Pink Cake and My Apprentices

A little produce shop I go to has great seconds of fruit and vegetables for 2$ a basket. This week I was able to get tons more strawberries so I made a strawberry cake with strawberry icing...decorated with a strawberry.

The cake took a while to make but I think that was only in part due to the recipe. Clara and I were having a slow afternoon and had fun taking our time while making it. To assemble the cake, I placed one cake face side down topped that with some strawberry preserve, then placed the other half right on top and drizzled the top with icing and let it run down the sides.

I realized how much Jimmy watches me cook when I saw him pull a pot out of our cupboard and start mixing in it with the wooden spoon. He looked at me quite impress with himself as if to say "Look mama, I'm cooking too".

Strawberry Cake

3 cups + 2 tbsp (780 mL) cake-and-pastry flour

2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder

3/4 tsp (4 mL) baking soda

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

2 cups (500 mL) halved strawberries (8 oz/250 g)

1/2 cup (125 mL) buttermilk

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

Butter two 9-inch/23 cm diameter cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper, then flour sides; set aside.

In bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. In blender, purée together strawberries, and buttermilk.

In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy; on high speed, beat in sugar, 1/3 cup/75 mL at a time, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time; beat in vanilla. Gradually stir in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, making 3 additions of dry and 2 of wet. Divide evenly between cake pans, smoothing tops.

Bake in centre of 350F/180C oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Slide knife around edges and remove from pans; peel off paper. Let cool on racks.

Strawberry Icing
1/2 cup frozen strawberries thawed
1/2 C butter
1/2 brick cream cheese
4 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla and the confectioners sugar. Puree the frozen strawberries until smooth and add to the icing.