Heavenly Delight Cake (Almond + Strawberry Sponge Cake)
HEB’s Heavenly Delight Cake (Almond and Strawberry Sponge Cake)
This recipe is dedicated to one of my best friends, May. Happy 24th Birthday! Thanks for always supporting me and being one of my oldest friends. Can’t wait to keep evolving with you.
Ingredients
Genoise Sponge Cake
Rating: 2/10
This is the recipe that I used from Bonni Bakery.
I personally do not think it was worth the extra effort of the bain-marie (although a culinary experience for sure). When I make this again, I will opt for an equally light but much more simple Angel food cake recipe.
I used 3 4’’ spring form pans to make a 3 layer cake.
Instead of 1 tsp vanilla extract, I used 1 tsp Almond extract.
The longer you allow the cake batter to rest after mixing, the less spongey and more dense it will become. Bake immediately after mixing the batter
The batter is STICKY. Make sure to spray non-stick spray or grease the pan.
Once cakes are done baking, allow to cool COMPLETELY before icing. Otherwise your icing will melt.
Almond French Buttercream
Rating: 10/10
This is the recipe that I used from Preppy Kitchen. For my 4’’ cake, I doubled the recipe. Yes, you’ll need ~1 dozen eggs to make this type of buttercream, or 2 for a regular 9’’ cake.
With all the extra egg whites, consider making an egg white scramble or the aforementioned angel food cake.
Instead of 1 tsp vanilla extract, I used 1 tsp Almond extract.
If you don’t have a hand mixer or stand mixer, don’t bother making this. 100% not worth the manpower for it.
You CAN eyeball the temperature of the simple syrup without the need for a candy thermometer. Heat water and sugar but do NOT allow to boil. Turn off flame, change pan to a different burner, and wait 3 minutes.
Do not taste the syrup for temperature. It’s scalding sugar water. You will burn yourself. Don’t be dumb.
The butter absolutely needs to be softened before you make this. Either leave butter out for 1-2 hours on counter, or microwave for 5 seconds at a time, rotating sides every interval to prevent melting.
After you finish your frosting, either leave in a neutral temperature location, or plastic wrap and put in fridge. Once you need it, let chilled frosting come to room temperature before re-whipping so it’s not dense. and spreadable
Assembly + Decorations
Almonds
Toast almonds in a dry pan until golden brown and fragrant. Do not let burn. Discard anything that burns. It will taste burnt.
Let cool COMPLETELY before adhering to the side of the cake, otherwise it will melt your frosting.
I didn’t, but you can add almonds between each layer. Refer to diagram below.
Strawberries + Glaze
Opt for fresh, stemmed strawberries for the top, and sliced strawberries for the inside layers
Add glaze last and be minimal with the glaze to avoid dripping down the cake. Refer to diagram below.
I baked this cake live on Tiktok and took 3 hours. When I remake this, I will post updates. Good luck!
