Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Disappearing Strawberry Shortcake Cake

DSC01833I first saw this lovely cake on the blog, The Kitchen Sink Recipes and then again on Monica’s blog, Lick the Bowl Good.  I don’t recall The Kitchen Sink Recipes mentioning any problems with her strawberries sinking but I know Monica said that some of her berries did.  I spent a lot of time arranging my strawberries in a pretty pattern and matching up like sizes.  My strawberries? They disappeared altogether.  So much so that when I took the cake out of the oven Babygirl exclaimed, “What happened to the strawberries? Ooooo, you messed up!”  Too funny.  She said it like I was in trouble. The reason she thought I messed up was because before baking my cake I showed Babygirl Monica’s photos of her cake. 

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Despite the fact that my strawberries sunk the cake was a hit with all three of my children and the Twins’ friend, Deacon who happened to be spending  the night.  I had one slice and they gobbled up the rest leaving nary a crumb.  My favorite part was the crust that formed on top from theDSC01827 raw sugar.  I wasn’t crazy about the berry portion but that’s not surprising as warm mushy fruit usually doesn’t do it for me.  I prefer for the berries to be pureed and then added.  I have though recently made several yummy desserts with blackberries that Babygirl and Jalen picked and brought back to me from PopPop’s farm in NC.  I  really liked them so maybe it was just the strawberries this time.  I’ll be telling you more about them at a later time.

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Disappearing Strawberry Shortcake Cake

  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbs raw sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (I go the milk & vinegar route)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste) 
  • 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

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NOTE: You can use all strawberries (1 pound) or a combination of berries that you prefer. Use enough to cover the top of the batter and pray that your berries don’t disappear. If your berries should disappear flip it out of the pie plate and call it a upside down cake.   (Wish I would have thought of that BEFORE.)

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29 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Oooohhh, so scrumptious looking withn that ice cream ball!

Cheers,

Rosa

Denise said...

Looks very yummy, in spite of your mentioned problems. It doesnt matter what it looks like as long as it tates good, and that looks good. Sometimes I shake my berries in some flour first and then they don't sink so much.

Unknown said...

Problems aside, this dish looks (and sounds) fabulous.

cookies and cups said...

Still looks delicious. So funny how kids love to catch their mommies in trouble =)

Megan said...

I love that babygirl was your worst critic! Too cute. :)

Smitten Sugar said...

Yum! I love strawberries. I saw this on Monica's blog too. Wonder why the fruit sinks? Too funny that your daughter thought you messed up. :)

Looks delicious!

oneordinaryday said...

My kids are my worst critics too. They are so fussy about what they'll eat and even try. Weirdos. LOL

This looks really good. Reminds me of the baked blueberry one I did, only moister. I think I'd like your version better.

CM said...

This looks really yummy. I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of cooked strawberries either- they're too watery to cook in my opinion, though I think this cake would be killer with blackberries, or blueberries, or raspberries, or peaches... basically anything other than strawberries. That said, I'm sure I could make this disappear (haha!)

Anonymous said...

Looks and sounds like a great cake. YUM.

The Blonde Duck said...

Yum!

And the Prince isn't dead. He disappeared. Jeremy is the one who is dying.

Nicole said...

looks good!

Babygirl is too funny!

lisa (dandysugar) said...

This looks perfect! I actually love baking and cooking strawberries into desserts. It also looks like it can handle a variety of berries...bI can see this with blueberries and/or raspberries too! Yum, great job!

grace said...

oh ingrid, this is outstanding! frankly, i think it's even better that the strawberries sank, and the texture of the cake still looks just perfect. the raw sugar on top is an excellent touch--bravo!

Monica H said...

This cake was SO good. I ate mine at room temperature so my fruit wasn't warm or too squishy. I don't know why the fruit sinks though.

Denise mentioned to flour them, but I did that and they still sunk, that's why I sprinkled a few more berries on top towards the end of the baking time. Oh, well! The cake itself was delish!

BabyGirl is too funny. oooh, you messed up! ha! This doesn't look like a mess up to me. Upside down cake sounds great!

Are you going to try it again with blackberries?

Abby said...

I love the idea of a ready-made strawberry shortcake! It's easier to serve to guests when you don't have to assemble it. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Either way it looks fab.

Reeni said...

The cake looks so light and fluffy!! I bet that is why the berries sunk! It still looks really yummy.

Maria said...

Love this dessert! YUM!

teresa said...

that happens to me even with chocolate chips! but, it still looks incredible!

Deborah said...

I kind of like that the strawberries sunk -it's like getting a special surprise!!

♥peachkins♥ said...

This looks yummy even if the strawberries sunk!

Emily said...

I have to say, this looks pretty gosh darn good to me. I haven't made strawberry shortcake this year and I regret it. :(

Donna-FFW said...

Love the upside down strawberry shortcake name.. no one would have ever guessesd they sunk, you are right. This looks absolutely terrific anyway and I know Id enjoy it.. Do you prefer using vanilla paste? Ive seen it mentioned but havent looked for it anywhere yet.

A_and_N said...

I'm a recent convert to strawberries! This is just about perfect for week day baking :)

maris said...

This looks unbelievably good! I love strawberries and this sounds like an amazing dessert.

Leslie said...

"ooooo,you messed up!" lol lol
I hate it when my fruit sinks!

Amanda said...

Looks fabulous Ingrid! It reminds me of the sour cherry almond cake i made. YUM!

Pam said...

That would dissappear fast at my house - it looks fantastic.

Katy ~ said...

Strawberry shortcake is in my top ten list of all time favorites. This looks positively outstanding!!!

Rebecca said...

I've made this twice and it has been devoured within hours each time. Thanks!!