By: Hannah Chimal
Strawberry is one of my favorite flavors, like when drinking a milkshake or eating a flavored cookie. This week, I baked a strawberry cake with the help of my sister to see what it would taste like. We gathered the ingredients needed, which were flour, sugar, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, cream cheese, and strawberry puree (we also used red food coloring to help the cake become pinker). It was one of our first times baking a cake and the steps were pretty easy to follow. Just be aware since there was a precise and important step of mixing the milk, strawberry puree, and flour together with the wet ingredients towards the end of making the batter. Seeing the batter turn pink when the food coloring and the strawberries were added was satisfying to see and I couldn’t wait to try it.
When the cake finished baking, it had a slightly pink color. I took the first bite and the strawberry flavor wasn’t really there but it still had a tasty cake flavor. It had a good texture and a good amount of sweetness. The strawberries in the package we bought tasted a little sour and because of this, I think that might’ve been why it didn’t taste much like strawberries. If you decide to make this recipe, it would be better to use sweeter strawberries and make sure to cook the puree to concentrate more of its flavor when putting it into the cake. Here’s the link, along with the ingredients and steps, if you would like to bake this strawberry cake:
Ingredients:
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 330g
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
2 cups granulated sugar 400g
4 large egg whites room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk 120ml
½ cup fresh strawberry puree reduced (120ml)
pink food coloring (optional)
Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, or spray with baking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. (You can wrap the cake pans with soaked fabric baking strips if desired.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed just until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Scrape down the bowl and add the egg whites and vanilla. Beat until on medium speed for about 1 minute or until well combined and very fluffy. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk and the strawberry reduction, mixing just until combined. Stop and scrape down the bowl as needed. If desired, mix in a drop or two of pink food coloring. Divide the batter among the two cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and starts to pull away from the sides of the pans. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack. Discard the parchment paper.
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