Heyya peeps!!
Yikes, I know i've been MIA for soooo looooonggggg. Tsk tsk.
Anyway. I'M SO GLAD TO BE BAKING AGAIN!
For the past few months it was quite impossible for me to get back to baking, especially when the house looked like it was turned upside down. We hired the painters to paint the whole house, but before that we had to move all the furnitures, clean every corners of the house, get rid of all the junks in every wardrobe, cupboard and drawers and... more.
Exhausting, but it's worth it. Because i have a PINK bedroom now!
I've yet to search for a chic hot pink bedsheet and curtains.
I'm 25. I'm married. I act like a 7 year-old. God, help me.
I have a long list of baking recipes to try. And that's the problem if you haven't been baking for quite a long time. The list gets longer, and your patience gets shorter.
Initially i wanted to start off with Strawberry Cream Cake (suddenly craving for a strawberry dessert), but i stumbled upon this Strawberry Cake recipe from Martha Stewart's website instead and was so delighted to read all the rave reviews for the recipe. And it's so darn easy to make too, which is a good thing when you're feeling darn lazy and unadventurous at the moment.
And I'm so glad that i decided to try this recipe in the end because the cake turned out to taste simply good. Basically it's just a butter cake with strawberries on top (yes, pretty obvious), with their sweet and sour juices seeped into the sponge, adding a fruity kick to it. And it's really light too, not too sweet, not too "bleargh". Anyone who's not a fan of strawberries won't have a problem eating this cake. Totally a great snack for tea-time.
And the best part? Yes, the scent of baked strawberries that filled the air. Sigh~.
Note: The top wasn't very brown because i baked the cake on the lower shelf of the oven. Afraid that it might overbaked!
Rating: 8/10
Recipe
(Adapted from Martha Stewart)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
Method
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, milk, 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 remaining 2 tablespoons 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.
