SK week 24 | Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake

Dan's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with my side of the family last weekend. He's a big fan of strawberry shortcake, so when I saw this cake, I knew it was perfect. And thanks to a quick google search for a gluten-free chiffon cake, I was able to find the right flour combination to make this recipe gluten free!

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
(for the cake)
2 1/4 cups cake flour (for GF: 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons white rice flour, 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon potato starch, 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 large egg yolks at room temperature (pro tip from the GF recipe, eggs separate more easily when they're cold, so separate them and then let them come to room temp)
8 large egg whites at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
(for the filling)
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 quarts strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

First, wash and slice the berries. Mix in the 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stick in the fridge until you're ready for it. (Stir it once in a while).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prep cake pans by lightly spraying with cooking spray and lining with parchment. (You can see her note about how many cakes to do, etc. I used three round cake pans and it worked well).

Sift together the flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks, water, oil, and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until smooth.

Get your egg whites and cream of tartar into a stand mixer (or mix it by hand, but the whisk feature is literally one of the main reasons I even have my Kitchenaid).

Once you're at soft peaks, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

And beat until you have stiff peaks. Like this. :)

Use a rubber spatula to fold about a quarter of the egg whites into the batter.

Then carefully fold in the rest until it looks just uniform. Don't overmix!

Divide among your prepared cake pans. Bake 40-50 minutes, but start checking around 30 minutes.

You want them to look nice and golden, and for a toothpick to come out clean. Let cool like this for an hour, then carefully remove from the pan and cool completely before assembling.

Once you're ready, whip your heavy cream and powdered sugar. I tend to prefer a softer peak for whipped cream, but for this particular recipe, you're going to want to go for stiff peaks. Just don't make butter. ;)

For assembly, dollop some whipped cream on a cake layer, arrange strawberries on the cream, and repeat for all three layers. If you have extra whipped cream, you can make the top pretty. :) Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Final verdict? Definite winner! And it was pretty easy to make. The cake was a little tedious, but it was much better than angelfood cake. This will definitely be made again in our house!