My Midsummer's strawberry cake

In mid-June, school is out in Sweden and nature has burst into life. It seems like the sun never sets. In fact, in the north it doesn’t, and in the south only for an hour or two. This calls for celebration, Swedes call it Midsummer! No Swedish midsummer celebration is complete without pickled herring, called "sill" in Swedish, and boiled potatoes with dill. The potatoes are most often new potatoes, freshly harvested potatoes that are smaller than their older counterparts. You can go wild with the pickled herring, putting out several varieties on the table. Make sure there’s a bowl of crème fraîche or sour cream with chopped chives to go with.

The essentials of a midsummer dessert are easy, strawberries and whipped cream.

That’s my cake which is called "jordgubbstårta" in Swedish. Sponge cake stuffed with cream and strawberry jam , topped with fresh strawberries & whipped cream.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup milk

½ cup butter

Here's how to make it:

-Separate egg yolks from whites.

-In a deep bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed for almost 10 minutes till you have a fluffy foam.

-In another bowl, mix the egg yolks with the butter and milk, then start adding the flour gradually.

-Gently mix all the ingredients together using a spatula till it gets all combined and create a soft batter.

-Bake it using a water bath in preheated oven at 180C for 25 minutes.

-Let cool and cut the cake from the middle.

-Spread whipped cream, strawberries and jam in the middle of the cake.

-Cover and top it with whipped cream and decorate with fresh strawberries.