Strawberry Almond Layer

Press, Volume C, Issue 29695, 13 December 1961, Page 3

Strawberry Almond Layer

Prettiest luncheon party or buffet cake of the year is this Strawberry Almond Layer, which is really very easy to make for anything that looks so elegant and sophisticated. The layers are alternately cake and meringue and strawberries and cream, with toasted almonds studding the meringue top. This is a confection which may be cake at tea or dessert at dinner and equally luscious for either. The cake is made in ordinary large sponge sandwich tins and takes 50 minutes to cook. Ingredients: 3oz butter 3oz sugar 6oz flour 3 egg yolks 1 teaspoon baking powder i teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons milk 3 egg whites 1 teaspoon salt 6oz sugar i teaspoon vanilla loz blanched almonds Method: Lightly grease two sponge sandwich tins, then line with butter papers, leaving the corners to protrude above the top of the pans, but smoothing round to line tin neatly inside. Cream butter and sugar and beat in egg yolks. Add sifted flour, baking powder and salt and mix with milk and vanilla. Divide out evenly between the tins and level off with a knife. Whisk the whites with salt until very stiff, then whisk in sugar a little at a time until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Fold in vanilla essence. Divide out over the cake mixture, swirling the meringue with a knife. Blanch almonds and stud over the top of one cake. Bake at 350 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Leave to become quite cold in the tins. Run a knife inside the rim, between paper and tin, and lift out carefully by the corners of the paper. Turn the layer without almonds over onto a large cake plate, meringue side down. Whisk about half a pint of cream and sweeten slightly Fold through ? cup of crushed straw’berries. Spread out over the cake. Strip the paper off the almond topped layer, holding it right way up in your hands, and lower it onto the cream, cake side down. If preferred. spread the sweetened cream over the cake, then stud with whole berries, reserving a tablespoon of cream and five berries. Put on the almond layer and decorate in the centre with the plain cream and berries.