sometimes i think its nice to revisit some of the old recipes i made before. this is a japanese strawberry shortcake where the genoise sponge is colored pink and soaked with a rose-flavored syrup. the 1st time i made this cake was in 2007 when i was still pretty inexperienced and definitely less meticulous in baking. i remember using non-dairy whipped topping for the cake which is pretty shocking to come to think of it. i shudder at the thought of vegetable fat now so there's absolutely no yucky non-dairy cream, creamer, margarine or shortening in my desserts (actually i haven't been using them for many years).


this is the monin rose syrup i soaked the sponge with. monin is a french brand, famous for its gourmet syrups and i like it for the subtle flavor (and color). compared to other brands, this smells milder and more natural, though of course, its still artificial and cannot be compared to rosewater or rose extract. the recipe calls for this so i'm using it. you can use other brands of rose syrup if you like.


i didn't take a picture of the whole cake as i didn't decorate it. i couldn't get hold of the fresh roses for decor so here's a pic from 2007, taken during my pre-DSLR days. as you can see, this is a really pretty and feminine looking cake. tastes like strawberry shortcake but with a floral note. surprisingly, strawberries and rose go pretty well together. besides the strawberry/pistachio or the raspberry/rose combination, this one is pretty good too.


tastewise, its lovely but the sponge wasn't as light and fluffy as i would have preferred. i was too influenced with the ombre (graduating tone) trend these days so i separated the sponges into three portions and colored each one separately. the one with the most coloring ended up rather dense and much shorter in height (i may have overmixed it, i think). it would otherwise be perfect so i guess i would have to save the ombre for some other recipes or occasions.



recipe source : 五星級飯店的精緻甜點總匯 by 中島真介 (hotel new otani by shinsuke nakajima)

*recipe removed due to copyright restrictions.