Saucy Strawberry-Raspberry Cake

Years ago, I was a fan of plain chocolate cake piled with icing. Or plain vanilla cake piled with icing. Keywords: plain and piles of icing. Now I find myself drooling over those centered around fruit and icing seems irrelevant, sometimes even repelling. Looking for strawberry recipes, this one caught my eye and I could almost taste it before I even started making the cake. That it's made in an 11x7" dish rather than a 13x9 is a bonus.

Saucy Strawberry-Raspberry Cake
from Cooking Club of America
click to print

FILLING

3 c fresh strawberries, quartered
2 tbsp sugar
2 c fresh raspberries

CAKE
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 c whole milk

Heat oven to 375°F.

Spray 11x7-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Combine strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl; spoon into baking dish. Sprinkle with raspberries.

  

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.

Beat 3/4 cup sugar and butter in large bowl at medium speed 1 minute or until light and fluffy.

I cheated by softening my rock-hard butter about 15 seconds in the microwave, which resulted in butter that was a little bit too soft. I continued anyway.


Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract.

At low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk just until combined, beginning and ending with flour mixture, just until combined.
    
I didn't follow the directions perfectly with the flour and milk additions, but it worked out okay.

Spoon over berry mixture; spread gently to cover berries.

 

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in golden brown edge comes out clean and toothpick inserted in light brown center comes out with moist crumbs attached. (Berries should be just beginning to bubble at edge of dish.)


Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.


Just as I'd imagined, the cake was pleasantly sweet without having that oh-my-god-my-teeth-are-rotting feeling. There was plenty of fruit in each bite -- actually the cake:fruit ratio is about 1:1, which is spectacular. And certainly it would go well with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

There was one thing about my cake. It was ridiculously moist. By that I mean it should've baked another minute or two. I baked the cake for 42.5 minutes, saw that it was golden brown, and without testing it, decided it was done. This slightly-uncooked-in-the-middle quality did not deter me from eating the entire cake.

Cost:

• strawberries: $4.25
• sugar: $0.33
• raspberries: $6.99
• flour: $0.33
• butter: $0.42
• egg: $0.29
• vanilla extract: $0.07
• almond extract: $0.12
• milk: $0.25

Total: $13.05 or $1.63 for each of eight servings.

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