Strawberry Lime Cream Cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM!!!

Today is my sweetheart's birthday so I wanted to find something special to make.  This man prefers white cakes so when I ran across this recipe, I just had to try it.  First of all, it's a real looker, especially if (unlike me) you have a knack for creating beautiful cakes.  And secondly, this is an incredibly wonderful cake for hot weather.  The cake itself is so genuinely good, and then you layer it with with a strawberry puree and some lime cream.  And then frost it with a whipped cream icing.  Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm!

Now, it looks like there are a lot of steps, but if you try this (and I hope you do), plan on starting a day or two ahead and doing a bit here and there, and then you can put it all together pretty quickly.  After completely assembling, you'll want to refrigerate the cake for a couple of hours so the frosting will set.  Personally, next time I make it, I will make the lime cream and strawberry puree two days before, the cake and frosting the day before (or early morning for a dinner dessert).  Assembly will be much quicker with less clean up.

For me, my misstep was the lime cream.  I couldn't really get it to whip up into peaks, I think I may have had a bit too much lime juice.  But by experiment, I put the leftover (most of it!) cream in the frig and today it was much thicker and would have spread much better if I had only made it and let it sit for a day.  However, for the birthday boy's cake, I just served some of it on the side, a dollop for each bite.  And you must have this lime cream with the cake.  Oh so good.  As is the strawberry puree.  And the cake.  And the frosting.

STRAWBERRY LIME CREAM CAKE

White Cake:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add buttermilk, butter, and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as needed.  Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.  Add the egg whites and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour the batter into 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans (I use Baker's Joy cooking spray).  Bake the cakes for 28-30 minutes (mine took a few minutes longer, maybe 32-25 minutes) until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs.  Don't overbake or the cakes will be dry.  Cool the cakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen the sides with a butter knife and remove the cakes from the pan to cool completely.

Strawberry Puree:
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Lime Cream:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (4-6 limes), zest before juicing
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Zest and juice the limes into a medium bowl.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well.  Add the whipping cream and beat until medium-stiff peaks form.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Whipped Cream Frosting:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 envelope (about 2 tsp) unflavored gelatin
4 Tbsp water

In a small bowl, place the water and sprinkle the gelatin over the top.  Let the mixture stand for 3-4 minutes until the gelatin has thickened.  Microwave for 20-30 seconds until the gelatin dissolves and the mixture is warm.  Remove from the microwave and let the mixture cool to room temperature (don't let it set up!)  In a large bowl, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla until slightly thickened.  While beating slowly, gradually add the cooled gelatin to the whipped cream mixture.  Whip at high speed until stiff peaks form.

To assemble the cake, slice each cooled cake round in half horizontally to form 4 cake circles.  Place on cake layer on a cake plate and spread an even layer of strawberry puree over the top.  Spread a thick layer of lime cream over the puree, leaving a 1/2" border around the edge as the top cake layers will press the cream out toward the edges.  Repeat the same layering process with the next two layers.  Top with the final cake layer (do not top with puree or lime cream) and frost the entire cake with the whipped cream frosting.  Garnish with fresh lime slices and halved strawberries.  Chill for 1-2 hours before serving to let the cake set up.