I have a friend who calls cakes which have too much going on, “fufu cakes.” You know the kind which are all gooey, chocolatey, with all kinds of mousse inside but there is no cake in it really? Simply put, the sponge is lacking and when you take a bite, your teeth and tongue just glide through the entire cake. It is basically like eating a smoothie. It is delicious no doubt but it is not the real deal, in my opinion. So, when it comes to birthdays and such at home we make sure we have the real deal. And hence this strawberry compote aka strawberry filling happened. We are a family of five, so I bake at least 4 cakes every year (I always get a store bought one for mine and I absolutely love the Signature Mille Crepe Cakes from Lady M and the Mango Cake from COVA Pasticceria). The kids usually ask for something chocolate so almost all kinds of chocolate cakes and cupcakes have happened including red velvet and the latter with some cream cheese frosting remains our family favourite.

This time however I decided to go with a simple butter vanilla sheet cake layered with my youngest’s favourite fruit filling-strawberry. And because everything was home made, the strawberry compote had to be made at home too. And considering how easy it is to make , getting a store bought filling sounded criminal. I had some gorgeous fresh strawberries in the refrigerator , so in they went to a saucepan with a dash of butter and brown sugar on a low flame , then were spiked with some lime juice, thickened with corn starch and cooked until the berries turned soft and mushy.

I let it cool before spreading it over the cake of course. The sweet tangy flavour of the strawberry compote went so well with the cake and also kept the layers moist without having to add any sugar syrup or frosting in between. I highly recommend this strawberry filling to take a basic vanilla cake to the next level.

So, here is a quick and simple recipe:

Ingredients 

1. Fresh or frozen strawberries- 2.5 cups; if using fresh, wash well, remove the green stem and chop fine; if using frozen no need to thaw, add frozen berries straight to the pan
2. Butter- 1tbsp
3. Brown sugar – 2 tbsp or as per taste
4. Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
5. Corn starch – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pan and reduce heat
2. Add chopped strawberries along with brown sugar and cook till sugar dissolves
3. Add lemon juice and continue to stir and cook on a low flame for another minute or so
4. Add corn starch and mix well; cook for 5 minutes on a very low flame with intermittent stirring till the compote thickens in consistency. It will thicken further on cooling so make sure to leave it a little watery
5. Taste and adjust sweetness
6. Take it off heat and using a potato masher, mash it to a smoother consistency
7. Cool and transfer to an air tight container, refrigerate and use within 2-3 days

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