Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

Strawberry Cream Puff Cake
From My Kitchen Cafe

Cream Puff Base
5 Tbs. butter
2/3 cup water
1 Tbs. sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 eggs

Cream Cheese Mixture
 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. fresh orange zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions
For the cream puff layer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture is shiny with a satiny sheen.  Don't overbeat.  Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (or in a pinch, you could use a 9-inch circle cake pan).  Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and one inch up the side of the prepared pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and prick pastry with a toothpick 10-12 times.  Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until golden brown but not overbaked (you can insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out with sticky dough, it still needs longer in the oven).  Cool completely.

For the cream cheese mixture, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you want to ensure there are no lumps, sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese) and beat with the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth and light.  Add the remaining ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form.  Spread onto the cooled cream puff shell.

Top with fresh sliced strawberries (I mix 2 cups of strawberries with 1 teaspoon sugar and let them hang out in the fridge while I was prepping the cake) or you can use a 16 oz. bag of frozen strawberries that have been thawed.   Mix the thawed strawberries in juice with 1-2 tsp. sugar and bring to a simmer in a saucepan.  Cook until slightly thickened.  Cool completely and use as topping for the cake.