Strawberry And Peach Gateaux

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 75g golden caster sugar
• 75g plain flour, sifted
• Grated zest of two unwaxed lemons

Filling:

• approx. 600ml double cream
• 50g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 400g-500g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• Several tablespoons strawberry flavoured liqueur or amaretto (optional)

Decoration:

• 200g good quality white chocolate
• Several whole strawberries and sliced peaches
• Dried strawberry powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare 3 circular sandwich tins (approx. 20cm diameter) – grease and line base with greaseproof paper.
2. Preheat oven to 170°C (fan). Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl for about 10 minutes or until the ribbon stage is reached: the mixture becomes very pale and moussey and when the whisk is lifted from the bowl it should leave a trail on the surface (as in the pic below).
   The ribbon stage
3. Gently fold in the flour and the lemon zest until fully incorporated and divide into the tins. Bake for about 14-15 minutes or until golden brown with the cake coming away from the sides of the tin. Turn onto a wire rack to cool before peeling off greaseproof.
4. Whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until thick and set aside about 200g of the mixture. Mix the strawberries into the bulk of the cream mixture.
5. Pour liqueur (if using) over the sponges then assemble the cake: starting with a layer of sponge then the strawberry/cream mixture, alternating and ending with sponge. Spread most the reserved cream over the top and around the sides – it doesn’t need to be neat along the sides as it will be covered with chocolate and it is there to help the chocolate stick to the cake.
6. Cut acetate or chocolate transfer to a long strip: width being the depth of the assembled cake and the length to be 1cm or so more than the circumference of the cake. Melt the chocolate and pour it over the acetate, using a palette knife to smooth it out. Leave until starting to set but still soft – the aceate should be able to be bent without the chocolate breaking, but the chocolate shouldn’t be so runny that it pours off the acetate when you lift it.
7. Carefully lift the acetate and, with the hocolate side facing the cake, wrap around the cake, patting gently into place. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set fully. Slowly remove the acetate – being careful at the overlap.
8. Decorate the top of the cake. Pipe the remaining reserved cream over the top, and add a whole strawberry to each rosette. Lightly dust with strawberry powder.

Source:  bakingfanatic