More than eleven years ago now, when our eldest daughter turned 3, she asked for a special birthday cake…  She was born in August, a season where fruit is ripe and juicy and plentiful.  She said: “Mummy, for my birthday, I want a cake with lots of strawberries and cream!” 

Her big golden brown eyes were shining with excitement – it was quite obvious she had a clear, mouth-watering picture of the cake in her head!  I’d never made a strawberry cake before, so I questioned her at length to get a clear idea of exactly how she imagined it and what I was going to have to come up with.  The result of my baking met her expectations, and ever since then, I have made a strawberry cake for her birthday!

Years later our youngest son was born, and it didn’t take long for him to ask for the same “cake with lots of strawberries and cream” for his birthday!  This means that I make this cake at least twice a year – in August and in April.  It’s delicious and very quick and easy to make.  The base is my variation of a basic sponge cake; I then whip some cream, spread it on the cake and decorate it with a layer of sliced strawberries.  It is light, juicy and has a lovely taste of vanilla… as the children grow up, I’ve had to start making two cakes for their birthdays – one just isn’t enough!

Here is the recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 150 g butter – at room temperature
• 150 g sugar
• 150 g gluten free flour (my favourite for this cake is Doves Farm self-raising flour; Schaer Mix C works fine too – see products used)
• 4 medium-sized eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder – if you’re not using self-raising flour
• a pinch of salt

For the topping, you need 200 ml cream and some strawberries

Method:

• Cream the butter (if necessary, soften it in the microwave for 30 seconds, but be careful it doesn’t melt completely).
• Add the sugar and eggs and mix well.
• Add the flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder (if using) and pinch of salt.  Mix thoroughly, preferably using a hand mixer or blender.
• Line the bottom of a cake tin with non-stick paper and pour the mixture into the tin (I use a 24 cm round cake tin)
• Bake in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes
• Let the cake cool down completely 

For the topping, whip the cream.  Once it’s whipped you can add a little bit of sugar to it, but it’s not necessary.  Spread the whipped cream onto the cake.  Wash and slice the strawberries and spread them onto the cream.  That’s it!

Do you think your children would like a strawberry cake for their birthday 😉 ?  Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!