Strawberry Mango Meringue Layer Cake

We threw a Harajuku themed bridal shower for our friend Joanne a couple weeks ago.  She knew that there was going to be a party, but we surprised her with the theme.  If you don’t know what harajuku style is, check this out.  There were about 25-30 people there, all of whom dressed up!  She loved it. 

I made a cake for her, which wasn’t necessarily Harajuku styled, but still pretty cool.  Multiple layers of strawberry chiffon, meringue, strawberry cream cheese frosting, and mangos!  Sounds good to me!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Strawberry Chiffon Cake Layers

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 cups + 2 Tablespoons sifted cake flour

¾ cup sugar, divided into ½ and ¼ cups

½ Tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup pureed strawberries (about 4 strawberries)

3.5 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs separated into yolks and whites, room temperature

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 325^○ F. Line the bottom of 3, 8-inch baking pans with parchment, but do not grease the sides.  (Alternatively, you can bake in a taller pan and slice the cake to make 3 layers, but be sure to adjust the baking time.)

2.       In a medium metal bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks.  Gradually add ¼ cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks.  Set aside.

3.       In a large bowl whisk flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.

4.       In another bowl, whisk strawberry puree, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks until mixed thoroughly.

5.       Pour strawberry mixture into flour mixture and beat just until combined.

6.       Mix ¼ of the egg whites into the batter. Fold in the rest of the egg whites in 2 additions.

7.       Pour evenly into baking pans and bake for 25 minutes.

8.       Cool and wire rack.  Run a knife around the edges and turn out.

Before baking.

After baking.

Meringue Layers

Adapted from here and here.

Makes 2 meringue layers.

Ingredients

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

¼  teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 250^○ F. Trace 2 circles (of the cake pan from above recipe – I used 8 inch pans) onto parchment paper.  Place circle side down onto baking sheet.

2.       In a large metal bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt to soft peaks.

3.       Add vanilla and beat.

4.       Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff.

5.       Spread meringue into the circles on the baking sheet.

6.       Bake for 2.5 hours or until they are thoroughly dry. Leave in oven with heat turned off for another hour.

7.       Store in a cool dry place.

Before baking.

After baking.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Adapted from here.

Makes 2.5 cups

Ingredients

2 packages of cream cheese (16 ounces), room temperature

¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature

1.5 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup strawberries

Directions

1.       In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, and sugar until creamy.

2.       Mix in vanilla.

3.       Pure strawberries in a blender or food processor.  Mix into cream cheese mixture.

4.       Add more sugar if it is too runny.  Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Frosting.

Cake Assembly

1.       Cut mangoes to ½ inch chunks to make 2 cups.

2.       Divide filling into 3 equal parts.

3.       Place a small amount (1 tablespoon) of filling on plate.  Place first cake layer on top.

4.       Place meringue layer on top.

5.       Spread filling on top of meringue.

6.       Sprinkle mangoes.

7.       Repeat: cake-> meringue-> filling-> mangoes

8.       The final layer is a cake layer.  Spread the last of the filling on top and decorate to your liking.

Layer 1: Chiffon cake

Layer 2: Thin layer of frosting

Layer 3: Meringue

Layer 4: Frosting

Layer 5: Manogos

Layer 6: Chiffon...and repeat

Verdict:  This cake was absolutely delicious! The crispy meringue layer gave a fantastic texture to this cake! The strawberry cream cheese frosting was super flavourful!  Everyone devoured it! One of things I loved about this cake was that although each part of this cake took time to make, assembly was a snap!  Will definitely make again.