Strawberry Cake Recipe and Tips

Snow may still be on the ground, but spring is right around the corner. What better way to celebrate the change of season than with a home-baked strawberry cake?

While strawberry season traditionally runs June through mid-August, these days, thanks to improvements in horticultural techniques, you can find ripe strawberries in the produce section of your favorite supermarket as early as April. And if you're craving spring in February, you can use frozen strawberries. The cake will be just as delicious.

But put that box of Jello back on the shelf! You won't need it, and you won't need artificial food coloring either. This is strawberry cake as it was meant to be - melt-in-your-mouth luscious and 100% natural.

Ingredients:
-3/4 cup strawberry puree (recipe below)
-1/4 cup milk
-6 large egg whites
-1 Tbsp vanilla extract
-2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
-1 3/4 cup sugar
-4 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

Yields: Two 8 inch cake layers

An hour before you begin, take the strawberry puree, milk, and eggs out of your refrigerator so they are at room temperature when you blend them. Half an hour later, take out the butter - it shouldn't be at room temperature, but it will need to be "softened."

Preheat your oven to 350. Line two 8 inch circular cake pans with aluminum foil, spray with baking spray (don't overdo!) and lightly dust with flour.

Separate your egg whites. Then blend the strawberry puree, milk, egg whites and vanilla with a fork in a small bowl.

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Attach the bowl to the mixer, and then s-l-o-w-l-y begin beating in the butter. The resulting mixture should look like crumbs.

Add the strawberry puree blend to the mixing bowl, a little at a time. Beat the resulting mixture at medium speed for a minute until everything is blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix for another 30 seconds.

Pour the mixture into the cake pans, dividing evenly and smoothing the tops. Bake for approximately 25 minutes - time will vary depending upon your altitude and how evenly your oven heats. The best way to tell if your cake is baked is always the old toothpick trick - stick a toothpick into the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, you're good.

The cakes will need to cool for ten minutes before you turn them over onto your cake rack. And they should be at room temperature (another two hours) before you frost them.

Strawberry puree:

Three boxes of ripe strawberries or 24 oz of frozen strawberries

Yield: 1 and 1/4 cups strawberry puree.

If you're using frozen strawberries, you will need to defrost them before you use them, making sure to remove all the excess liquid that you can.

Fresh strawberries will need to be washed, hulled, sliced and sprinkled with two teaspoons of sugar. Let them sit at room temperature for two hours before you use them.

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