Strawberry cake and a few extras ;)

I don’t like gourmet cooking or “this” cooking or “that” cooking. I like good cooking.

James Beard

I like health-conscious cooking, but growing up in the South, I do love southern cooking; southern France, southern Italy, southern Spain. I love southern cooking.

Clarence Clemons

One person cooking at home cannot pay attention to too many things. If a woman makes three dishes, she will get nervous on the first, the second will suffer and the third will be a disaster.
Rene Veaux

Today cooking had started very early. I noticed I have everything what I need for barszcz… and I ran out of my last pot… so it’s the time to cook some more! 🙂

At the same time banana pudding pie went down the drain (SAD!!! I KNOW!!!), and there was nothing sweet to snack on… and I had everything what I need to make my husband’s favourite strawberry cake.

This is how it started:
Chicken broth cooking
A little more of that fatty stock
Then was the cake… Mixing the batter. Not a big deal… but maybe for somebody who doesn’t have two things already cooking on a stove, one little poppy pants pottering around the kitchen floor all together with the dog trying to beg the hell out of me… I think our daughter spends too much time with Di because she’s started to do the same… beg for food whenever she sees me in the kitchen preparing something…
Strawberry cake!!! here I come!!!
If you interested those are the ingredients:
  • 3 cups of self – raising flour
  • 1 1/2 granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cup purred strawberries, strained*
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest (I use orange sometimes, it works great, too)
  • 4 large eggs, beaten

Don’t have self-raising flour?! Don’t worry. It’s nothing more than all-purpose flour with added baking powder and salt. For every one cup of flour add 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Tadah!!! Self-raisin flour served 😉 Exactly: served… I just found out that our dog like self-raisin flour. She ate everything what was on the floor and it looked like she was waiting for more.[sigh]

Anyway this is what has to be done with all those ingredients… It has to be mixed well in no particular order… nothing like the dry ingredients first than the wet ingredients… or mix 2 first with 2 next… and than add the last three… but don’t forget to mix them first but mix the two of the last three first and than add the last one… now you’re ready to add the last mixed three to the first mixed four!!!

Nop… Don’t worry about that. Just mix it all, and you’ll be just fine!

Spray and flour the baking pan and pour the batter into it. What size pan?! Hm… I think mine is 12×18. This batter makes fabulous cupcakes, but I really wasn’t in a mood of doing all the cupcakey thing…

It was so long time ago when I baked this cake for the last time that I actually didn’t pay attention to some details today. Maybe because there was too much going on around me. Cooking barszcz, keeping eye on our Little Getting Better Pants, trying not to step on her, fixing quick-lunch for my hungry husband, taking pictures, and trying not to get dirty at the same time. I mean REALLY not to get dirty because to make the beetroot soup you need the beets. A few.

I cook them whole without peeling first. I was told that if you make them that way they will keep the color, and the soup will be very bloody red 😉 I peel them after they cook, with my hands armed with gloves. You don’t want to do it without the gloves… or if you don’t mind washing your hands with lemon juice after all…

Feel free to try both ways 🙂

This is what I do after I peel them. I simply grate them to the stock I have made first. I mean I take the meat and bones out from it, but I keep the rest of the vegetables (carrots, celery, root parsley (which is not a parsnip!!! but feel free to use it, too), potatoes).

Some people throw the vegetable, some people use them as a side dish for meat, something like a salad… I just don’t like to do that. I like to eat all of it as a soup.

The soup needs some acid so I use apple cider vinegar. Some people use fresh lemon juice, but it doesn’t work for me… Just don’t like it with lemon juice.

Ah… and at the same time… .

Yep! That’s right. It’s exactly what you think off. My screwed frosting. Strawberry frosting-to-be-or-not-to-be-but-rather-not-to-be!!! I tried to rescue it… but… forget it!

Instead of frosting I used a remaining strawberry purée.

And… I was saying something about little changes in the recipe that I’ve made before but didn’t follow today… Yep… Sugar! Again. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar… I forgot… Simply… Normally I use 1 1/2 cup or even a bit less that that… and it’s fabulous, but not today!

Did somebody cast a spell on me!?!?!

Whoever, whatever, however, damnitever…. stop… please!!! I’ll be good! I, damn it, am good. I vacuumed even… and I’m in so much darn pain… that even 6 pills, bengay, hot shower, hot bath, and freaking cold shower at the end couldn’t help… so… night night everybody… tomorrow I’ll post some of my beetroot soup pictures… .  Today I didn’t have any nice clean bowl to use for that purpose, because it happened that it’s the dishwashing day, too…  and I’m exhausted 🙂

and I’m perfectly (im) perfect with Hill 🙂

Whoever interested in making the beetroot soup go here. She’s got some good recipes and different ways to eat, use, preserve the barszcz. I’m not that good with recipes, but I do my best if you ask 🙂


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3 thoughts on “Strawberry cake and a few extras ;)

  1. Polish Mama on the Prairie

    Loved it! I didn’t know that boiling with the skin keeps them darker. I do that for salads and meant to try for Barszcz but haven’t had time. And I love root parsley also in soups (or even pureed in mashed potatoes, yum). Thanks for tip! I think you are a great cook! 🙂 I hope you feel better! Hugs from my corner! Na razie…

    Reply

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