Strawberry Cake

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Strawberry cakes are a Southern cake staple. However, almost every recipe I've found are made with a cake mix and strawberry flavored jello. I have been looking for strawberry cake recipe that's made from scratch,for quite sometime. I was thrilled when I found this recipe by I Made That using pureed strawberries in the batter. No cake mix or jello required! 

A couple of weeks ago, I was drooling over the keyboard browsing King Arthur's website, and came across a product they sell called cake enhancer. It's supposed to make cakes, and other baked goods, lighter, fluffier, and last longer. It can be used in almost any type of baked good from cakes to bread. I was intrigued and ordered a box to try. I decided to use it in this cake and see what happened. My cake did have a really nice light fluffy (almost box mix like) texture. I can't wait to use the cake enhancer in some of my other recipes. 
Cake enhancer was not in the original recipe so don't feel that you need to have it to make this cake. 

Strawberry Cake
Source: I Made That, ( slightly adapted)
PRINTABLE RECIPE

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 Tablespoons King Arthur cake enhancer (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

1/2 cup butter (one stick), room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup pureed strawberries (put berries in the food processor or blender to puree)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9" (or three 8") cake pans with rounds of parchment and butter well or spray with a non stick baking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cake enhancer, if using. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and almond extract. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until it forms a paste like texture.  Scrape the bowl down well, and gradually add the eggs in a slow stream, beating  for about 1 minute at medium speed. Gradually add the buttermilk mixture. Mix for 1 minute at medium speed. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in the pureed strawberries and the lemon zest.

Divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans and bake 20-25 minutes or until the cakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Allow the cakes to cool before removing from the pan.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
source: Recipe.com

8-ounces cream cheese

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 Tablespoons strawberry preserves

1  teaspoon vanilla extract 

4  cups confectioners' sugar

1  pinch salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed  until smooth. Add strawberry preserves and vanilla, beat until combined. Add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat at medium/low speed until the sugar is combined and the icing is smooth. If necessary, add in a little milk to get a smooth consistency. 

Strawberry Roulade

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Like most families, our holiday traditions revolve are food. That's especially true for Easter in our family. We have pretty much the same menu from year to year. The same was true this year. We had our annual Easter lunch at the farm on Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day. My contribution to the meal was this Strawberry Roulade. It was delicious, very light, a perfect Spring dessert. The cake is a light sponge cake filled with a mascarpone whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It's kind of like a rolled up strawberry shortcake.

If you've never made a roulade before don't be intimidated by the process. It can be a little nerve racking to roll up a cake in a towel, but it's easier than it looks.  

Strawberry Roulade
Source: TheBakingPan.com (adapted) 


Printable recipe

For the Cake:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare one 10½ x15½ x1 inch Jelly Roll pan; lightly grease the pan or spray with baking spray, line with parchment paper, and then lightly spray with baking spray.

Sprinkle a clean towel with 1/4 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar. Set aside to use after the cake is baked. A small kitchen towel that is a little larger than the 15x10 inch pan works well.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add the egg yolks and beat 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed until the egg yolk foam becomes thick and lemon colored. With the mixer on medium speed, VERY slowly add 1/2 cup of the sugar to the eggs, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 2 to 3 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the eggs and sugar are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick and a pale yellow color. Add the water and vanilla and continue mixing for another 1 minute until well blended.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add about 1/2 of the flour mixture, mix just until blended, and then add the remaining half, mix just until blended, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed.
In another large mixing bowl and using clean beaters, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar; continue beating until stiff peaks form. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, gently fold about 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten the batter, and then fold the remaining egg whites in.

Bake:
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon or large offset spatula. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven, immediately loosen edges of cake from pan and turn the cake over onto the prepared towel. Carefully peel off the parchment paper, and then roll the cake and towel together tightly, starting with the narrow end. Place seam side down on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Filling:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
1/2 cup mascarpone
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup of powdered sugar
Sliced strawberries (about 1 1/2 cup)
*(1/2 cup Strawberry Jam, optional)

To make the filling, whip together the mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.

Assembly:

Carefully unroll cooled cake but don’t try to make the cake lie completely flat, the edge should remain curled so that the cake doesn’t split.


Spread whipped cream over the cake and under the curled edge and leaving a 1 1/2 inch border on the far side. Sprinkle strawberries over the whipped cream. Gently re-roll the cake without the towel, starting with the curled end. Place seam side down on a serving plate. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Dust with additional powdered sugar if desired.

*Note: The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of strawberry jam spread over the cake before spreading on the whipped cream. I didn't have strawberry jam so I left it out but the jam would add a bit more strawberry flavor to the cake so I think I'll add it next time I make this.

A great dessert to impress your friends with!