Springtime cake

12 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 pint Strawberries, hulled
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
¼ cup Sugar
Red food coloring (op.)
2 tablespoons Cointreau
3 cups Icing sugar
⅓ cup Soft butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
½ cup Red currant jelly
French Sponge Layers,
Recipe Follows
Orange Butter Cream,
Recipe Follows
½ cup Coarsely chopped pistachio
Nuts
1 pint Perfect whole strawberries,
Hulled

Directions

Wash and cut up l pint hulled strawberries into a flat dish. Mash with a fork until well broken up. You should have about l cup mashed strawberries. Set aside ¼ cup and bring rest to a boil in a small saucepan. Thoroughly combine cornstarch and ¼ cup sugar and gradually stir into boiling berries. Stir just until clear and slightly thickened, then remove from heat. Add a little red food coloring if desired. Stir in half the Cointreau and let stand at room temperature until needed for filling. Combine icing sugar, butter, vanilla and enough of the ¼ cup strawberry pur‚e to make an icing that is easy to spread. Beat until fluffy and set aside. Heat red currant jelly and remaining Cointreau over lowest heat until jelly melts. Keep just barely warm until needed. Split cake layers to make 4 thin layers. Put first layer on a serving plate. Spread with half of Orange Butter Cream. Top with second layer and spread with strawberry filling. Top with third layer and spread with remaining butter cream. Top with last layer. Chill for about l0 min. if butter cream seems very soft. Set aside about ½ cup strawberry icing and thinly ice sides of cake with part of remainder. Press pistachios into icing. Turn a 5-inch plate or saucer upside down in centre of top layer and ice all around it with rest of strawberry icing. This will make a nice, even iced edge about 2 inches wide. Lift plate or saucer with tip of knife and remove. Fill un-iced centre of the cake with the whole strawberries. Spoon some of the melted currant jelly over each berry, letting it run down to cover the berry and fill the spaces around it. Put the ½ cup icing in a decorating bag or tube with a rosette tip and pipe small rosettes all around strawberry centre to cover joint between icing and glazed berries. Chill until shortly before serving time.Serves 12.

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