Sweet Strawberry Summer

The Cake Slice Bakers were equally divided for June between a lovely Lime Chiffon Cake and a White Chocolate Strawberry snacking cake. Because I had some strawberries and white chocolate chips on hand I decided to make that cake. I also had some blueberries that needed using up, so they went in to the cake, too, and their slight tartness added a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the strawberries, cake and white chocolate. I still found the cake to be a bit too sweet...I know, I know I love sweet, but this was even a bit much for me...but Sweetie loved it.

This is a great snacking cake because it isn't too crumbly and goes well with tea or coffee and probably would go well with a glass of milk, too.

The method is straightforward and easy. I did find that it needed to bake longer than the recipe indicated. If I had used frozen blueberries or something then I may have expected that but all the ingredients were at room temperature. One of the results of taking it out of the oven and only finding out it was undercooked after it had cooled a bit was that the center sank and when I baked it a bit more what had sunk didn't get any higher, although the cake finished baking so it wasn't batter filled anymore. I had done the toothpick in the center comes out clean part...and it was...but it is a buttery cake so I think the butter allowed the toothpick to slip out leaving the uncooked part behind.

Do give it a try while the berries are in season, just add another 5 - 10 minutes on to the baking time. Also go check out the other Cake Slice Bakers' sites, too.

Some of them voted for the Lime cake and I'll bet it is a winner, too.


June’s Cake: Fresh Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Chips
Makes one 8 inch square cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ cup sour cream
½ tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups all purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
6 tbsp (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
8 ounces strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Method
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out the excess.

Combine the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla in a large measuring jug and beat lightly. Combined 1¼ cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric whisk on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides when necessary.

With the mixer on medium low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time. After the last addition mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Combine the strawberries and remaining ¼ cup flour in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Fold the flour covered berries along with the chocolate chips into the batter using a spatula.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Let the cake cool ion the pan for about 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right side up to cool completely.

Cut into squares and serve.