i’ve never thought of pairing star anise and strawberry.
i curse all the time when assembling layer cakes, even when they come out well. i mean, i curse all the time anyway, but it’s *wose* if i happen to be assembling a layer cake.
I am thinking of making this cake, but wondering if you found the star anise flavor to be very present or not. I’m not particularly fond of the flavor (esp. if it dominates), so I am wondering what you think about leaving it out?
Hi Julie: It is pretty subtle, especially once a part of the finished cake. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to leave it out, but I also think it won’t be as good without it. Let me know how it goes!
The cake was a big hit. the anise flavor was not overwhelming at all, so I’m glad I included it. The icing was insanely good, btw did you mix some of the coulis in to make it pink? Unfortunately, I screwed something up with the cake portion, they were flat and dense. I think I didn’t whip the egg whites enough (should they be whipped until peaks?)
Despite my errors, the end result was a big hit at the baby shower!
I started off thinking I could do it with the coulis but ended up adding some red food coloring. I would just go with the food coloring because the coulis makes the frosting a little lumpy. Happy baking!
The cake looks gorgeous, there’s something about tall cakes looking more special.
I would love to make this for my sister’s birthday lunch. I was wondering how much of this can I do in advance without requiring me to refrigerate the cake? My fridge is small
I’ve only one round cake tin, and one large rectangular tin. Any advice?
Hi Tian,
You can definitely make the coulis and the icing a day or so in advance (let the icing come to room temp to make it spreadable again)– but they would need to be refrigerated. I don’t know how to solve the cake tin issue. If the rectangular tin is quite large, you could cut it in thirds and stack them. ?? Good luck!
Just made this for a friend’s birthday brunch this Sunday. I ate some of the trimmings with a bit of the coulis and frosting and, oh my, this cake is pure heaven. Strawberry-licious!
I made this yesterday – awesome! But you’re right — frosting over the coulis was definitely a challenge. So much so that I took a different approach with the second layer. I piped a cream cheese frosting border/dam along the perimeter of the cake then spread the coulis inside. Then I just placed the top layer over it. Much easier, neater, and less cursing!
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Hayley says:
December 27th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Beautiful, love the pink!
Sarah says:
December 27th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
mmmmm. best cake ever. redux for happy returns from thailand/work engagement party?
maggie says:
December 28th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Wow, I’m impressed. Quite a cake!
michelle @ TNS says:
December 29th, 2008 at 11:51 am
i’ve never thought of pairing star anise and strawberry.
i curse all the time when assembling layer cakes, even when they come out well. i mean, i curse all the time anyway, but it’s *wose* if i happen to be assembling a layer cake.
Heather J says:
December 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Okay, now I am so proud! I could have stumbled upon you out in foodie land and never known it was you!
ingrid says:
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Looks wonderful. I have that book but have yet to try any of the recipes.
Happy 2009!
~ingrid
julie says:
January 18th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I am thinking of making this cake, but wondering if you found the star anise flavor to be very present or not. I’m not particularly fond of the flavor (esp. if it dominates), so I am wondering what you think about leaving it out?
Tim says:
January 18th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Hi Julie: It is pretty subtle, especially once a part of the finished cake. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to leave it out, but I also think it won’t be as good without it. Let me know how it goes!
Julie says:
January 25th, 2009 at 10:04 am
The cake was a big hit. the anise flavor was not overwhelming at all, so I’m glad I included it. The icing was insanely good, btw did you mix some of the coulis in to make it pink? Unfortunately, I screwed something up with the cake portion, they were flat and dense. I think I didn’t whip the egg whites enough (should they be whipped until peaks?)
Despite my errors, the end result was a big hit at the baby shower!
A Rockridge Life says:
October 15th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hi there, I’m thinking of making this for a friend’s birthday. Julie asked how you colored your frosting. Did you add some coulis?
Tim says:
October 16th, 2009 at 6:00 am
I started off thinking I could do it with the coulis but ended up adding some red food coloring. I would just go with the food coloring because the coulis makes the frosting a little lumpy. Happy baking!
A Rockridge Life says:
October 16th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Thanks for the clarification!
Tian says:
March 6th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Hi Tim,
The cake looks gorgeous, there’s something about tall cakes looking more special.
I would love to make this for my sister’s birthday lunch. I was wondering how much of this can I do in advance without requiring me to refrigerate the cake? My fridge is small
I’ve only one round cake tin, and one large rectangular tin. Any advice?
Thanks!
Tim says:
March 6th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Hi Tian,
You can definitely make the coulis and the icing a day or so in advance (let the icing come to room temp to make it spreadable again)– but they would need to be refrigerated. I don’t know how to solve the cake tin issue. If the rectangular tin is quite large, you could cut it in thirds and stack them. ?? Good luck!
Ricardo says:
March 27th, 2011 at 12:12 am
Just made this for a friend’s birthday brunch this Sunday. I ate some of the trimmings with a bit of the coulis and frosting and, oh my, this cake is pure heaven. Strawberry-licious!
TC says:
June 8th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
I made this yesterday – awesome! But you’re right — frosting over the coulis was definitely a challenge. So much so that I took a different approach with the second layer. I piped a cream cheese frosting border/dam along the perimeter of the cake then spread the coulis inside. Then I just placed the top layer over it. Much easier, neater, and less cursing!