Strawberries Are In Season!

And I couldn’t be more excited about it!

I recently posted that my next baking adventure would be hazelnut coffee cupcakes.  Last Thursday night I headed to Central Market to pick up some semi-sweet chips and Rogue Hazelnut beer to modify my chocolate stout cake recipe.  I have a pattern to my Central Market shopping – I simply cannot skip the produce section.  Even if I’m just running in for some milk or eggs, I always walk through the produce section through the meats fish and cheese to get to the center of the store.  It’s a compulsion, I just have to see the pretty fresh food.  This time I’m really glad I did because strawberries were at a really great price point.  I picked up 2 lbs in addition to my supplies for the hazelnut coffee cupcakes.

Then the May issue of Cooking Light hit my mailbox on Friday morning and I was super excited by the recipe for strawberry layer cake. So I scraped my plans for the coffee cupcakes and proceeded to make this delightful dessert….

I was too impatient to let the icing set up, so it’s a bit runny.  That didn’t affect the yum factor at all though.

The strawberry puree makes the texture of this cake incredibly moist and dense.  I miss it!  The power of the “bake and take” is that you aren’t tempted to keep eating homemade goodies, but the downside of the “bake and take” is you only get one serving.  Le sigh.

Ingredients

CAKE:
2 cups sliced strawberries
10 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butte, softened
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup  low-fat buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
?FROSTING:
1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/3 cup butte, softened
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (orange-flavored liqueur)
3 cups powdered sugar
12 whole strawberries (optional)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cake, place sliced strawberries in a food processor; process until smooth.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in egg whites. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add pureed strawberries and food coloring; beat just until blended.
4. Divide batter between 2 (8-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
5. To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 1/3 cup butter, and liqueur in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat just until blended.
6. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Cut 1 whole strawberry into thin slices, cutting to, but not through, the stem end. Fan strawberry on top of cake just before serving, if desired. Cut remaining 11 strawberries in half. Garnish cake with strawberry halves, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 348
Fat: 11.3g (sat 6.9g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.6g)
Protein:
4.3g
Carbohydrate: 57.7g
Fiber: 0.7g
Cholesterol: 55mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 212mg
Calcium: 74mg

Tagged as: baking