Beautiful strawberry banana cream birthday cake

Today was my oldest daughter Vilde's birthday. She turned 13! That makes for 2 teenagers in our house, with two more to come. Vilde really likes baking and took an active part in designing this cake. She gave me specifics about what she wanted in it and together we decided on how to put it all together. Wow !! It turned out beautiful and incredibly delicious! This is probably the prettiest cake I have ever made.

 It is a version of the traditional "Bløtkake" (cream cake) which is a staple of any festive occasion in Norway, including birthdays. The cake part of it is pretty standard. It is essentially a sponge cake made with lots of eggs and sugar. It is really quick and easy to make. I always make it a day ahead which makes it easier to slice. The tricky part is cutting it into three layers. They never come out perfectly even, but that just gives the cake character.  As far as the filling and decorating there are no rules. Only your imagination limits what you can use. Fresh or canned fruits and berries and jams are the typical fillings. Nuts and chocolate can be used too. I mixed the berries and the banana in with the whipped cream, but you could just layer them on top of the filling as well. So, go ahead, have fun and make your own masterpiece for someone you love. Happy birthday!

Note: The original cake recipe was in Norwegian, so the measurements are in metric, but I have translated to the best of my ability. A kitchen scale showing the weight in grams and ounces would be very useful for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Cake ( Can be made up to 3 days ahead):

5 eggs

150 grams (5 1/4 ounces) sugar

150 grams (5 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Filling and frosting:

1 pint (4.7 dl) heavy whipping cream (use more if you want more frosting for decorating), divided

1 teaspoon sugar*  
1 pint strawberries, divided

2-3 tablespoons strawberry jam

I small package Jell-o banana pudding mix

2 cups low- fat milk

1 banana, cut in half, sliced lenghtwise and chopped

2 Graham cracker sheets, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Preparation:

Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until thick and fluffy and pale (about 5 minutes). Sift the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the egg mixture.  Coat a 9 inch round metal cake pan with cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean (my cake took 32 minutes).

Cool cake completely in pan (it will sink down slightly).

Meanwhile, prepare fillings: whip cream and sugar on high speed until fluffy (about 4 minutes). Put about half of cream into a smaller bowl, mix in strawberry jam. Dice  about 4-5 strawberries and fold into whipped cream. Prepare banana pudding as directed on package; fold in the banana pieces.

 Loosen cake from sides of pan running a knife around the edge. Invert onto a plate covered with two overlapping pieces of parchment paper. Remove and discard wax paper on cake. Slice cake into 3 horizontal layers. With bottom layer on your plate spread with the strawberry cream. Top with second cake layer. Spread with banana cream. Cover with top layer. Frost entire cake with remaining whipped cream. Decorate to your hearts desire. Here is what I did: put some whipped cream in a decorating bag and make little designs around top. Arrange quartered strawberries around the edge. Put two sheets of graham crackers in a ziploc bag.; crush with your hand until desired crumb size. Spoon into middle of cake. Pull away the parchment paper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

* This is a very gently sweetened whipped cream. You can sweeten to your taste. A small amount of vanilla extract is good too. But be careful not to overdo it. The filling is very sweet too.

Update!
And here is the same cake decorated a little differently. Made for fathers day 2014.

Recipe by, For the love of dinner, 2011