Yippee it's Friday!

I love Fridays as I'm sure most people do. Here are my top 5 reasons why I love Fridays:
1. I can sleep in on Saturday morning
2. Cook's night off! We normally have fish and chips, pizza or indian take-out for dinner (or even better, like tonight, we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house!)
3. My favourite renovating shows are on TV
4. I can have a glass of wine and relax...no homework to check, no school bags to pack, no gym bags to find...bliss!
5.It's Foodie Friday!
Thank you to Michael at Designs by Gollum for hosting this weekly foodie event. Not only do people share some amazing recipes but they post the most stunning pictures too. I can't wait to get my new camera!
Today I would like to share a recipe for Strawberry cake. I love strawberries and we seem to have an abundance of them at the moment and they are so sweet and juicy. I had so many at one stage though, that I knew I had to eat them quickly or they would go, well, yucky. So I tried to find some recipes for a strawberry cake but they all required packet cake mix and strawberry jello mix and I had neither of these things. Finally I just adapted a recipe I already had for a banana cake and here it is...
First, I preheated the oven to 325/170 degrees.
I wanted to use my heart shaped tin so I lined it with baking paper and sprayed it with oil just in case.
I placed about 2 cups of strawberries that had been cleaned and hulled in a microwave safe dish with 1/4 cup of water and zapped them for about 2 minutes on medium heat. These measurements are not accurate because I used a very large punnet of strawberries that I purchased from the markets a few days before.
I then put 3 cups self-rising wholemeal flour, 3/4 cup white chocolate chips and 1cup of white sugar in a mixing bowl with 1/2cup of vegetable oil and mixed these ingredients together. When the strawberries had cooled down a little I added those to the mixture along with 3 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract and 4 large beaten organic eggs. After mixing everything together I poured the batter into the tin.
Here is a random picture of my coffee cup...my kids bought it for me for Christmas one year.
When cooked to perfection I let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Then I placed the cake on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes, top side up.
This cake needed to be shared-it was huge-way to big for my little family of 4. So I packed it up to take to my parent's house to share it with my family.
It would have been delicious with some frosting of some kind but I just iced it with a basic icing made with powdered sugar and water and covered it with more strawberries and served it with vanilla bean ice-cream. The cake was still a little warm so the icing didn't stick, but I really suggest serving it warm.
“Doubtless God could have made a better berry (than the strawberry), but doubtless God never did.”
William Allen Butler (US Lawyer and writer)
We shared this strawberry cake between 6 adults and 4 children and look at what was left at the end of the night....I don't want to boast but it really was yummy!
Best wishes for a happy weekend.
Natasha In Oz
I love that Mug N !... to me those are the most precious gifts a mother could ever get, i can't wait for my time to come : ) ...if you have a mantle then you could place it on that i suppose, i would... to protect it : ) ... The strawberry cake is lovely too. I love the fresh ingredients and I actually really like that there is no heavy frosting, as that would probably over whelm the flavor of those wonderful strawberries. Oh my... I have the cookie cutters, now I need to get that cake tin... a lovely 5 minutes N, Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteI love strawberries.... but wont be having any good ones again until the summer.
ReplyDeleteI love your TOP 5 reasons you love Friday!! Your cake looks soo good....Have a great weekend :)
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks very yummy! Like you I love Friday evenings too. I think Friday is the most relaxing night of the week. Trick or Treat~~~~~~Happy Halloween:)
ReplyDeleteMmmmm, I love strawberries and that cake looks wonderful! Have a wonderful Friday and a delightful weekend.
ReplyDeleteChristi @ A Southern Life
Love your coffee cup, it is just precious. Your cake sounds wonderful. I will have to try that recipe. Looks like it was a hit, the plate is empty which is always a great sign. Thanks also for stopping by and leaving such gracious comments. I really appreciate it. Hugs Marty
ReplyDeleteI am so so glad you came over to see me tonight. I love meeting new bloggers.
ReplyDeleteThis cake looks amazing and we all love strawberries, any way they are fixed. I plan to make this very soon...maybe this weekend. i am staying with 3 grands and they love it when we can cook together. I also have a heart shaped baking dish....
Thanks so much for following...I am doing the same with you.
Come back real soon!
xo bj
Thank yu for leaving the last piece for me. Yummy! LOL! This looks really good! Thanks for coming by to visit and I am very happy to meet you!...Christine
ReplyDeleteI think your glazed cake looks absolutely lovely. I wouldn't change a thing!!
ReplyDelete:)
ButterYum
My kids love banana cake (it works out better than my carrot cake recipe ;-) Can't wait to try the strawberry one next spring! Will keep your recipe.
ReplyDeleteAnge
Loved your comment and i just saw your kitchen... oh it's dreamy!!! love it! and now i sure could sit a bit with a slice of this cake and a latte! looks delicious!
ReplyDeletehappy Friday and enjoy dinner out!!
xo,
LuLu
The cake looks great and if your cup goes missing, it won't be my fault. I just couldn't help myself. Have a wonderful Foodie Friday.
ReplyDeleteYou cook the way I do. If you don't have one thing try another. If you like certain things add them in. A little of this some extra of that.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so full of flavor.
I like your mug and the cake looks and sounds GREAT!!! I love heart shapes and have a lot of them. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
ReplyDeleteGeri
I love strawberry cake but strawberry cake with a heart is something special!
ReplyDeleteWhat a yummy-looking cake! Thank you so much for responding to my plea for help with my Australian ingredients. I can't wait to dive in and see what everything tastes like!
ReplyDeleteI am loving this heart cake!!! Thanks for sharing the photos of the whole process and the fantastic finale! Wonderful!!!
ReplyDelete