Pages

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Strawberry Cake

This is the story of a very forgiving, easy cake, and I have the photos to prove it. I discovered this recipe last summer and made it twice, with different, equally delicious results.

Today I discovered the strawberries I had sitting on the counter had to be used today, with no further delay, and this recipe came to mind again. Only this time, I mis-read the recipe and used 50% more flour than I should have. And it still turned out fine. Denser, but still delicious.

June is the time that local strawberries come on the market, and there is no point in buying them any time that they are not local.  Since this recipe uses fresh strawberries, it is an ideal summer cake.







The first time I made this recipe I followed it exactly, including a mix of all-purpose and barley flour. It turned out perfect, with a soft crumb and delicate flavour. I made it in a cake pan, and the batter ended up buckling around the fruit on top.




The second time I made it in spring-form pan, but the fruit ended up sinking to the bottom, but it tasted great and I just managed to take a picture before the rest of it was consumed.

The third time I made it in a deep dish pie plate, I didn't have any barley flour and it was too early in the morning, so I rushed though the instructions and added 2.25 cups of flour instead of 1.5 cups. I also used buttermilk instead of milk. The cake ended up being denser, perhaps more muffin-like than cake like, or like a cobbler. I can imagine serving it with some warm custard served over it.

Strawberry Cake

Once again, this recipe is adapted from  Smitten Kitchen.

225 grams (1 1/2 cup)   flour (up to 50% barley flour)
1/2 teaspoon                  baking soda
1 teaspoon                     baking powder
1/2 teaspoon                  salt
85 grams                        butter
190 grams (7/8 cup)      sugar
120 ml (1/2 cup)           buttermilk
1                                    egg
1 teaspoon                     vanilla extract
300 grams  (3/4 pound) strawberries
1 tablespoon                 sugar

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F, and butter a 9-10 inch cake pan, a 9-inch deep dish pie pan, or a spring form pan.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
  4. Add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and mix until just combined.
  5. Gradually add the flour and mix until just combined.
  6. Pour into the greased pan, then stud the strawberries over the batter. Depending on how many strawberries you have, they may totally cover the batter, or be spaced a bit.
  7. Sprinkle a tablespoon og sugar over the top.
  8. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 325F and bake for another 50-60 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
  9. Once it cools, you can sprinkle some icing sugar on top. This looks especially nice if the fruit dropped to the bottom and the top is quite smooth.


This is what the batter is supposed to look like

This is what the batter looks like with too much flour (and strawberries!)


Monday, June 4, 2012

Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread

The number of over-ripe bananas accumulating in my freezer had reached critical proportions (8!) so I thought it was about time to do some baking.

I have 2 favourite recipes for banana bread, but I've made them so often I decided to look for some new inspiration, and naturally came to think of peanut butter.

Peanut butter and bananas are a great combination. For breakfast or dessert, I've been known to just slice a banana in half length-wise and smear peanut butter between the two layers. And of course toasted peanut butter and banana sandwiches are classic, so I thought a PB riff on banana bread would not be misplaced.

This  turned out to be a vegan banana bread, made with peanut butter and seroendeng. (I have an industrial-size jar of seroendeng that needs to be used up, and the amount of nasi goreng I can consume is limited.) I also made a classic banana cake with eggs and butter.

My testers (aka colleagues) turned out to be very divided on which one they liked better. Half preferred the one and half the other, and the comments were very interesting. One thought the peanut butter flavour was too dominant, another couldn't identify what the extra flavour was; one preferred the banana-y flavour of the cake, another found it too straight and mild.

My personal opinion? Mwah. I find that vegan cakes tend to be slightly drier than normal cakes, and denser. There is just no substitute for eggs. It tastes best smeared with a bit of butter (which of course makes it non-vegan). Ultimately, I think my other regular banana bread recipes have the edge over this one, but for those who like spiced banana bread, this makes a good variation.

Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread


I adapted this from here, omitting the chocolate chips, substituting brown sugars for white, and adding cinnamon and seroendeng.

2 tablespoons flax seeds, ground
6 tablespoons warm water

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup seroendeng, optional *

1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup yellow sugar, loosely packed
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (demerera), loosely packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter


* Seroendeng kering is an Indonesian condiment of toasted coconut, peanuts, sugar, and salt


  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
  2. Grease a 9 cup cake form, such as 12x4.5 inch loaf pan, a bundt cake pan, and dust with flour or fine bread crumbs.
  3. Combine the ground flax seeds and hot water in a small bowl and set aside. I use a coffee grinder to grind the seeds. (This is a  substitute for 2 eggs,  so if  you are not constrained, feel free to use eggs instead. )
  4. Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and seroendeng in a medium large bowl.
  5. In a large bowl, mix the oil, brown sugars, vanilla, bananas, peanut butter and flax seed mixture (or 2 eggs). Mix thoroughly (I used a mixer). 
  6. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just wet. Do not over-mix.
  7. Spoon the batter into the greased pan and (optionally) sprinkle the top with another tablespoon or two of seroendeng. Bake for 50-60 minutes.