“Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happiness! If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!”
C. JoyBell C

Lime & Strawberry Cream Cake … a very simple cake made in the Philips AirFryer a few days ago. 15 minutes was all I could manage that day. There have been no desserts of late and the kids were beginning to make strange unhappy sounds. There’s been barely any ‘free time’ what with final exams on for both teens which are well underway. The cake came out surprisingly nice. Didn’t take pictures of it once made as it was slightly domed and I didn’t have time to pretty it up. One bite down and I thought it was really nice. Lime and strawberries pair well. The second round of the strawberry season has finally begun here in North India. Can’t have too much of this delicious fruit.

The sponge was soft but not moist as always because I whisked in the flour instead of folding it in G E N T L Y. So I didn’t get a ‘light as air’ sponge. Still it was quite soft. Interesting!

The easiest way to get cake moist is to give it a good soaking with a simple sugar syrup. Love doing that when I make my pineapple cream cake. If you are doing a black forest cake, you can always reduce the syrup the cherries are canned in, and add a dash of Kirsch or lime juice to it to moisten the sponge.

I thought the Lime & Strawberry Cream Cake was nice enough to share, a quick easy cake, make ahead, light and delicious. A slice was hidden away for a picture opportunity while the rest of the cake was devoured by the happy family. Then late that evening the bell rang. It was the courier with the Samsung Netbook that I had won at the Del Monte recipe contest hosted at Indiblogger.  My entry was the Tropical Cream Pie. Much excitement followed and we found a candy pink gizmo. Even though I’m not a pink person, the netbook is really pretty and very handy! I ♥ it!!

Seems to be an early Christmas over and over again. I am feeling quite pampered … maybe too pampered! First the Philips AirFryer, then Finla spoilt me silly, next Mr PAB got me a Samsung S3. My sister sent me more stuff as her better half was visiting … and just when I thought I had everything and more I could ever ask for, PINK came into my life!

December’s here already. A clutch of days to fly through, a year that’s been packed to the gills. So much happening in this foodie world. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised with some fabulous tea from a beautiful tea company in China. Yes China! And yes tea! It’s funny because I am a 100% coffee addict and never drink tea. My first foray into tea was at the Aussie MasterChefs breakfast meet where Sangeeta talked me into sipping some lavender tea. It was wonderful. Then she got me some beautiful green tea from Darjeeling from a recent visit. This herbal and green tea from Teavirve was a nice coincidence. In the bag were samples for green tea, and for Blueberry Fruit Tea and Apple Awakening Fruit Tea. The green tea was similar to others that I have recently sampled, but it was the Blueberry Fruit Tea that was amazing, and stole my heart. Beautiful aromas and subtle flavours of blueberry, black currant, roselle and grapes. The teen is in love with this tea!

The Apple Awakening Fruit Tea is really refreshing too … teasing the palette with an intriguing combination of apple and lemon.  With such an extensive selection which can be shipped across the world, Teavirve is a great gifting option. Green, white, black, Oolong, Pu-erh, herbal, fruit, ice, organic, flavoured … the variety is endless.To make the range complete, Teavirve offer a stunning range of teaware too. {They offers worldwide free shipping for orders over $30 … you should check out there collection.}

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Recipe: Lime & Strawberry Cream Cake

Summary: An almost fatless sponge cake layered with a whipped raspberry cream with strawberries within … light, moist, flavourful and gone quick!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:

• Sponge Cake
• 3 eggs
• 75g raw sugar {or powdered sugar}
• 75g plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2tsp extra virign olive oil
• 1tbsp 2% milk
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp lemon extract
• zest of 1 lime
• Simple sugar syrup
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• Juive 1 1 lime
• Raspberry Cream
• 300g low fat cream, chilled
• 3-4 tbsp raw sugar {increase if required}
• 80g Del Monte rapberry fruit filling {chilled, from feezer}
• 250g strawberries, chopped, some saved for topping

Method:

1. Sponge
2. Preheat oven if using to 180C. If using the AirFryer, you can preheat it to 160C just before you begin folding the flour mix in as it requires only 5 minutes to preheat. 
3. Line the base and sides of a 7″ round cake tin with baking parchment. {Please check first if the tin fits into the AirFryer}
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve.
5. Beat the eggs with raw/powdered sugar, pure vanilla extract and lemon extract in a big bowl over a pan of simmering water until tripled in volume and mousse like, about 7 minutes. {Thermomix: Butterfly insert, Speed 4, 37c, 7 minutes}
6. Preheat the AirFryer to 160C at this time …
7. Gently add the flour mix and fold through, followed by the olive oil and milk.
8. Transfer batter to prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes in conventional oven, OR 15 minutes in the AirFryer until light golden brown
9. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, and demold and cool completely on cooling rack.
10. Raspberry Cream
11. Whip cream with sugar until medium peaks form. Add the fruit filling and whip again until smooth and firm. Taste & adjust sugar if required. The cream will be thick enough to spread.
12. Assemble
13. Slice cake into 2 horizontal layers. If the top is slightly domed, you might like to level it. {Reserve the trimmings and run in processor to make cake crumbs. I left mine domed}
14. Moisten both the layers with the simple sugar syrup.
15. Sandwich with about 1/3rd of the whipped cream. Scatter the chopped strawberries uniformly and top with second layer.
16. Frost the sides and top with the remaining cream. Top with quartered strawberries. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes for the flavours to mature {chill in the fridge if the weather is warm, else leave on counter}

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