Homemade strawberry cake

April is the season of fresh and sweet strawberries, so for our kid's second birthday I decided to bake a strawberry cake at home.

Ingredients

Strawberry puree:

• 200 g of strawberries
• 50 g of sugar

Batter:

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200 g softened unsalted butter
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 60 ml milk
• 60 g plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbsp strawberry puree
• 150 g cut strawberries

Frosting:

• 250 g mascarpone
• 80 g powdered sugar
• 200 ml heavy cream (30-36% fat)
• 2-3 tbsp strawberry puree
• strawberries, blueberries and mint leaves for decor

Recipe

1. On a medium heat simmer 200 g strawberries and 50 g sugar for 3-4 mins.
2. Puree the softened strawberries with a blender, set aside to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, grease and flour two 20 cm round cake pans or line with the parchment paper. You can put the pans in the fridge to cool down.
4. Dry ingredients: in a medium bowl whisk together 250 g flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.
5. Wet ingredients: in a larger bowl cream 200 g softened butter and 200 g sugar until fluffy, add one egg at a time (4 total), mix in 1 tsp vanilla, 60 ml milk, 60 g plain yougurt and 3-4 tbsp cooled down strawberry puree.

6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 2-3 parts. Mix until just combined, do not overmix! Overmixing causes flour to release more gluten and the cake texture turns out rubbery - this was my mistake.
7. Gently fold in 150 g cut strawberries.

7. Divide batter in equal parts in two baking pans. Bake on 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 mins. Check after the 25 mins mark with the toothpick, be careful not to over bake. Hint: use DIY bake-even strips. Cut out two 100% cotton strips from clean old kitchen towel, shirt or baby wraps, damp them in cold water, squeeze and wrap around the pans, secure with a safety pin or a paperclip. The strips cool the outer edge of the pan to help the cake bake more evenly, preventing domed tops.

8. Cool down the cakes in the pans for 10 mins, then remove them and cool on the rack for 1-2 hrs. Afterwards cover in plastic foil, cool in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

9. For the cream: cool down the bowl and the whisk in the fridge for 15-20 mins, mascarpone and heavy cream should also be cold for the cream to stabilize.
10. Mix 250 g mascarpone with 80 g powdered sugar on slow to medium speed. Then mix in 200 ml heavy cream. If the cream texture is still runny add 1 tbsp powdered sugar, or mix on high speed for 1-2 mins. You can also add 2-3 tbsp strawberry puree.
11. Cover cake layers with frosting, on top and the edges, decorate with strawberries, blueberries for the contrast and mint leaves. Set aside in the fridge for 1-2 hrs before cutting.
12. Enjoy!