I love strawberries, and what’s more, I love strawberry jam; I think it’s the best way to eat them. Knowing this, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw that none of the strawberry and cream tart recipes I found online included strawberry jam: how could that be? Jam is an essential part of many cakes (for example, the Sacher torte), it deserves its place in the strawberry and cream recipe!
Well, lucky me that I make recipes for a living, and now there’s one online that includes jam. Actually, it has strawberry jam, macerated strawberries, and strawberry syrup.
And cream, of course—a special cream mixed with crème fraîche, which gives it an excellent, sophisticated touch. The tart is perfectly balanced; it’s not overly sweet, since most of the sweetness comes from the jam, and of course, it has a powerful strawberry flavor. And why wouldn’t it?
And yes, yes, yes, you can buy ready-made jam. But if you’ve never made it at home, I highly recommend it. It’s quite an experience.
Table of Contents
How to Make a Strawberry Tart With Cream Cake?
Preparation time
- Preparation: 1 hour
- Cooked: 1 hour
- Total: 2 hours
Springtime Genoa sponge cake with strawberries and cream
- Author: Miriam García
- Recipe type: Dessert
- Cuisine: International
- Servings: 8
Ingredients
Ingredients table
| Section | Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genoa sponge cake | Eggs | 6 | Room temperature recommended |
| Genoa sponge cake | Sugar | 240 g | Or equivalent amount of solid sweetener |
| Genoa sponge cake | Salt | 1 pinch | |
| Genoa sponge cake | All-purpose flour | 240 g | Sifted |
| Genoa sponge cake | Vanilla extract | 2 tsp | |
| Strawberry syrup | Water | 100 g | |
| Strawberry syrup | Sugar | 100 g | |
| Strawberry syrup | Chopped strawberries | 1 handful | For boiling, then strained |
| Strawberry filling | Whipping cream (min 35% fat) | 400 ml | |
| Strawberry filling | Freeze-dried ground strawberry | 1 tbsp | Optional |
| Strawberry filling | Strawberry pieces | To taste | Chopped |
| Strawberry filling | Powdered gelatin | 1 tsp | Hydrated |
| Strawberry filling | Kirsch or cold water | 2 tbsp | For hydrating gelatin |
| Coverage | Whipped cream | 150 g | |
| Coverage | Powdered gelatin | 1 tsp | Hydrated |
| Coverage | Whole strawberries | To taste | For decorating |
Instructions
Genoa sponge cake
- We preheat the oven to 180º with heat above and below, so that it is ready when we finish preparing the cake batter.
- Sift the flour and set aside.
- We prepared a 20 cm round cake tin, lining it well with baking paper on the bottom and sides.
- We’ll have the eggs at room temperature. We put them in a bowl with the sugar and salt, and whisk them at high speed for at least 10 minutes, until the mixture has become fluffy and is at the ribbon stage (when you lift the whisk, it runs like a ribbon that makes a pattern on the surface of the batter).
- When the eggs are cooked, add the flour, mixing very gently with folding motions, and the vanilla.
- Pour the prepared batter into the cake tin and bake for 20–25 minutes. Test for doneness with a skewer to ensure it’s cooked through. Remove from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes, then unmold and let it cool completely.
- When the cake is completely cold, cut it into three layers, using a cake leveler or a large, sharp knife.
Strawberry syrup
- Place the water and sugar in a saucepan along with the chopped strawberries and bring to a boil.
- Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Strain and discard the strawberries. Set aside.
Strawberry filling
- We take a handful of strawberries and chop them into fairly small pieces. We set them aside.
- We put the kirsch or water in a bowl and add the gelatin to hydrate it.
- We remove a little cream, heat it, and add the hydrated gelatin so that it dissolves. We let it cool slightly.
- We whip the cream until it is quite stiff; before reaching the final stiffness, we add the strawberry powder and the gelatin mixture.
- We transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag with a wide nozzle (or without a nozzle).
Assembling the strawberry and cream cake
- We cut a piece of cardboard the size of the cake to place underneath so we can move the cake as we please.
- We put the first layer of cake on top and brush it with strawberry syrup.
- We pipe half of the flavored whipped cream over the sponge cake.
- We add chopped strawberries to our liking.
- Place the second layer of sponge cake on top of the filling and press down so the cream fills any gaps. It’s best to use a large plate or something similar to rest on top of the sponge cake while pressing; this way the pressure is distributed evenly and the filling is more uniform.
- We soak this second layer of sponge cake with the strawberry syrup.
- We spread the second portion of filling and add a few more strawberries. We repeat the previous step.
- Once all the sponge cake layers are in place, we finally brush the top layer with syrup and put the cake in the refrigerator to allow the filling to firm up, for at least a couple of hours.
Coverage
- We proceed almost the same way as with the filling: we hydrate the gelatin in a couple of tablespoons of water and dissolve it in a splash of boiling cream. We let it cool.
- Whip the cream and add the cream with the gelatin when it’s almost fully whipped.
- Transfer the cream to a piping bag with a star nozzle and decorate the top of the cake. Put it in the fridge for a while so the cream firms up (I wasn’t patient and that’s why it looks a little crumbly…).
- We chose a few strawberries of a similar size, washed them, cut off the stems, and used them to decorate the cake. That’s it.
Video Guide 📺
Nutritional facts (estimated)
Note: The original text did not include nutrition values, so these are reasonable estimates for 1 slice (1/8 of cake) and will vary by ingredients used (cream fat %, sugar, jam amount, etc.).
Nutrition table (per serving)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | 430 kcal |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g |
| Sugars | 38 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Saturated fat | 12 g |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Sodium | 120 mg |
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
1) Where does the strawberry jam go?
This recipe already leans heavily into strawberry syrup and fresh strawberries, so jam works best in one of these simple ways:
- Spread a thin layer of strawberry jam on each sponge layer before piping the cream, or
- Swirl a few spoonfuls of jam into the cream very lightly (don’t overmix), or
- Add a jam layer under the top decoration for extra strawberry hit.
2) Can I skip kirsch?
Yes. The recipe already allows cold water instead of kirsch for hydrating gelatin, so you can keep it fully alcohol-free without changing the process.
3) Why add crème fraîche to the cream?
It gives the cream a slightly tangy, more “grown-up” taste and helps the dessert feel less sweet. If you don’t have it, you can still make the cake with whipped cream, but the flavor will be a bit simpler.
4) My cream looks soft—what happened?
Most often:
- The cream wasn’t cold enough,
- The gelatin mixture was too warm when added, or
- The cake didn’t chill long enough.
Give it extra fridge time and keep the cream bowl/chill tools cold next time.
5) Can I make it ahead?
Yes—this cake actually benefits from chilling. Make it the night before and decorate the top closer to serving for the freshest look.
Conclusion
This strawberry and cream tart-style cake is all about real strawberry flavor: syrup-soaked sponge, a strawberry-forward cream filling, and plenty of berries.
And if you’re like me and believe strawberry jam belongs in this kind of dessert, it fits right in—bringing most of the sweetness and that classic, deep strawberry taste that makes every bite feel complete.
