Lemons and strawberries in November? (A time when we are usually baking with pumpkin and cinnamon and apples….?)
Well – we are experiencing some amazing Indian Summer weather here in Mars – with temperatures in the 70’s, the sun shining brightly, and the sky a vibrant shade of blue – so why not – right?
Well – the truth be told – that same cute little bugger who requested the Royal Flush Halloween t-shirts recently found a photo on Reddit that struck his fancy a few days ago of a freshly baked loaf of lemon pound cake with strawberries. He texted me the photo saying, “Please make.”
Well…. how could I resist? (I know….. pushover! – but really…. I live for this stuff!)
Turns out the sweet young lady who posted the photo stating “this just came out of the oven” did not post the recipe! How dare she??!! More than one reader called her “evil” for not posting the recipe!
I did some digging, however, and found the source and the recipe… Score!! (I know – I have issues!)
Turns out Bianca Davies, the “evil” baker/Reddit poster, is a trained chef from Cape Town, South Africa, who attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but is equally inspired by her Granny and Granny’s lemon trees.
Per Bianca, Granny likes a cake that is “rich, moist, light, airy and slightly fudgy.” This little pound cake amazingly delivers on all of that – and more!
So before we get seriously into Autumn and Winter baking and cooking, you might want to enjoy one last taste of summer! You will not regret it!
Lemon Strawberry Pound Cake
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup salted butter
- zest of 2 large lemons
- 8-10 fresh strawberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Grease a loaf pan well with butter.
- Whisk eggs, sifted powdered sugar and vanilla together in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk flour and baking powder together.
- Place butter in a small saucepan. Zest lemons into your butter and place on a low heat to melt. (Do not boil)
- Combine all three mixes together a little at a time. Do not over mix.
- Pour into your prepared loaf pan.
- Chop your strawberries into quarters and arrange evenly on top of the batter.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for approximately 40 minutes. (The cake should be golden brown and ‘just’ done with your knife or cake tester not coming out completely clean. Do not over bake.)
- Let cool slightly in the pan, turn out gently and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar and try not to eat the whole cake in one go!
Converted recipe from http://thesecretlifeofbee.co.za/ (Bianca Davies, Cape Town, South Africa)
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 