Maria Biscuit Strawberry Fridge Cake

A friend posted on her Egeedee food blog how to make a Strawberry Marie Biscuit Cake, and it was the perfect thing for me to see: I'd just bought two pounds of organic strawberries and wanted to utilize them before they spoiled. Strawberries are in season here in the Pacific Northwest, and each grocery store within a 5-mile radius from me seems to be having a sale on them.

Egeedee's Strawberry Marie Biscuit Cake recipe calls for not just strawberries and biscuits, but cream cheese (or mascarpone), powderered sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract, with some Pocky and sprinkles for optional garnish. During my lunch break, I went to 99 Ranch for the Marie biscuits and other snacks.

At the store, I saw two kinds of Marie biscuits: Maria ones from Spain and premier Marie ones from Indonesia. Considering how Spain made them popular in the first place, and that the biscuits I had as a kid were from Spain (but imported to Guam by way of the Philippines), I went with Maria. Marie biscuits are in many parts of the world the equivalent to the Oreo cookie. You've probably had them before but just didn't notice them. They're plain-looking circles with a patterned ring around the name Marie (or Maria). People have them with tea or milk.

At home, I started prepping and followed Egeedee's instructions, nearly liquefying the strawberries with my little food processor and then, using my electric hand mixer, blending them in with the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract till I got a strawberry cream. I tried to get medium-stiff peaks to form, that didn't exactly happen, but it worked out anyway. I slathered the strawberry cream with my spatula onto each circular biscuit till rows were formed, then layers, until I made 5 layers. I'm glad I got two packages of biscuits because I would have run out! I then quartered some strawberries to put in the spaces while filling them with extra strawberry cream. Then I covered the Pyrex and let it cool in the refrigerator.

Several hours later, I take the cake back out to garnish. I decided not to sugar the strawberries since they are already naturally sweet. Instead, I sliced them thinly and spread them on the surface as garnish, along with intentionally broken pieces of strawberry Pocky and Imei Strawberry Puffs, which are miniature snack creme puffs from Taiwan. I love seeing all this nostalgia on a cake that I didn't have to bake!

Top: Strawberry base
Center: Base, powdered sugar, cream cheese thawed
Bottom: Strawberry cream

I have yet to dig in for a piece because it still has to incubate, ready to be fully enjoyed over the weekend. However, I took a small corner bite earlier and it is pretty tasty! It's not too sweet, the biscuits are light and complementary in flavor and texture and yes, it all tastes like strawberries.

All the things