
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 pieces of peach halves in syrup, discard the syrup and chop the peaches into small cubes

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Butter and line a 8 inch round cake pan (I used a smaller 6-inch pan with removable base as I wanted a taller cake).
2. Mix the dry ingredients together. Cream together butter and 1/3 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. 
3. Add the egg yolks and beat well. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, mixing until just combined. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites till frothy. Gently drizzle in the sugar and continue beating until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
5. Fold about a 1/3 of the meringue into the batter to loosen it. Gently fold the remaining whites just until you no longer see any white streaks. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. 
6. Scatter peach pieces over the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine took much longer, about 45 minutes), until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Leave the cake to cool down completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from http://www.taste.com.au/

• 60g cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)
• 30g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Place the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Using a electric mixer, beat until pale. Gradually add in the icing sugar, beating until combined.

To assemble the Strawberry Shortcake:

Frost the top of the cake with cream cheese frosting. Spread the side with a thin layer of the frosting too so as to allow the lady fingers to stick to the cake.Surround the cake with lady fingers then place strawberries in the centre. Leave it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Easy, right? :) Have a nice weekend!