baking

Strawberry Cake


Have you ever invented a cake?

Not discovered.

Invented.

No?

Me neither.

Just until last week when I was sitting in my kitchen munching on my two all-time favorite delights – a bundt cake and a strawberry smoothie.

And that was when it happened.

That was when the idea struck me…

“What if… ?”

“What if I merged these two things so that they become one somehow?”

“What if it was possible?”

And right then – at that very precious moment – this strawberry cake was born.

I think my life is complete now.


These are the lovely ingredients that I used.

And these are canned strawberries.

I love the way they look and the way they taste.

It’s unbelievable how great the relationship between strawberries and light sugar syrup can become.

Yum!

Of course, you can use fresh strawberries, if you prefer those.

1. Throw the strawberries into the blender.
2. Add the cream cheese and the sugar (1 cup – 115 grams confectioner’s) and let all these ingredients dance around in perfect, happy and devoted harmony.

Sorry.

I got carried away for awhile.

What I mean is that you blend them together.

3. Then, in a separate bowl, whip the cream.
4. Pour the strawberry mixture into the whipped cream…

… and fold lightly.

(I used just half the amount of whipped cream I should have. So when you make this cake, your frosting will be much firmer.)
5. Place this heavenly frosting into the fridge for at least 1 hour.

The mixture will get firmer and much easier to work with.

6. Meanwhile, we can prepare the cake batter.

Start by placing two medium bowls in front of you.

Separate the eggs (the egg yolks into one bowl and the egg whites into the other).

7. This is the bowl with the egg yolks.

Pour in the sugar (1 1/4 cup – 250 grams) and the vegetable oil.

8. Combine the ingredients a little with a rubber spatula.
9. After that, mix with a hand mixer for about 3-5 minutes.

10. Then let the milk join the party and mix for another 3 minutes.

The oil and the milk will make the batter wonderfully moist.

And that is a great advantage in the world of cakes.

Many cakes would envy this one its gorgeous structure.

They might be writing their tiny petitions right now.

11. Add the flour and mix shortly.

12. Add the baking powder and give it all one short mix again.

13. Then, redirect your attention to the bowl containing the egg whites.

Whip them and fold them lightly into the yellow, egg-yolk mixture.

14. And here we go – the greased and floured 9-inch (23 cm) spring-form pan meets the heavenly batter.

They like each other.

I can tell by the first look.

15. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean).

Hello baby.

I like you.

Very much.

16. Place the cake (still in the pan) onto a cooling rack and let cool for about 30 minutes.
17. Then remove it from the pan and – AND (!) this is a great trick which keeps amazing me time after time – INVERT the cake.

If you’ve  ever wondered – like I did for majority of my life – how some cakes can be so perfectly even on top, then this how (or at least one of the ways how).

Just try it.

You’ll be truly amazed.
18. Let the cake cool completely (this is very important – otherwise the heat could melt the frosting).
19. Using a knife, cut the cake into three layers.

20. Place one layer onto a serving platter.
21. Spread the cake layer with a layer of frosting.
22. Place another layer on top of the frosting and continue to frost and stack the cake layers.

23. Frost the top and the sides of the cake and garnish it with some strawberries.

Then cut one slice, close your eyes and enjoy a very special, overwhelming experience.

And this is the end of the love story called ‘How Bundt Cake met Smoothie’.

It is a very happy story.

(This cake should be stored in the fridge.)

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Cherry Pie …And A GIVEAWAY!

Let me introduce my new most favorite pie to you:

The cherry pie – My dear readers,

My dear readers – The cherry pie!

This might possibly be the most delicious pie on the face of the Earth.

Or, even better – in the universe.

And if there is a multiverse, then there too.

I got amazed by how scrumptiously such a simple pie can taste.

Absolutely yummy and finger-lickin’ (or in more civilized households – fork-lickin’).

But in our household it’s definitely something between finger-lickin’ and plate-lickin’.

Well, welcome to my world.

And now something about the GIVEAWAY…

Because I think that kitchen gadgets of any kind are the next best thing (right after the cherry pie) I’ve prepared this cute giveaway for you.

It’s a CHERRY PITTER.

And it’s simply awesome.
TO ENTER (Contest closed. Thank you.)

To enter this giveaway, just answer the following question in the ‘Comments section’ of this post:

“What is you favorite dessert?”
THE RULES

  • One entry per person, please.

Additional entries:

  • Twitter (follow ZoomYummy and tweet the link of this post; leave a note about it in the comment section of this post),
  • Facebook (fan ZoomYummy and share the link of this post; leave a note about it in the comment section of this post).

(So together you can have three entries.)

Winner will be selected at random and announced on Thursday (June 10).
Good luck, everybody!

(Contest closed. Thank you.)

 

And now, back to the cherry pie…

These are the ingredients.

So simple.

1. To make the crust, place the flour, butter, sugar, salt and water into the bowl of your electric mixer.

2. Mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Then work with your hands until the dough comes together and you’ve formed a nice, compact ball.

4. Place the dough into a bowl, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

5. Meanwhile, we can prepare the cherry filling.

In a saucepan, cook the cherries in water for 10 minutes.

6. Mix together the sugar and cornstarch and add to cherries.

(There’s this thing you should really know about me. I have the shortest attention span of all the human beings that have ever lived on this planet. So here I go – taking a picture of one tablespoon cornstarch being added to the sugar which caused me to completely forget about the second tablespoon cornstarch that I should have used as well. The result – my pie was a little more ‘runny’ than it should have been. But don’t worry – I am okay with that.)

7. Cook the cherry mixture until it thickens – about 5 minutes.

8. Cool slightly before using to fill your pie shell.

9. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it onto a well-floured surface.

10. Cut it in about ‘2/3 : 1/3′ ratio (… or, as I so like to say – cut it into a bigger and smaller half – here, I said it. Logical nonsense yet so relieving).

11. To form the pie shell, roll out the ‘bigger half’ on a floured surface into a 14-inch (35 cm) round.

12. Wrap around your rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate.

13. Fit gently into the bottom and the side of the plate. Use kitchen shears to trim the dough to a 1-inch overhang.

(I made those little holes on the bottom with a fork and I really don’t know why I made them.)

14. Then go on and fill the shell with the delicious filling.

15. Then grab the ‘smaller half’ of the dough, roll it out into a 14-inch (35 cm) round as well.

16. Using a sharp knife, cut it into even strips (you can use a ruler to guide you).

17. This is how I formed the lattice.

  • Picture 1 – To form a lattice top, lay out four to seven (seven in my case) strips on top of the filling.
  • Picture 2 – Fold back every other strip.
  • Picture 3 – Place one long strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips, as shown.
  • Picture 4 – Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip and take the parallel strips that are running underneath (!) the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip.
  • Picture 5 – Lay down a second perpendicular strip of dough next to the first strip, with some space between the strips. Unfold the folded parallel strips over the second strip. And again take the parallel strips that are running underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip.
  • Pictures 6 and 7 – Continue this process until the weave is complete over the top of the pie.
  • Picture 8 – Trim the parts of the strips that are longer than the dough underneath.
  • Picture 9 – Fold back the rim of the shell over the edge of the lattice strips and crimp the rim with your fingertips and knuckle.

Or you can just forget the whole lattice thing and cut out some little star shapes and place them on top of the filling.

There you go.

This is the finished lattice – still, I guess it’s really worth a try.

18. Just for kicks, you can brush the top of the lattice with a lightly beaten egg yolk.

19. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes (or until golden brown).

20. Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool for about 2-3 hours.

And most importantly – enjoy, dear friends!

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