Strawberry cake

 My son loves strawberry cake even though he does not actually eat the berries. So when he demanded for a cake I researched for a recipe which used fresh strawberries and not on the essence.

After much adjustment and trying out various   recipes with various modifications I finally found a perfect one which suited our taste.

This recipes is made using pureed strawberries which are then cooked to a jam like consistency and added to the batter. It has to be used after cooling it down. So better to make in advance and keep. I have also frozen the puree for a couple of months so I could make the cake in the off season of the delicious berries. Also the I do not use a lot of frosting on the cake. So the quantity mentioned will give just about enough to frost the top of the cake. 

I dont like to use much artificial flavours so i have not used any essence and just a drop of food colour as my son didn't like the brown strawberry cake which I made when I was experimenting even though the taste was really good. 

The frosting is made with the same strawberry jam which is added in the batter. No colour is used in the frosting. 

Ingredients :

300 gm wheat flour 

180 gm  soft butter

350 gm light brown organic sugar

4 eggs

80 gm curd

130 ml milk

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2cup reduced strawberry puree(cooled)

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1 drop of red colour (optional)

For the strawberry puree:

About 400 gms strawberries 

20 gms sugar

Strawberry frosting :

50 gms butter (soft)

100 gms icing sugar

1/2tsp vanilla essence 

2tbsp strawberry puree

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Puree the strawberries and sugar in mixie. 

In a heavy bottom pan heat it stirring constantly till it reduces to half the quantity.  It should be  a thick jam like consistency. Keep aside to cool.

Cream the butter with a spatula or hand mixer and add sugar. Mix for few minutes till creamy.

Add the eggs and beat till frothy. Add the strawberry puree (reserve 2 tbsp for the frosting), curd and vanilla essence and mix.

Add the dry ingredients and milk and mix till just combined and there are no lumps. I usually just use a hand blender for a minute to give a good mix. Batter will be thick.

Transfer the batter to a greased tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

The baking time depends on your oven.

Frosting:

Beat butter with a blender. Add the icing sugar and beat till creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla essence and strawberry puree and mix.

You can either spread it over the cake once the cake has cooled down. Or transfer to a piping bag and decorate the cake using a nozzle of your choice.

HAPPY BAKING :)