Torta di Pan di Spagna con Chantilly e Fragole
Layers of plain sponge cake filled with crema chantilly and fresh strawberries, more piled generously on top. The simplest possible use of pan di spagna, and one of my own favorites among everything built on it.
Of everything on the guide to pan di spagna cakes, this is the one I'd reach for first. No naspro glaze, no almond paste, no chocolate sprinkles — just pan di spagna, split and layered with crema chantilly, and strawberries doing all the work of flavor and color. It's the least engineered cake in the family, and that's exactly the appeal.
A note on the name: what fills this cake is pastry cream folded together with whipped cream — technically crema diplomatica, though "chantilly" is what most Neapolitan pasticcerie call it too, and what this family has always called it. See the guide to the creams for the full distinction. Whatever it's called, it's lighter than crema pasticcera alone but still rich enough to hold its shape between layers. Strawberries go both inside, cut into the cream, and over the top, whole or halved, so every slice shows the same red-and-cream cross-section.
The plainest cake in the whole family — sponge, cream, strawberries, nothing engineered about it — and still the one I go back to most.
The recipe
For one 22–24 cm cake, serving 8–10.
Torta di Pan di Spagna con Chantilly e Fragole — layered sponge, chantilly cream, fresh strawberries. Click to enlarge.
1 batchPan di spagna, baked in a 22-24cm round
300 mlCrema pasticcera, chilled
300 mlFresh cream, whipped
500 gFresh strawberries, hulled
50 mlLimoncello or light syrup, for soaking
To finishPowdered sugar, optional
1
Slice the pan di spagna horizontally into two or three layers.
2
Fold the whipped cream gently into the chilled crema pasticcera to make the chantilly.
3
Slice most of the strawberries, reserving some whole or halved for the top.
4
Brush each sponge layer with limoncello or syrup. Spread a layer of chantilly over the bottom sponge, scatter with sliced strawberries, and repeat with the remaining layers.
5
Finish the top layer with a generous spread of chantilly and pile the reserved strawberries over the surface.
Chill at least an hour before slicing so the layers set. Dust with powdered sugar if you like, but the strawberries don't really need it.
Related
Pan di Spagna nella Tradizione Napoletana
Every sponge cake in this family, side by side. See
the full guide.
Torta Mimosa
The same chantilly filling, built into a completely different shape. See
the full recipe.
Buon appetito.
