This strawberry shortcake cake is a Japanese take on the classic Strawberry shortcake recipe. Japanese strawberry shortcake is made from layers of fluffy and airy sponge cake filled with whipped cream and decorated with fresh strawberries.
What is a Japanese strawberry shortcake cake?
When Japanese say ‘strawberry shortcake’ they are referring to a strawberry sponge cake filled with whipped heavy cream and decorated with fresh strawberries unlike a classic shortcake made with biscuit. Thus the name Japanese strawberry shortcake cake. It is made with airy and fluffy sponge cake.
Equipment and preparation
I used a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with a whisk attachment to make meringue. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a Handheld Mixer
No-Fail sponge cake recipe
Baking the perfect sponge cake determines the success of your strawberry shortcake cake. There are two ways to make sponge cake, beat the yolk and egg white together or separately. I used the recipe which beats the egg white and yolk separately.
The reason I used the separate method is that you need to control the whole egg mixture at a certain temperature which is bothersome. It is definitely easier to keep the separated egg white refrigerated to make a firm meringue. Then mix in the egg yolks. Flour needs to be folded into the batter with a spatula trying not to form gluten by overmixing.
When you add the butter and milk mixture to the cake batter, take a little bit of cake batter to the butter and milk mixture and combine them first. If you skip this process and simply pour the butter and milk mixture into the cake batter, the butter tends to gather at the bottom of the mixing bowl because of the butter’s relative density.
How to cut the sponge cake straight?
I don’t have one, but there is a useful tool to slice the sponge cake straight and horizontally. 
Another method is to use toothpicks inserted around the side of the cake 2cm (0.8inch) high from the bottom of the cake and slide a sharp knife along the toothpicks. Also, it is easier to cut the sponge cake that has been left overnight than freshly baked and still warm. In order to avoid the cake getting dried out, after completely cooling it, wrap with cling wrap and leave it in room temperature in winter, and refrigerate it in Summer.
The reason for the syrup
After the sponge cake is sliced and before spreading the whipped cream, we need to apply syrup on to the cut surface. You do this because it prevents the sponge cake from drying out. Also the syrup adds a little sweetness to the subtle sweet sponge cake.
Whipped Cream for strawberry shortcake cake
I use pure cream (Australia) which is equivalent to heavy cream in the USA. you need to use a minimum fat content 35% or more for whipping. To whip the cream successfully, check the following tips.
- Keep the cream refrigerated until just before whipping.
- Place a large bowl with cream in it over another bowl with ice in it. Because it is important to maintain a low temperature (5-10°C/41-50°F) otherwise, the milk fat structure of the cream becomes soft and the foam collapses.
- Use a large glass or stainless steel bowl.
- You can use a handheld electric beater with medium speed to start with. When it starts to foam, switch to a stainless steel whisk to avoid overbeating.
Occasions to eat Strawberry shortcake cake
This Strawberry shortcake cake recipe was originally posted as “Japanese birthday cake” in 2016. Because this type of strawberry cake is often served for a birthday. Also Japanese often have this cake for Christmas as well. In my opinion, strawberry shortcake cakes are great for any occasion and events.
Can you freeze Strawberry shortcake cake?
I would recommend consuming the cake within a couple of days. It is not advisable to freeze any cake that has fresh fruit in it. Because fresh fruit contains a lot of moisture when it thaws, it makes the cake soggy as a result. So if you have to freeze them, remove any fruits first. You can wrap the cake with cling wrap, then place it in a ziplock bag. It will keep for about a month.
Other Japanese cakes
Check out other Japanese cakes great for any occasions on Chopstick Chronicles – Japanese souffle cheesecake – Hojicha chiffon cake – Sweet Potato granola cake
Stay connected
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Strawberry shortcake cake 苺のショートケーキ
Video
Ingredients
sponge cake
- 3 eggs 1/2 cup
- 115 g sugar 3/4 cup
- 100 g plain flour
- 40 g milk 2 tbsp + 2 tsp
- 25 g unsalted butter 1/4 butter stick
Syrup
- 60 g water 1/4 cup
- 30 g sugar 2 tbsp
Decoration
- 250 ml fresh whipping cream 1 cup
- 20 g sugar 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Instructions
- Line an 18cm (7 inch) round cake tin with parchment paper and set aside. Start to preheat the oven to 170 °C (338°F).
- Separate the egg yolk and egg whites.
- Place the egg whites in an electric mixer and gradually (at three different times) add the sugar into the mixer bowl.
- Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Combine the egg yolks through the egg white mixture.
- Fold the sifted flour through the egg mixture 3-4 times.
- Mix the milk and melted butter together in a small bowl.
- Take a small amount of the egg white mixture and put it into the milk and butter bowl and mix together then add it all into the egg white mixture and mix altogether.
- Pour the mixture into the 18cm lined round cake tin.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
- If a skewer comes out clean, the cake is baked. Turn the oven off and remove the cake tin.
- Drop the cake tin onto the kitchen bench from 10 cm (4 inches) high.
- Cool it in the tin for 5 minutes then turn onto a wire rack upside down.
- Turn it back and remove the parchment paper. Let it cool completely.
- Wrap the cake with cling wrap and leave it in room temperature overnight.
- Slice the cake horizontally into two slabs *1
- Combine water and sugar to make syrup.
- Brush the syrup on the two cut sides of the cake.
- Whip the cream and spread it on one side of the sponge cake. *2
- Decorate with sliced strawberries and spread more whipped cream over the strawberries.
- Top with the other side of the cake and spread whipped cream over the whole cake.
- Decorate with strawberries and raspberries or your choice of decorations.
Notes
Nutrition
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I’m going to attempt this to make for my dad! I was wondering would it be okay with a 6 inch pan? Mine is only 2 inches high so I’m scared it won’t fit? Beautiful cake by the way!
Hi Alice, I think it should work 😀
HI! Does the Cake rise in the oven? my had little batter so it looked flat…
Hi Leia, yes it does 😀
Can I use lemons? I’m making this for my favorite anime character from a idol series called love live. My favorite characters favorite food I lemons.
Hi Shay, lemons? If you are replacing strawberry with lemons? I guess it will be ok.
Hi. Would you add corn flour to combine with plain flour or use cake flour altogether?
Hi Odelia, I would just use cake flour 😀
How much cake flour should I use? Same amount as the suggested plain flour?
Hi Odelia, yes same amount 😀
Hi! How do you keep the whipped cream firm enough to frost the cake? My whipped cream frosting comes out soft and gets runny which makes it very difficult to frost.
Thank you.
Try adding a little bit of lemon juice?
Well, one reason may be that you are not letting the cake cool. If you let it cool, it will not melt the whipping cream. This goes for most frostings and cakes. Another reason is that you are not whipping the cream enough, and stopping short of the ideal consistency. What you need to do is put the whipped cream in light, and see that the pointed tops have just a hint of yellow to them. You should also refrigerate your whipped cream for at least 30 minutes afterwards. I hope this helps fellow whipped-cream lover!
Thank you Kat for the information 😀
Hi! Can you tell me if you usually use high or low power on your mixer to beat the eggs? Does that make a difference to the texture?
Hi Jade, I usually beat eggs mid like 6.
Hi, i only have a 6 inch and 8 inch round cake pan. Would you recommend to use 6 inch and 8 inch based on your receipe quantity?
Hi Stefanie, you can but your cake will be shorter and need to adjust baking time.
For the eggs, is it normal sized eggs? Or large eggs (50-55g without shell)?
Hi Crisha, I usually buy large egg which whighs about 50g
I made this cake for mother’s day and it’s so pretty and delicious at the same time. Thank you for this recipe
Thank you so much Lisa.
can I make cupcakes out of this? I would like something a bit less touchy for people with all the craziness going on😊 thank you!
Hi, yes I understand, sharing food is not good idea at the moment. I think it is possible through I have not tried it myself. You may need to adjust the baking time.
Hi,
Would a 6 “ cake pan 3” deep work for this recipe?
Thank you,
Nia
Hi Nia, yes it would 😀 but you may need to bake it longer
I dont have a cooling rack could i use a plate or a cake turntable?
Yes you can Alyssa 😀
This is honestly the best Strawberry Shortcake I’ve made. The cake was moist and had the perfect sweetness to it. This is my second time and I doubled the recipe.. My family loves it. Thank you for this perfect recipe
You are welcome Annetta 😀 Thank you for your lovely comment and five star rating!
This is the second time I’ve made this cake.. And we can’t stop eating it. Perfect cake for a special occasion It’ has a perfect balance of sweet and creamy.. We just love it!
Thank you for the perfect recipe.
This is the second time I’ve made this recipe! It is so delicious!
I’ve been trying to find a good recipe for Japanese Strawberry Shortcake (esp for Australians!)- it was something we nearly ate everyday when we went to Japan; and this is the best one!
For some reason my cake doesn’t seem to rise or is thick as yours, I wonder if it is to do with the way I’m mixing the ingredients… ?
Hi Leanne, Thank you for your lovely comment and 5 star rating. I think it could be the size of cake tin that you use? Mine is about 17cm in diameter.
Hello!
I am happy to have found one I don’t need to control the temp for! Before I attempt I thought I would check – when mixing in the yolks are you folding these into the whites or still using the whisk attachment?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Katie yes to your question. I did not change the attachment 😀
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it looks great! What are your thoughts about range hoods? I’m trying to decide if I should get one.
Hi Kylee, you are welcome. I am not sure about the range hoods. If you can get one, that will be great and let me know as I don’t have one 😀
Hi! I’m looking to try baking this cake for my son’s birthday. Wondering if the egg whites and egg yolks should be cold or room temperature? Thanks!
Hi Esther, I used the eggs straight out of my fridge, but does not have to be cold. The temperature of eggs did not affect for making this cake 😀
hi ! i really want to try making this recipe, so i was wondering what kind of sugar is specifically used to make it ? thanks so much and looking forward to making this cake !
Hi Amanda Thank you. I used caster sugar 😀
HI Amanda I used caster sugar 😀
Just made it. I looooooove it. So simple!
That’s fantastic! Thank you for making the cake 😀 Jen