strawberries Archives -

June 27, 2017

Strawberry Oat Yogurt Scones

There’s a tendency for me to dream about lazy idyllic summers in a most idealistic sort of way. I think of slow and free-spirited days turning into quiet peaceful evenings with lots of laughter in between. Although no summer has ever been perfect, I do have memories of at least some resemblance to my ideals. I remember many mornings of lingering around the breakfast table talking or reading aloud with the children. We seemed to have plenty of space to plan fun and spontaneous outings to the berry farm, park, or whatever else might sound good for a given day. For various reasons this summer has not quite been the same, and my role has become much more a cheauffer than anything else. This may be just the reality of children growing up and them becoming more committed and involved in their own activities, but I’m still adjusting.

April 3, 2015

Strawberry Almond Cake

A couple years ago Ryan asked me to bake him a simple no frills almond cake for his birthday. Because I don’t make cakes often, I really like going all out on birthday cakes, decorating them, and making them beautiful. A request for a simple unfrosted undecorated cake was a bit disappointing to me, but since it was his birthday I obliged. And wouldn’t you know, the cake in all of its simplicity was outstanding and it far surpassed any expectations I had for a “plain” cake. I knew it was a cake that I would be making again. So here it is, although this time I did dress it up with some fresh strawberries and mascarpone cream. (Although it’s not quite strawberry season here in Michigan, I couldn’t resist the recent sale I came across on organic strawberries.) Even with the strawberries and cream, it’s still quite beautifully simple and rustic. One bite of this and my daughter declared that this was what she wanted as her birthday cake. I’m just not sure I’ll be able to wait that long until I make it again.

Strawberry Almond Cake

Ingredients

Almond Cake

1 cup spelt flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
7 ounces almond paste
¾ cup evaporated cane juice sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs, at room temperature

Mascarpone Cream

1½ cups heavy cream
¾ cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Assembly

1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
powdering sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

Almond Cake

Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Butter two 9-inch cake pans. Use a cake pan to trace two 9-inch diameter circles out of parchment paper. Carefully cut the circles slightly smaller than outlined and place in the cake pans. Lightly butter the parchment papers.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium mixing bowl.
In a stand mixer, mix together the almond paste and sugar on medium speed until almond paste is in very small pieces. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
Using the stand mixer again, beat the butter until creamy and lightened. Add the almond paste mixture and the vanilla. Cream together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down sides of the bowl when necessary. Add flour mixture half at a time, mixing until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes and then turn cakes out of the pans onto wire cooling racks and remove the parchment paper. Allow cakes to cool completely before assembling.

Mascarpone Cream

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or use a handheld mixer), whip the cream and sugar until fluffy and soft peaks begin to form. Add the mascarpone and vanilla beat for an additional minute, until thickened with soft peaks.

Assembly

Spread half of the mascarpone cream onto one of the cakes, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge. Arrange with half of the strawberries. Top with the second cake and layer remaining cream and strawberries. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. This is best served the same day it's made.

Notes

inspired by Sara Forte's The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook, almond cake adapted by Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food

June 12, 2014

Watermelon Strawberry Sparklers

After I graduated from college, I went to live in Taiwan for one year and worked with a local church while also teaching English classes. Taiwan is a beautiful country, full of majestic mountains and scenic coastlines. One of the things that I miss most about living there is the abundance of fresh juice stands everywhere. I loved riding my scooter around on hot days and then stopping by one of those stands for a cold freshly squeezed juice. One of my favorites was watermelon juice- so refreshing!

These watermelon strawberry sparklers remind me of those juice stands. If you use really ripe strawberries and sweet watermelon, no added sweetener is necessary. Sometimes I add a bit of honey if the strawberries aren’t quite at their peak. Now that strawberry season is here, these watermelon strawberry sparklers are the perfect way to use up all of those extra strawberries!

Watermelon Strawberry Sparklers

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1Ib watermelon cubes, about 3 cups
8-10 ounces hulled strawberries, about 2 cups
1-2 tablespoons honey, optional
¾ cup ice cubes
¼-1/2 cup sparkling water

Instructions

Use a blender to puree the watermelon cubes and strawberries on high speed. Taste and if necessary, add the honey. Add the ice cubes and blend again on high speed until juice is frosty smooth. Divide the watermelon strawberry juice among two glasses and top off with sparkling water.

Notes

adapted from Whole Foods