Strawberry Gateau / Strawberry cream cake

Celebrating My birthday Today with this creamy strawberry layer cake :)

Ingredients :

Butter : 125g
All Pupose flour : 1 1/2Cups
Castor Sugar : 1Cup
Eggs : 3, at room temperature
Milk : 3/4 Cup 
Baking Powder : 1tsp
Baking Soda : 1/4tsp
Vanilla Essence : 1 1/2tsp
Strawberry : 8, finely chopped
Salt : 1/8tsp 
Pink Food Color : few drops (optional)

For Sugar syrup and Frosting :

Whipping cream : 2Cup, chilledCrushed Straberries : 6
Water : 1Cup
Sugar : 1tbsp

Method : 

1. Preheat oven at 180˚C. 

2. Grease and line an 18cm round cake tin and keep aside.

3. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder thrice.

4. With an electric mixer, cream the butter until soft. Add the sugar and and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add milk, strawberries, food color and vanilla essence and continue beating.

5. Spoon into the cake tin and bake until the cake pulls away from the sides (about 35minutes). Remove from the oven but carefully pull the lining. Let the cake cool completely.

6. For layering, dip a bread knife in boiling water and wipe it with a warm cloth. Make layers carefully without breaking the sides of the cake.

For the Syrup :

1. On Medium flame combine Sugar and water in a sauce pan. When sugar has dissolved completely and reaches the consistency of milk, turn of the flame and allow the syrup to cool completely.

2. Prick the cake all over with a fine skewer and pour the syrup over each layers of cake. It may seem at first that there is too much syrup for the cake to absorb, but it will soak it all up slowly.

Frosting & Assembling :

1. Beat whipped cream with food color till it turns soft and fluffy.

2.Divide the cream into 4 parts and keep in refrigerator. Take the bottom part of the cake and spread the whipping cream evenly, spread the crushed strawberries over the cream. Repeat the same with one more layer.

3. Place the top layer and spread the cream evenly on the sides. You can top the cake with halved / crushed strawberries. Refrigerate the cake for 3-4 hours and serve chilled.