Strawberry Cake
As I mentioned in this post about this cake I created for my friend Sergey, I make it my mission to bake birthday cakes designed and tailored specifically to the requests of the friend or relative who is celebrating a birthday. It’s kind of a fun challenge for me, not to mention a great (delicious) homemade birthday gift. Over the years I have come up with recipes for a cookies and cream layer cake (for the 22nd birthday of my lovely college roommate), a chocolate peppermint cake (for my twin sister on our birthday) and a chocolate raspberry cheesecake (for my cousin Dylan) among others.
This cake recipe came about a few years back for my best friend Kelly’s birthday – she requested a (pink) strawberry layer cake for her birthday, a dessert that she had enjoyed often when she was little. While doing a little research for recipes on the internet however, I was disappointed to find that most recipes for strawberry cake rely on strawberry gelatin mixtures to get the pink color and strawberry flavor. While there is nothing wrong with a shortcut here and there, it doesn’t take much more effort to throw a bunch of strawberries in to a food processor to get the strawberry flavor and color and give the cake a more authentic strawberry flavor.
This cake is among the best I have ever made – it tastes exactly like a fresh strawberry, is moist and fluffy, and has a gorgeous color. It is also far easier to make than your average layer cake – just stir everything together in a bowl and you’re good to go, no beating the sugar or butter together before starting. I used a cream cheese frosting here to offset the sweetness of the strawberries, but a vanilla buttercream would probably be good too. And actually now that I’m typing this I bet a chocolate buttercream would be fantastic as well – chocolate covered strawberry cake! Keep this recipe in mind for any special occasion, especially Easter next week! This would be a very Spring-y addition to your meal. Enjoy everyone!
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STRAWBERRY CAKE
Recipe adapted from www.adashofsass.com. Serves 10-12.
Ingredients for the cake:
3 cups (390 grams) self-rising flour or 3 cups all purpose flour + 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (180mL) vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup (360mL) pureed strawberries
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, beaten
Red food coloring (optional)
Nonstick vegetable spray
All-purpose flour, for pans
Ingredients for the frosting:
1 (8 ounces or 224 grams) package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick (112 grams) of butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups (270 grams) powdered sugar
Extra strawberries, to decorate
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside. Alternatively, you could also forget making a layer cake and use this batter to fill a 9 inch square pan and a 12 cup cupcake tin like I did (more portable for work!)
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, pureed strawberries, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in the flour and salt, mixing everything until well combined. If you want the cake to be a brighter pink, feel free to add a drop or two of red food coloring and stir everything together until you achieve the right shade. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake the cakes for 25-28 minutes for a layer cake or square cake, 10-12 minutes for cupcakes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool completely and then invert them on to a wire rack. Prepare the cream cheese frosting. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, tasting as you go, until the frosting is to your liking in terms of sweetness (you may end up using less than 3 cups of frosting if you like your frosting less sweet). Frost the cake as desired, decorate with sliced strawberries if you’d like, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
