Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Cake

Instructions

To prepare the Sponge Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper but do NOT grease the sides. Greasing the sides will not allow the cake to rise well and since the cake is cooled in the pan, the ungreased sides provide support for the cake as it cools so that it will not shrink.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using a whisk attachment, combine the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat on medium high speed for about 10 minutes until the mixture is foamy and pale in color.
3. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium low and with the mixer running, begin to continuously sprinkle in rounded tablespoons of the flour. Stop the mixer as soon as the flour is fully incorporated.
4. Remove 1 to 2 cups of the sponge cake batter and mix it with the melted butter.
5. Immediately add this mixture back into the main batter, folding it in very gently with a rubber spatula. Make sure the butter mixture is fully mixed in but be careful not to over mix the batter when folding as this can cause the batter to deflate.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared 9 inch spring form pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top springs back fully when pressed lightly. Watch this cake closely as it will over bake easily if left for 5 minutes too long. Start checking it at the 40 minute mark just to be sure, although it always takes the full 45 minutes in my oven.
7. Cool the cake completely IN THE PAN for at least a couple of hours before carefully and slowly running a sharp knife around the outside edge of the pan to release the cake from the sides. Be sure that you are holding the knife straight at a 90 degree angle, pressing it firmly against the side of the pan as you run it around the edge. This will ensure that you do not damage the sides and they will come out looking perfect in your presentation.
8. Release the sides of the spring form pan and peel the parchment paper off the bottom of the cake before placing it on the serving plate.
9. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the cake in half, horizontally to form 2 equal layers.

To prepare the Filling

1. Whip together the whipping cream, icing sugar, vanilla to firm peaks:
2. Quickly beat in the mascarpone cheese until smooth.
3. Finally fold in the quartered fresh strawberries.

To prepare the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1. For the strawberry puree begin by tossing together the strawberries and white sugar.
2. Cover and set aside for at least an hour. This step helps to remove some of the moisture from the strawberries and intensify the color. Drain the strawberries but reserve the syrup. Puree the strawberries until smooth.
3. Blend together the icing sugar and butter.
4. When the mixture becomes sort of crumbly and the butter is broken up add the strawberry puree along with the vanilla extract.
5. The frosting will be very stiff at this point so slowly add some of the reserved strawberry syrup, a tablespoon at a time and beating well until the frosting reaches a firm but spreadable consistency. Any leftover syrup can be brushed onto the cake layers before assembling the cake.
6. Fill the two cake layers with the cream and strawberry filling then frost with the strawberry buttercream.