Strawberry Cream 1234 Cake

Fresh Strawberry Birthday Cake with Whipped Cream

Few things bring out such sentimental feelings as childhood birthdays. I so vividly remember my mom making me this cake from my favorite childhood cookbook Fanny at Chez Panisse and am happy to report that after making it myself, its as good as I remember. I was asked to make a birthday cake for a friend and immediately was set on this recipe. We had a beautiful flat of strawberries from Watsonville, CA (the strawberry capitol of the world!) and a lovely amount of heavy cream, perfect for whipped cream. This cake is normally a breeze with an electric mixture but our kitchen recently lost theirs, so I made it the old fashion way with nothing but elbow grease, and I've got to say, it was quite the workout, though if you're making the decadent cake, its probably not the worst thing to get a work out in. The cake is not limited to just strawberries and cream, all summer fruits work well, whole or preserved. This cake is a classic french 'quatre-quarts' and can be made chocolate very easily with the substitution of cocoa powder. 

Assembling the cake with layers of whipped cream 

Strawberry Cream 1234 Cake

Cake-

4 eggs

3 cups cake flour*

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Whipped Cream-

5 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup maple syrup 

Combine all ingredients, beat cream until whipped. 

3 pints strawberries, sliced into discs

Make sure your eggs, flour and butter are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8 inch cake pans with butter and tap in a bit of flour, no more than a tablespoon for both pans. Measure out all ingredients. Separate eggs. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Fold in egg yolks and in thirds add flour mixture while slowly adding milk. Add vanilla. Beat egg whites until they form glossy peaks and fold in. In prepared pans, pour in batter. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating racks in oven around the 10 minute mark. Remove from oven and let cool. Run knife around sides of pan and gently flip onto a plate. When completely cool, gently cut each cake in half with a serrated knife and transfer to cake plate lined with wax paper. Set 1st layer on pan and smooth out a dollop of whipped cream. Lay out a ring of strawberry discs and repeat 3 times. Ice cake with whipped cream and enjoy! 

*Lets be real, who has cake flour lying around? I sure didn't. To substitute simply take all purpose flour and for every cup replace 2 tbsp with corn starch. Be sure to sift the mixture thoroughly  (1 cup all purpose flour - 2 tbsp replaced + 2 tbsp corn starch, sifted 3 times over)

Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake

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Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake at Camp Joy Gardens, Boulder Creek, California

Chocolate is one of those alluring ingredients that inspired me to create something simple and decadent when Camp Joy Gardens, a small non-profit organic farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, received 25 pounds of cocoa powder in their bulk order. The beautiful 4 acre farm is run through an apprenticeship program that is greatly influenced by Alan Chadwick's model of biodynamic organic farming techniques. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into the program and have been overcome with splendor, as food is a communal affair and everyone gets to create wonderful meals from the fresh produce we grow. I really wanted to keep this cake gluten free, as one of my peers is intolerant. With most dietary restrictions, it’s difficult to retain the integrity of a recipe without using a substitute that hinders the flavor. This wonderful snacking cake however gets too much of its flavor and texture from the ground almonds and is completely gluten free without anything being lost without flour. 

You may notice that this recipe is also written in grams. Within the last couple of months I have become fond of working with a digital scale when baking. When you multiply a recipe, proportions can easily be thrown off and working with a scale takes the guess work out of multiplying a recipe, and helps you remain exact, which is so important in baking!

Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake

as adapted from David Lebovitz

6 oz (170g) chocolate* 

1/2 cup (115g) butter

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup almonds, roasted 

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (35g)

powdered sugar & cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 8 inch cake pan. In a double boiler, melt down butter and add chocolate. Once melted remove and allow to cool. In a bowl, separate eggs into whites and yolks. Whisk the egg yolks, half of the sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and salt, stir in melted chocolate. In a food processor pulse almonds until fine and add in the buckwheat flour. Stir into chocolate mixture. In a mixture (or by hand if you want a work out!) whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, add the remaining sugar and beat until firm peaks form. Slowly fold into chocolate mixture. Scrap bowl into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Center should be slightly soft. Cool and remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar & cocoa powder. Enjoy with a scoop of ice cream for added decadence! 

* I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate would be amazing as well.