Saturday, May 22, 2010

Weekend Cooking: Strawberry Cream Cake

I think I have a sweet sense like some of the characters do in The Girl Who Chased The Moon. I love to bake cakes and share them.

When my partner was a kid his favorite treat was Strawberry Cream Cake from Canter's Delicatessen in West Hollywood. I decided to surprise him with one for his birthday a few weeks ago.

For this recipe I used the Cook's Illustrated version. Unfortunately, it's copyrighted and I can't publish it here. With three pages of instructions it would take up too much room anyway. Yikes! I about gave up when I saw how much work was involved but decided to take on the challenge.

My first stumbling block was running out of cake flour. I used the Internet to find a solution. The magic word was "cornstarch." Place 1/4 cup in a 2 cup measure and then add flour.

The next challenge was the cake pan. I had the required 9 inch. The problem was it fell short of the 2 inch height. This would be an issue because the single layer needed to be cut into three. For a quick fix I split the batter between three 9 inch pans.

In addition to the cake, I had to make a strawberry reduction for the filling, position cut strawberries between layers, and make whipped cream.

The cake didn't last long and was gone in a few days. The memory of it remains. Do you have a favorite summer cake?

Weekend Cooking is hosted at Beth Fish Reads.

14 comments:

  1. Now that is what I call a show-stopper dessert!!

    I received the mystery and am anxious to read it sometime this summer.

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  2. Hi Rob,
    that looks delicious. What is Cook's Illustrated? a book/magazine/blog?
    As for our fav cake in the summer, that would be my birthday cake. I don't generally bake in the summer as its so hot, so that if I do get a birthday cake I am so thrilled with it. Lemon would be my fav summer flavour.

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  3. that looks SO good! We're busy eating blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries here!

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  4. The big question is: What did your partner think? Did it compare to his memories?

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  5. Rob, you are an incredibly sweet person!

    My favorite summer dessert is a glazed strawberry pie, but I have recently concocted a combo using mango sorbet and coconut gelato. Add some Amaretti cookies to that and yum.

    Your partner is very lucky!

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  6. OMG...looks so fabulous, and you didn't invite us??? LOL

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  7. The work was worth it -- it looks stunning! I might have to make that cake myself. I'll plan to buy strawberries at the farmers market this week.

    Sorry I was so late stopping by -- I was out of town last week.

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  8. I have an award for you at http://helensbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/sunshine-award.html

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  9. Helen: Thanks for the award!

    Beth F: I love farmers markets too. The strawberries I used were from Big Island.

    Diane: Next time you're on island stop by for cake and hand roasted coffee.

    NancyO: Yum! I love sorbet and gelato with tropical fruits.

    Thomas: He loved the cake and the memories it brought back.

    Heather: Cooks Illustrated is a magazine and on-line website. All of their recipes are tested and include notes. Let me know if you decide to use this resource.

    Molly: I love theater talk as a former thespian.

    Elizabeth: It really was that good.

    Aloha from Rob

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  10. HI Rob,
    Thanks for your reply. I just went to the magazine site and decided to treat myself and my family to a year's subscription. It will be fun to try more new recipes. thanks again. It should arrive in ample time for me to find a scrumptious recipe for my birthday cake.

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  11. Wow, that looks scrumptious! This wkend I made a strawberry chiffon pie-- gelatin/sourcream base-- no baking. Very light and refreshing in our unusually hot Okie weather.

    Hubby worked in Hollywood in the late 70s and raves about Canter's pastrami-- I must ask him about this cake!

    Love your cooking posts!

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  12. Looks absolutely delicious.

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  13. My absolute favorite dessert! Yummy!
    Heavy sigh, I'm on a diet.

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