Real Fruits Strawberry Cake

I wanted to bake a pink cake – not the kind with cake mixes, gleatine, strawberry jelly etc, – that’s when I found this recipe. It was fantastic. Not too time-consuming yet interesting to work with. Instead of using the icing suggested in the website, I opted for a strawberry cream cheese frosting. After baking it in cupcake sizes, I now bake it in a 7-inch tin and sandwich them with the same frosting. I think I over-beat the cream cheese and hence resulted in a pretty grainy texture in the frosting and hence I decided not to frost the outer surface of the cake – and well, at the same time I do not wish for the frosting to overpower the taste of the cake itself.

Heeding the advice of the reviewers, I added baking powder and sifted the flour, hoping to incorporate more air into the batter. I’m not sure if that made a difference, but the resulting cake turns out to be fairly light yet still a little bit moist. Though the strawberry taste within the cake itself didn’t come out very strongly, I’m still contemplating whether I should use strawberry essence in my next try, as it’s kind of waste if I buy the essence just for this cake.

I don’t find major differences in using mashed or puréed strawberries. I guess if I’m baking cupcakes I would mash the strawberries instead of puréeing them – extra surprise bites of strawberries when one sinks his/her teeth into the cupcakes. If I’m baking a whole cake, I probably would slice whole strawberries and sandwich them in between the layers (which I did).

I applied a very very thin layer of frosting in between the layers as I’m not a very big sweet-tooth, hence I have leftover frosting which I freeze them. I’m sure they’ll come in handy when I’m frosting my future cupcakes! =)

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Real Fruits Strawberry Cake

Servings: 8 people

0.511.523

Makes: 7inch7 x 7inch round

INGREDIENTS

 

Cake

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 4 ounces salted butter, softened (or lightly salted)
• ▢ 3/4 cup caster sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 4 tablespoons strawberry yogurt
• ▢ 1 cup mashed/puréed strawberries, ~8-9 ounces
• ▢ A few drops of colouring, optional

Frosting

• ▢ 4 ounces cream cheese, slightly cold
• ▢ 2 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 3 cups – 3 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted
• ▢ 1/4 cups strawberries, mashed and drained (~2-3 ounces)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional

Assembly

• ▢ 10 strawberries, sliced thinly

INSTRUCTIONS

Cake

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease two 7-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter on low speed, then increase the speed to medium then gradually add in sugar till incorporated, 7 minutes. Add eggs, beating well after each addition for 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Stir in yogurt and mashed/puréed strawberries then fold in flour mixture. Add a few drops of colouring if desired.Divide mixture between the two tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when touched and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely.

Frosting

• Beat the cream cheese with butter on low for 30 seconds then gradually beat in icing sugar until incorporated. Beat in mashed strawberries and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat for 30 to 45 seconds, adding up to 1/4 cups of icing sugar till desired consistency and texture

Assembly

• Split each cake into half. Spread a layer of frosting over one cake half and lay a layer of strawberries. Repeat and cover the cake with a layer of frosting if desired.

NOTES

1. If baking the cake in cupcake-sizes, divide the batter into 1/4-cup-sizes and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top springs back when touched and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean.
2. Adapted from Jesse and Steve’s Fresh Strawberry Cake (link) from allrecipes

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