Channeling Martha - baking from Martha Stewart’s Cookbook New Classics

 

I’m a Martha Stewart fan, that is before she seemed to lay low after her jail time.  Or could it be because my cable provider doesn’t carry a channel, which airs her shows anymore that I feel she isn’t as popular as before? I have a feeling, that if I asked my nieces if they knew Martha S, they’d say, Martha who?

A cousin sent me this thick cook book about 3 years ago but haven’t tried a single recipe.  Sure, I’ve browsed through it but eventually shelved it got shelved where it gathered dust until last week.  Maybe, I just haven’t found the push to try one since it seemed like it was all recipes, so few pics to inspire.

So here I was, with a kilo of fresh strawberries from the market, screaming to be made into something other than a fruit shake or preserve.  Perhaps a strawberry cake or a shortcake?  I remembered I once saw a promising recipe from Gisslen’s Professional Baking but upon checking, it needed strawberries that were almost of the same size.  No can do with the strawberries I had.  They were in every size imaginable plus, I don’t think I had enough of the large ones to make it.  Ok, scrap that recipe.  Looking through my other cookbooks I saw Martha’s book and browsed for a recipe, which uses strawberries.  Saw her version of Strawberry Cake, no pic but looks easy enough.  At 8 pm, why not?  If I was Martha, I’m sure any time is a perfect time for baking.

After cutting off the stems and overripe parts of the strawberries, I vertically halved it and set-aside. I usually decrease sugar when using an American cookbook since I usually find their recipes too sweet but for this one, I followed it to the letter since it uses less sugar than flour, which is a good indication that it won’t be too sweet.

And here it is!  Dense and moist, the cake was perfectly sweet.  The tartness of the strawberries actually worked well with this cake.  I still can’t decide whether I want this more airy or not or if I want to add in another flavor to the base, anise perhaps?  I wonder, would Martha agree to tweaking her recipe? :)

Strawberry Cake

From Martha Stewart Living Cookbook The New Classics

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing

1 ½ c all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 c plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

½ c milk (I used evaporated milk for this one)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ kilo strawberries, hulled and halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 10-inch pie plate.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.
2. Put the butter and 1-cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in the flour mixture.  Transfer the batter to the buttered pie plate.  Arrange the strawberries on top of the batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible.  Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the strawberries.
4. Bake the cake 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake until the cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour.  Let cool in the pie plate on a wire rack.  Cut into wedges.  The cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to 2 days.