Strawberries-and-Cream Stack Cake

It’s my favorite son-in-law’s birthday today, and as Ryan loves strawberries this recipe in Martha Stewart’s Living magazine caught my eye. What’s not to like about a tower of ladyfingers dipped in a melted sugar caramel, stacked with sliced strawberries and cream? The magazine dubbed it “Tiramisu’s enchanting summery sister” and it makes quite an impressive presentation. (Got a couple of “wow’s from the grandsons).

I made one mistake right out of the blocks. There were two brands of ladyfingers available in my market, and I chose the more charming brand from France. The recipe calls for 2 7-ounce packages, and when I opened them I found they were miniature ladyfingers! I had 60 instead of 30 to be individually dipped in the melted sugar syrup! Too late to do anything but proceed and it truly didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I’ve included both the picture from the magazine -what YOUR’S will look like- and mine which appears enormous but overkill is fine for a birthday. The dessert sets while it rests overnight in the refrigerator and has the texture of a sponge cake without any baking.

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest, plus 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

8 ounces mascarpone

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

Pinch of sea or Kosher salt

30 ladyfingers (from 2 7-ounce packages) HA! Read the label!

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced, plus more halved or whole strawberries for decorating (optional)

Combine granulated sugar and 3 Tbs. water in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; continue boiling, covered, until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Uncover and continue boiling, swirling pan gently as color develops at edges of pan, until sugar turns medium amber and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat; careful add lemon zest and juice and 1/4 cup cold water (add water all at once and pull hand away immediately; mixture will splatter and steam.) Stir until smooth; if necessary, return pan to low heat to liquefy completely. Transfer to a heatproof bowl; let cool until slightly warm to the touch, about 30 minutes.

Whisk mascarpone, cream, confectioners sugar, and salt on medium high speed to stiff peaks. Working one at a time, dip 10 ladyfingers in caramel, turning to fully coat and allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Spread a very thin layer of cream mixture on the bottom of each dipped ladyfinger (to prevent sliding); arrange on a platter in a snug row. Dollop one-third of remaining cream mixture on top; spread to edges in an even layer. Top with one-third of the strawberries in a single layer. Repeat dipping and layering twice more (skip the thin layer of cream on the bottom of cookies for the remaining layers.) Cover loosely but fully and refrigerate at least 24 hours and up to two days. Top with more halved or whole berries. To serve, slice between each row of ladyfingers. Serves 10.