Red Currant Bakery

Chiffon Cake
14 Preheat the oven to 325 F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom of the 7" springform cake pan with a piece of parchment paper but don't grease the sides of the pan!
15 Separate the three eggs, putting the egg yolks in one medium mixing bowl and the egg whites into another medium mixing bowl.
16 Add 50 grams of the sugar into the bowl with the egg yolks and 50 grams of the sugar into the bowl with the egg whites.Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until light and ribbony. Add the almond extract, salt, and vanilla into the egg yolks and whisk again.
17 Pour the buttermilk and oil into the egg yolk bowl and whisk again.
18 Sift the flour, almond flour, and baking powder into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk until just smooth. It'll seem lumpy at first, keep whisking but once smooth, stop whisking!
19 Using an electric mixer whip the egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks form.
20 Spoon one third of the egg white mixture into the bowl with egg yolks and use a large flat rubber spatula to fold the meringue into the yolk mixture. Be careful not to stir vigorously as it will knock all of the air out of the meringue.
21 Continue adding and folding the meringue in, in two more additions.
22 Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
23 Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Then rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the edges.
24 Once baked, immediately take the pan out of the oven and place a wire rack upside down over the top. Flip the pan and the wire rack over and set it on the counter like this until it has fully cooled. About an hour or two.
Crème Fraîche Whipped Cream
26 In a medium mixing bowl add in the cold crème fraîche, salt, vanilla, and cold heavy cream. Whip until almost stiff peaks form.
27 Sift in the powdered sugar and whip again until stiff peaks form.
28 Set aside about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream mixture to use for the topping.
Stacking the Cake
30 Once all the elements are ready and the cake has cooled off it's time to stack the cake.
31 Rinse and dry the strawberries. Then remove the greens and the tip of the core and cut into small chunks between 1/4" and 1/2" in size.
32 Clean and reassemble the springform pan or use a cake ring on a flat tray or cake pan. Line the whole thing with two sheets of plastic wrap that overlap in the middle.
33 Use a long serrated knife to level off the top of the cake. Then cut the cake into 3 slices.
34 Place the bottom layer of the cake, into the plastic lined form. Scoop half of the remaining whipped cream onto the cake and use the back of a spoon to smooth it out.
35 Generously sprinkle with half of the chopped strawberries and gently press them into the cream.
36 Repeat the cake, then cream, and strawberries and finally the last layer of cake on top, cut side down. Use the extra plastic wrap to wrap over the top of the cake and place it flat into the freezer for 90 minutes. *I haven't tested it but I believe overnight in the fridge would work too*
Decorate
38 Once the cake has set and you're ready to decorate, add 100 grams of heavy cream to the set aside crème fraîche whipped cream and whip to soft peaks.
39 Take the cake out of the oven and remove the form, then place it on a piece of parchment paper on a cake stand. Remove the plastic wrap and pull each piece out from under the cake.
40 Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of the soft cream or pile with the soft cream and fresh strawberries.
41 Alternatively for a super clean classic look, use this Swiss meringue butter cream to frost the whole outside of the cake once frozen. Leave out the hazelnut butter and instead add in 150 grams of cold heavy cream and a bit more almond extract.
42 Store any leftovers of the cake in the fridge.