Ghibli Week 5: The Cat Returns Strawberry Shortcake and Fish Crackers

This post we travel to a feline kingdom where nothing is what it seems, and it's one of the first Ghibli movies I watched. The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し) was released in 2002 and astute viewers might recognise The Baron from another Ghibli movie, Whisper of the Heart. I've decided to make two things from this movie: the cake that Muta eats in the palace and the fish crackers that Haru eats then gives to the stray cat!

Fishy fishy fishy fish

(source) They're little fish!! So much fish!

No, it's not the cake with the fish on top although I kind of wish it was

Perfect for summer strawberry season!

In a movie that's centered around cats, it's only to be expected that there's a lot of fish! To be more accurate, the cake should probably contain dark fleshed fish like tuna or something, and the pink cream should probably be salmon mousse but that's approaching Heston-esque levels of experimentation and I'm not quite ready to make that jump yet. So I decided: strawberry shortcake. There's two types of strawberry shortcake that I know of; one uses buttery shortbread whilst the other uses chiffon-soft spongecake. Following the screenshot, I went with the sponge version. The recipe is pretty simple and the only problem I found was that the sponge was a bit dry, but I think that could be fixed by brushing it with syrup like a genoise. Keep in mind that the eggs and sugar need to be beaten until thick and creamy and pale because the volume of the sponge comes from the amount of air being beaten in. (science disclaimer: information from Wikipedia; and in the distance you can hear the screams of horrified tutors, lecturers and teachers)

Super simple 

Eggs and sugar into a bowl then...

It gets quite creamy and pale after ~5 mins or so of beating

See those drips? That's a 'ribbon'

No need to bang it on the table to get rid of the air

It expands a lot so make sure your pan's big enough!

The filling's what I'm going to call 'time-sensitive' because I decided to stabilise the cream with gelatin and the first time I did it, I left the cream standing too long and it solidified completely and I couldn't spread it at all. This prompted a quick run to the store to grab more cream, so you'll have to work quickly but if you're not going to stabilise it then there's no need to worry! By stabilising the cream with gelatin, it makes it easier to transport, especially in hot weather. It also prevents the cream from 'weeping' where the cream separates and water leaks out. To make the filling pink, I used some red food colouring and stirred in strawberry jam for extra flavour. 

To assemble the cake I used the screenshot as a guide, so first cut the sponge into two even halves. I was lazy and eyeballed it, but you can get better results by using the toothpick method I covered in my Gateau Opera post! After you've done that, spread the bottom half with half of the pink cream and layer the sliced strawberries on top (you may have to push them into the cream slightly). Next, cover the strawberries with the rest of the pink cream and even out the top so it's flat, then transfer the other half on top. Spread that half with the remaining cream and decorate with the hulled strawberries. Easy pie! 

By this time, the filling had already started to set!

I made the mistake of putting the strawberries on BEFORE I cut the sides square, whoops.

The gelatin makes the filling almost pudding like.

With the crackers, at first I thought of using store bought crackers like Dixie Drumsticks because they're kind of shaped like fish but, once again I made my life more difficult and made my own. The crackers, or rather savoury shortbread, should probably be fish flavoured, but fish crackers are something very different to me (they're like prawn crackers except they taste like fish) so I went with a recipe I've followed before for cheese cookies!

Also please, please, please do not feed these crackers to your pets, they're not meant for animal consumption even if they are shaped like adorable fish. I tried to find a fish shaped cookie cutter which you'd think would be easy enough, but no one sells them. I went to four different stores and turned out empty handed, and the online search produced cookie cutters that weren't the exact shape I wanted. I think you can make your own cookie cutters using a soft drink can, but, once again, I was lazy so I used a small knife to cut the shapes. The eyes were made using the thicker end of a chopstick (round, not the disposable flat ones) and I made the gills with the thinner end by making a kind of curved indent. If you're having trouble rolling the dough out, then I suggest sticking it in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes just to firm it up. I also put them back into the fridge after I did the detailing for about 5 minutes just to make sure that when I baked them, I wouldn't lose all my hard work. 

Buttery and cheesy

Don't roll it too flat or you might have trouble getting them onto the baking tray!

Freehand cutting awwwh yeeaaaaah but no seriously, if you have trouble, make a template out of paper and cut around that for a more uniform appearance

As you can see...not as uniform as I thought they were

Strawberry sponge cake (adapted from the back of a Nurses Cornflour box)

Makes 1 ~20cm square sponge cake

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Sponge:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 C caster sugar
• 3/4 C cornflour
• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Filling:

• 300mL whipping cream (200mL for the strawberry filling, 100mL for the top layer)
• 250g punnet of strawberries (try to get ones that are all the same size) 
• Red food colouring
• 2-3 Tbs strawberry jam
• 1-2 Tbs icing sugar
• Gelatin (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180'C (160'C fan forced) and grease and line a 20 cm square cake tin.
2. Beat the eggs, vanilla and sugar together until thick and pale and when the beaters are lifted, a ribbon of batter forms.
3. Mix the cornflour, the plain flour, baking powder and salt together, then sift into the egg mixture.
4. Fold the flour in with a spoon until all combined then pour into the prepared cake tin.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and lightly browned. 
6. Leave to cool in the baking tin for ~10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the filling:

1. Measure out 200mL of whipping cream for the filling and add enough red food colouring to make it your desired shade of pink (I used about 5 drops). 
2. Whip into soft peaks and stir the jam through. Use as is or follow on for a stabilised filling:
3. Sprinkle 2Tbs of gelatin powder into ~50mL of water in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes until the gelatin has absorbed all the water. 
4. Place the bowl into hot water and stand for ~5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gelatin has melted and the mixture's completely liquid.
5. Just before you spread the filling, quickly pour roughly two thirds of the gelatin mixture into the whipped cream and stir until all combined. 

To make the top layer:

1. Measure out 100mL of whipping cream and add the sugar. Whip into soft peaks.
2. Use as is or follow on for stabilised filling: 
3. When you're ready to spread the top layer, quickly pour the last third of the gelatin mixture into the whipped cream and stir until all combined. 

To assemble the cake:

1. Wash and hull the strawberries, then set aside enough whole strawberries to line the top of the cake. Slice the rest of the strawberries into half and set aside. 
2. Slice the cooled cake into half horizontally and spread the bottom half with half of the strawberry filling.
3. Arrange the sliced strawberries on the filling, then spread the rest of the filling on top. 
4. Place the other half of the cake on top then spread that with the rest of the cream to form the top layer.
5. Cut sides with a (preferably) serrated knife so that all sides are square and evened.
6. Arrange the whole strawberries on top and your cake is ready to serve straight away or put into the fridge until needed. 

Cheese cookies (recipe adapted from bits-of-taste)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 1C plain flour
• 75g butter, cubed
• 75g cheddar cheese

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220'C (200'C fan forced) and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the cheese.
3. Knead mixture together until a soft dough forms. 
4. Roll out mixture on a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Place onto prepared tray about 2cm apart then refrigerate for ~5-10 minutes. 
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned; optional: turn down the temperature to 200'C (180'C fan forced) and bake for another 5-10 minutes until a golden brown, crisper cookie. 

Happy slothing!

xx