michael-in-phoenix
Well-known member
My niece wanted a strawberry-flavored cake with pink whipped cream frosting for her birthday. I didn't have a recipe for a strawberry-flavored cake, so I went looking for one online. I found only a couple that didn't have a box of strawberry Jello as an ingredient.
Here's what I made:
Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting
4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted, then measured
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed fresh or frozen strawberries*
8 egg whites, separated
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons strawberry flavoring
10 drops red food coloring, optional (to increase the pink color of the cake)**
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter three 9-inch round or 8-inch square*** cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together 4 egg whites, milk, strawberry flavoring and red food dye, if using, to blend. In a medium bowl, beat the other 4 egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the egg white and milk mixture to the batter in two additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Add the beaten egg whites to the batter and fold in until no streaks of egg whites are visible. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.
4. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.
NOTES:
* Measure the 1 1/2 cups AFTER you puree the strawberries. I used most of the puree from a one-pound basket of fresh strawberries.
**If you choose not to add the food coloring to the cake batter, your end result will be slightly pinkish, but more of a white/tan color.
***If you want a sheet cake, you can use a 9” x 13” cake pan, but you will have extra batter. Use the batter for cupcakes! Bake for 35 minutes and test. Remove when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
If you want to use all the batter for a larger sheet cake, use a 10” x 15” pan. Bake for 45 minutes and begin testing for done, as above.
Bake sheet cakes on the middle rack of the oven. Lower rack will cause the bottom to over-brown.
Whipped Cream Frosting (with Cream Cheese)
This frosting is not too sweet and is more stable at room temp than just whipped cream alone.
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups heavy cream
Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth.
While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl a couple of times while you continue whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak.
Note: Take care not to over-beat, as this goes from stiff peak to over-beaten in a flash.
You can add a few drops of red food coloring to the bowl when you combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, if you would like pink frosting.
Enjoy!
Michael
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t159/Storehouse78/163.jpg
Here's what I made:
Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting
4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted, then measured
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed fresh or frozen strawberries*
8 egg whites, separated
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons strawberry flavoring
10 drops red food coloring, optional (to increase the pink color of the cake)**
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter three 9-inch round or 8-inch square*** cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together 4 egg whites, milk, strawberry flavoring and red food dye, if using, to blend. In a medium bowl, beat the other 4 egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the egg white and milk mixture to the batter in two additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Add the beaten egg whites to the batter and fold in until no streaks of egg whites are visible. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.
4. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.
NOTES:
* Measure the 1 1/2 cups AFTER you puree the strawberries. I used most of the puree from a one-pound basket of fresh strawberries.
**If you choose not to add the food coloring to the cake batter, your end result will be slightly pinkish, but more of a white/tan color.
***If you want a sheet cake, you can use a 9” x 13” cake pan, but you will have extra batter. Use the batter for cupcakes! Bake for 35 minutes and test. Remove when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
If you want to use all the batter for a larger sheet cake, use a 10” x 15” pan. Bake for 45 minutes and begin testing for done, as above.
Bake sheet cakes on the middle rack of the oven. Lower rack will cause the bottom to over-brown.
Whipped Cream Frosting (with Cream Cheese)
This frosting is not too sweet and is more stable at room temp than just whipped cream alone.
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups heavy cream
Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth.
While the mixture is still whipping, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl a couple of times while you continue whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak.
Note: Take care not to over-beat, as this goes from stiff peak to over-beaten in a flash.
You can add a few drops of red food coloring to the bowl when you combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, if you would like pink frosting.
Enjoy!
Michael
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t159/Storehouse78/163.jpg