Fresh Strawberry Cake

Happy Saturday everybody!   I hope you've had a chance to enjoy your saturday in some way.  There's still time so make it worth while!  One way to do that is to make this delicious Fresh Strawberry Cake that I made today!  It's absolutely delicious and everything you want in a strawberry cake.  It's moist and just sweet enough with real strawberries throughout. (full recipe at bottom)

So, the first thing you'll need are...

BEAUTIFUL, FRESH STRAWBERRIES!! 

2 cups sliced plus 3 Tbsp of strawberry jam to make the puree... 

and 2/3 cup chopped to mix into cake.

Grease or butter your cake pans or line your muffins tins.  I used 2 round 6" cake pans. 

 Whisk together the flour, soda, powder and salt.  Set aside.

 Add 11 tablespoons of butter and 1 1/3 cup of sugar to your mixer and... cream it together!

 Whisk 3 eggs together and slowly add to your mixer.

Now take the strawberries from the stove that have been simmering for about 3-5 minutes and drain the juices into a container to use in the icing later.  Blend the rest and mix 1 1/3 C of the puree to 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp of vanilla.

Mixed.

Now, take your flour mixture and the strawberry mixture and add them alternately to the mixer, beginning and ending with flour.  Stir in the chopped strawberries.

 Pour into your prepared pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 mins.

The icing I decided to use is a new recipe I found on pinterest.  It's a marshmallow cream buttercream.  I slightly altered it based on reviews and my taste.  This recipe only made enough to fill my layers which is fine with me since this cake tastes better with just a touch of buttercream. (full original recipe below)

Mix 7 oz mallow cream in mixer. 

 I added 1 cup butter, 1 tsp vanilla, chopped lemon zest from one lemon, 1 tsp lemon juice and 3 tsp reserved strawberry juices.  Blend on medium-high until light and fluffy.

When my cakes came out of the oven I removed them from the pan and let them cool a bit before I torted them.  However I did not wait long enough when I decided to ice the first layer and so the icing began to soften and liquify the butter.  I was just too impatient but I knew I would have a sloppy mess on my hands if I didn't wait to ice the rest.  So.  I waited.  Poo.

What I ended up with was nothing short of magically delicious but the bottom layer of icing completely melted into the layers of cake surrounding it.  I think that might have made it taste better!

As you can see the bottom layer looks like one thick layer because the icing melted right into the warm cakes!

I can tell you that this was extremely tasty and I was ohh'ing and mm'ing the whole time I was eating my slice!  I hope you get a chance to make this and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Natalia's Fresh Strawberry Cake

2.5 C cake flour

1 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

11 TBL unslated butter (1 stick + 3 TBL)

1 1/3 C sugar

3 eggs

4 oz greek yogurt 

1 1/3 C strawberry puree* (2 C fresh strawberries + 3 TBL real strawberry jelly)

1 Tbsp vanilla

2/3 C chopped fresh strawberries

1. Line muffin pans

2. Sift flour, baking power, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together in your mixer.

4. Wisk the eggs together, then beat in slowly, scraping the bowl down halfway through.

5. Combine sour cream, strawberry puree and vanilla in a small bowl.

6. Add flour and strawberry mixture in alternating batches beginning and ending with the flour. 

7. Stir in fresh strawberries, pour into muffin pans and bake 12-15 min. or until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.

* Strawberry puree – Take 2 cups of sliced, fresh strawberries. Put in small saucepan over med heat with 3 Tbl real strawberry jelly. Cook for about 5-8 min until softened and juices emerge. Strain out the juice (set aside the juice to use in your frosting if you desire) and puree the strawberries in a blender/food processor until smooth. 

Almost Homemade Marshmallow Buttercream

16 ounce(s) Marshmallow Cream

1 1/2 cup(s) Butter, softened

5 teaspoon(s) Fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon(s) Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup(s) Confectioners' Sugar

Beat the marshmallow cream using an electric mixer set on low. Add the butter (in 1-inch pieces) and beat until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and confectioners' sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, and continue to beat on medium-high until smooth and fluffy.

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!