Ingredients
4 Large Eggs (200g) at room temperature
2 cups (400g) Granulated Sugar
8 fl oz (1 cup) Whole Milk
113g (8Tbsp)Unsalted Butter
1 Tbls Vanilla Extract
2 cups (260g) All Purpose Flour
10 g (2tsp) Baking Powder
2g (1/4 tsp) Salt
1/2 cup (120g) Strawberry Puree* see recipe
Add pink food colour if desired to enhance pink
colour of batter before baking
Method - cake mix
Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Butter and line 2 x 8 in cake tins. Preheat oven to 180C /350F. In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer whip the eggs on high speed with the whip attachment until foamy, and gradually start adding in your sugar very slowly.
The eggs will take about 5 minutes to reach the ribbon stage, so in the mean time you can warm your milk and butter together in the microwave or on the stovetop and reserve.
The ribbon stage is a stage where the egg/sugar mixture is very light in colour, very thick and when you run the mixture off of a spatula or the beater blades, it makes a ribbon like effect before disappearing back into the mixture. You can also do a “figure 8″ pattern with the mixture and if it stays visible for a few seconds before disappearing you know you have achieved ribbon stage.
At this point you will add in all of the sifted dry ingredients at once with the mixer OFF so you do not have a flour shower all over your kitchen! And on low speed mix in the dry mixture. You can gradually go up to a higher speed to make sure it is all incorporated evenly.
Next you will prepare a liaison with the milk/butter mixture. A liaison is a technique in which rather than dumping the liquids straight into the main batter causing deflation of this delicate foam we took such care to achieve; you will take out about 2 cups of the cake batter into a separate mixing bowl, and with a hand whisk add the liquids to that 2 cups of batter. Whisk it all together and then proceed to add this liaison to the original cake batter in the Kitchen Aid bowl.
Add the vanilla extract along with the strawberry puree and a few drops of pink or red food colour, mix well and pour into prepared pans.
Bake this cake for about 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170°C/325°F to continue baking until it is done. You know the cake is done when you gently press the centre and it springs back immediately.
Strawberry Puree Or Compote - makes 1 1/2 cups
Fresh or Frozen Strawberries 1 Lb ( 454g)
2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup of water (not needed for frozen strawberries)
Juice from 1 lemon (optional)
Sugar 25g (2 Tablespoons)
To make a puree put in blender for compote leave as is.
Method
In a large heavy bottomed sauce pot, add the fresh or frozen strawberries.
**Frozen strawberries tend to be sweeter than fresh strawberries, especially during off season months. You can buy strawberries already frozen in the supermarket, or you can freeze fresh berries yourself during their peak.
Over a medium flame let them cook down slowly to defrost and eventually they will start to break down and boil slightly.
If you are using FRESH Strawberries, you may need to add about 2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup of water to the pot to avoid burning of the strawberry fibres to the bottom of the pot, but the same thing applies to the cooking methods.
Add the sugar and continue to cook over medium flame for about 30 minutes. Maybe more time (or less!) depending on the strawberries you are using. And also the quantities you used, perhaps you are doubling or halving this recipe? In which case all of these things play into times and temperatures. There is no time limit here. Just pay attention to the liquid evaporating out of your compote, and continue cooking until you think there is not much more liquids that can be extracted out. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice to brighten the flavour and cool slightly.
At this point you can add it all to the blender and puree the mixture for using in the Strawberry Sponge Cake recipe, or simply store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
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