Sunday 7 June 2009

Strawberry buttermilk cake


English strawberries are really coming into their own right now – it’s hard to imagine a tastier, better looking fruit.

I have often used strawberries on top of a pastry base but can’t recall baking with them so I was intrigued as to how they would taste in this recipe. The short answer is: delicious!


As the cake bakes for a long time at a medium heat the strawberries break down into a fruity, syrupy consistency that creates an almost ripple-like effect in the cake. The flavour also intensifies to such a degree that they were similar to very sweet rhubarb. I now understand why rhubarb and strawberries are seen as a classic combination. This slice was photographed the day the cake was made – you can see how some strawberries retained their shape, whereas others collapsed into syrupy goodness:


The next day, the cake firmed up and became almost scone-like:


The crumble topping adds a delicious light, crumbly, biscuity crust to the surface which is lovely to push your fork through.


You can serve this warm with custard but I went for room temperature with clotted cream. I mean – come on! Strawberries have to be served with cream...we’re in England for goodness sake!


Ingredients:
For the crumble topping:
40g plain flour
50g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
95g soft brown sugar

For the cake:
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
225ml buttermilk
250g self raising flour
225g caster sugar
375g strawberries, washed and hulled, halve any large ones

How to make:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line one 20cm loose bottomed square tin with baking paper.
- Start by making the crumble topping: rub the butter into the flour until you have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar.
- I then put the crumble in the fridge until needed as this stops it becoming soft and retains the lovely crumb texture.
- Put the butter, eggs and buttermilk into the food processor and blitz until smooth and well combined.
- Add the flour and sugar and blitz again until well mixed.
- Transfer all the mixture into a large mixing bowl and gently stir in the strawberries.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and sprinkle the crumble over the top.
- Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out cleanly. Mine took 55 minutes.
- Leave to cool in the tin before removing as the strawberries make the cake quite fragile when warm.
- Serve either warm with custard/ice cream or at room temperature with your choice of cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

19 comments:

Beth (jamandcream) said...

Im bookmarking this one!

April said...

oh yum.....

April xx

Maggie said...

The cake looks great. As soon as my strawberries turn red, I'll have to try this - I have about a million strawberries this year to use!!!

trash said...

Mmmmmmm, strawberries.

Sam said...

I still haven't had any strawberries this year, now I really really want some! The cake looks delicious!

glamah16 said...

Ohhhh. That cake is calling my name.Strawberries!

Katie said...

Oh wow that looks divine! I love the pockets of self strawberring jam spread throughout.

Cakelaw said...

This cake looks and sounds delicious. I like the look of it the next day - it looks like a French bread pudding.

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

I've always wanted to try clotted cream. We don't see that very often here in the U.S.

This cake look fantastic! Thanks for posting! :D

Cybèle said...

I read your blog through bloglines, and often your posts come up in multiples on Sunday night. I sometimes ignore them for a day or so as I'm trying not to eat too much cake (watching what I eat and all that...) but every week, without fail, you'll have a recipe which I want to make. This one's definitely gone on the to do list for this weekend - I still remember your strawberries and cream cupcakes from last year - may have to make those again fairly shortly, they were gorgeous.

nora@ffr said...

What a gorgeous strawberry cake! Really tempting! my first visit here and i find ye blog very interesting :) keep up the great job!!
cheers!!

Kirk said...

I think I would make this with raspberries as I am not a strawberry fan although AGA is.
They were selling 500g of strawberries for 1 euro today too...

Emily said...

I think I would enjoy this! What a cake! I like that you used buttermilk. That's something I always forget to pick up.

Maria said...

I am for sure making this one, maybe adding in rhubarb. I keep seeing versions of this cake. It is a sign I must bake it!

Anonymous said...

ooh, this would be good with cherries as well, I think.

Cybèle said...

Following up my own comment: I made this cake this weekend, with yoghurt rather than buttermilk as I couldn't find any, and it took ages to cook as the Aga is turned down a bit for the summer, but it was delicious. Will be making it again this weekend!

Furniture removals said...

so want to taste it now..

♥Rosie♥ said...

Ooooooh a must bake C.C. with strawberries just coming in season this is perfect to make!

Sumaiyyah said...

I made this and it was lovely, though the strawberries turned out rather more tart than I imagined it would. The texture was more like baked bread pudding than cake. I'm not sure if I underbaked it but it was lovely all the same.