Chinese Birthday Cake

By zircon50

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 8 eggs separated plus 2 more egg whites(8 egg yolks plus 10 egg whites total)
• separate eggs when they are cold and then bring them to room temp.*
• 1 cup plus 2 T. of cake flour
• 1 cup of caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp of cream of tartar
• 2 T of orange juice(no pulp and not from concentrate) plus 3/4 T. of water(basically,this mixture should equal 1/4 of a cup)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil(no substitutions)
• 2 UNGREASED aluminum layer cake pans OR 1 UNGREASED(2 piece) aluminum tube pan
• FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING AND FILLING:
• 3 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1 T. plus 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2/3 to 1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar(you control how sweet)
• FOR THE SIMPLE SYRUP:
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

First, separate your egg yolks from egg whites while they are cold and bring them to room temp. I know there's some debate on whether or not it's safe to leave them out overnight, but I do anyways. :) Do the same with the orange juice.

Into your chilled mixing bowl, add in your heavy whipping cream. I have a shield that I can attach to my mixture so that it won't splash all over the place, but if your bowl isn't large enough or you don't have a shield, whip up in 2 separate batches. Just before your whipping cream starts to thicken, add in your vanilla extract and powdered sugar. I don't like it too sweet so you can adjust accordingly to your taste. Once done, put in fridge until ready to use.

Pour 1 cup of sugar into food processor and let it run for 30 seconds to create a fine granulated sugar. Set aside.

Take your cake flour and salt and sift over a large piece of parchment paper. Then, lift the parchment paper and pour it back into a sieve fitted over a large mixing bowl and sift again. Continue process 3 more times! Set aside.

Mix your oil/water/vanilla extract and orange juice together in a small bowl or measuring cup. This mixture should come up to just under 1 cup! Set aside.

Beat your egg yolks with the caster sugar until it's pale yellow. Thick ribbon like streaks should be falling off of the beater back into your bowl. Set aside.

Beat your egg whites until foamy. Add in your cream of tartar. Continue beating until soft peaks. Switch to a balloon wire whisk and whisk by hand until stiff peaks.

Take your reserved oil mixture, give it a little stir, and then add it into your EGG YOLKS MIXTURE. Once mixed in, whisk in your flour mixture, a little at a time. Once thats fully incorporated, take a clean wire whisk and CAREFULLY fold in a little bit of your beaten egg whites and continue this with the rest of the egg whites. Work quickly and use as little strokes as possible. It's okay if you see tiny streaks of white. Don't waste too much time on that.

Pour into UNGREASED layer cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Once done, remove and invert cakes upside down to cool down on 2 racks fitted over two colanders.

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, boil 1/2 of water with 1/2 of sugar until it reduces to about half. It will start to thicken up slightly and it will change color. Pour mixture into a bowl over an ice bath and stir until thickened like syrup. The longer you leave it on there, the thicker it will get. Once to your liking, remove from ice bath and set in fridge until ready to use.

Chop up some fruit and divide them equally amongst 3 bowls and add in your reserved whipping cream into each bowl. Remember to leave a good amount for frosting the tops and sides of your cake!!

Once your cakes have cooled, take a serrated knife and cut into each one. Take your fruit filling and begin to assemble your cakes, one layer at a time. Frost the tops and sides and decorate with fresh fruit/berries of your choice. Drizzle tops with the simple syrup. Place in fridge until ready to indulge! Happy Eating!!