How to Knead Flour

Here’s a delightful guide to baking a delicious strawberry cake:

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• Dry Ingredients:
  • 2 ¼ cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• Wet Ingredients:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk (or sour cream thinned with milk)
• Strawberry Puree:
  • 1 pound (450 grams) fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
  • ¼ cup (60 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

For the Strawberry Glaze (Optional):

• 1 cup (240 grams) powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) milk
• Fresh strawberries for decoration (optional)

Equipment:

• Mixing bowls (large and medium)
• Electric mixer (or hand mixer)
• Baking sheets (for prepping strawberries)
• Parchment paper
• Loaf pan (9×5 inch) or two round cake pans (8 inch)
• Oven mitt
• Spatula
• Whisk

Instructions:

Make the Strawberry Puree:

1. Prep the Strawberries: Wash, hull, and quarter your fresh strawberries.
2. Puree the Strawberries: In a medium bowl, using a hand blender or food processor, puree the quartered strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Pan:

1. Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Grease and Flour the Pan: Grease your loaf pan (or two round cake pans) with butter or cooking spray. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out any excess.

Make the Cake Batter:

1. Whisk the Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (if using).
2. Cream the Butter and Sugar: In your large bowl, using an electric mixer (or hand mixer), cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the Eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated. Then, beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined. Don’t overmix!
5. Gently Fold in the Strawberries: Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the strawberry puree until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix, as this can result in a tough cake.

Bake the Cake:

1. Pour Batter into Pan: Pour the cake batter into your prepared loaf pan or cake pans.
2. Bake: Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes for a loaf pan, or 30-35 minutes for round cake pans, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the Cake:

1. Cool in Pan for 10 Minutes: Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze (Optional):

1. Whisk the Glaze Ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth and pourable. You can adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding more milk if it’s too thick, or more powdered sugar if it’s too thin.

Frost the Cake (Optional):

1. Once the cake is completely cool, drizzle or pour the glaze over the top of the cake.
2. Decorate with Fresh Strawberries (Optional): You can arrange some fresh strawberries on top of the glazed cake for a beautiful presentation.

Tips:

• For a richer flavor, you can substitute buttermilk with sour cream thinned with milk.
• If you don’t have fresh strawberries, you can substitute with 1 cup of frozen strawberries, thawed and mashed. However, the fresh strawberries will yield a brighter strawberry flavor.
• Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting or glazing it, to prevent the glaze from melting.
• This cake is delicious on its own, but you can also serve

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