Sugar High Friday #23 - Surprise Inside!
So, this is my first time entering a foodie event (not including Festa Al Fresco, which was run by the lovely Lis and Ivonne so there was no question of not participating!). In between working and studying and trying to have some semblance of a social life, it leaves very little time for cooking things for myself to eat for lunch/dinner, so the question of especially cooking something for the sake of an event has never really appealed to me. However, I happen to be on break from uni (but not from work) this week, so I figured I’d use the time off to bake something delightful as opposed to, oh, I don’t know, starting on my politics essay due next week?
Sure, the essay needs doing at some stage, but frankly I think that the labour of baking was much more fruitful than essay research!
I finally made it to the post office today to mail my Blogging By Mail package to my recipient all the way in Canada ($51 postage for a 2kg package by airmail - ouch!), and on the way back decided to make a stopover at the supermarket to stock up on some baking supplies. I only needed all-purpose flour and butter but came back also toting creme fraiche, buttermilk, canned passionfruit pulp, shredded coconut, vanilla paste and a punnet of strawberries. Obsessed much?
Anyway, once I got home I sat down with a cup of tea and flipped through this month’s edition of Delicious magazine and happened upon Nigella’s Strawberry Sour Cream Streusel Cake recipe. OH. MY. GOD. The picture of this cake oozing it’s berry goodness onto the plate with it’s thick crumbly topping sent me into overtures of delight, and once I’d recovered (and wiped the drool from the page) I decided that I had to make it straight away.
So, the cake is very pretty, but how exactly does it qualify for this week’s SHF theme?
This is how! Upon cutting open this cake, the strawberry puree oozes out like liquid lava in the most decadent fashion!
The cake itself is moist and feather-light, the strawberry is delicious and comes through with a slight scent of vanilla, and the sweet crunch of the streusel topping is very much the icing on the cake! It’s not impressive to look at before it’s been cut into, but I think it has a very ‘homely’ charm - and one of sheer decadence once it’s inner delight is revealed!
Cake Ingredients (modified from Nigella’s recipe from ‘Delicious’)
1 cup caster sugar
360g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
250g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup (240g) sour cream (I used creme fraiche)
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp demerara sugar
Strawberry Puree Ingredients
2 tsp cornflour
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g strawberries, hulled
2 tbsp strawberry jam
2 tbsp caster sugar
1. Make puree first by making a paste of cornflour and vanilla, then blend together with strawberries, jam and sugar till smooth, then set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C and grease/line a 22cm springform pan.
3. Combine caster sugar, flour, baking powder and bicarb soda in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Rub in butter with your fingertips till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Remove 1/2 cup of mixture and set aside, the add sour cream, egg and vanilla to the main bowl and mix in till combined.
4. Using a little over half the cake batter, drop dollops of batter in the pan. Pat batter across the bottom and about 2.5cm up the sides of the tin (mixture will be very sticky and uneven).
5. Add strawberry puree spoonful by spoonful till it covers the bottom in an even layer but is approximately 2cm from the sides of the cake tin. Cover with the remaining cake mixture.
6. Use a fork to combine the leftover 1/2 cup from step 3 with the 2 tsp of demerara sugar, then sprinkle evenly across the top of the cake.
7. Bake for 45 minutes until lightly golden and the cake doesn’t wobble when you give it a shake.
This cake is definitely one you should give a try - especially if you’re having guests over for tea. I guarantee that they’ll be impressed with the oozing strawberry puree that comes from this innocent looking cake!
Make sure you visit Alanna’s blog at A Veggie Venture to see the round up for this week’s Sugar High Friday 
Technorati Tags: SHF23, Strawberry cake, Streusel topping
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Comments
Ivonne What an unbelievable surprise! I just love Nigella and I’m so glad that you saw this recipe, tried it and blogged about it!
And I can’t believe this is your first foodie event besides La Festa al Fresco! I hope you enter more often because you’re clearly very good at it!
Kat Ooh, that looks great too. And participating in a blogging by mail sounds fun! I have one copy of Delicious, one of Donna Hay and two of Australia Gourmet Traveller when my hubby went to Australia on business, love them all!
Ellie Lis - hehehe, you should totally give it a try! I think that you could potentially make this with any fruit, so maybe you could take your Autumn produce out for a stroll around the park? 
Rachel - I had a slice for dessert before, and must say that it tastes even better the day after!
Ivonne - It’s definetely an awesome surprise The picture in the magazine was a winner, but the fact that it was a Nigella recipe made it a ‘must-do’ for me - that woman is a goddess! As for the foodie events, I’ll have to give some more of them a shot
Kat - It’s pricey but definetely a lot of fun You should give it a try next time! Hehehe, and I have to agree that we’ve got some pretty good cooking mags here for resources
DrReb A sweet surprise - looks utterly yum. And you only have to worry when you’re down to cleaning the oven rather than starting an essay
Ellie DrReb - Hehehe, I’m almost at that point now! Why is it that I can always find the motivation to cook when I’m tired, but essays are never appealing?? 
Ah well!
Helen What a great entry! I just finished breakfast, but I am ready for that cake. Makes me want to dive in and eat it all!
Ellie Helen - Hehehe! The cake definetely works well for a morning sugar rush…not that I’m speaking from experience or anything!
Ellie Peabody - Glad you like it Thanks for the welcome, hopefully I’ll take part more often from now on!
Christine I think it looks great both inside AND out! Yum! Now “I” have to wipe the drool of my keyboard.
Josie That filling looks so decadent—-and I just happen to have some strawberries frozen from the summer crop waiting to be used! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and great photos!
Ellie Christine - Hehehe, hope you managed to wipe it up quickly enough…I’ve put glad wrap over my keyboard to prevent the same problem
Josie - It is insanely so, hope you like it
Susan hi,
Great cake - I made it yesterday and it was gone in 5 minutes flat!!
tastes fantastic, but the volcanic ooze wasnt as red or lava-like - any ideas why..I would like it to look magnificent too! yeah just want it all!
Thanks for the great recipe though!
Ellie Hi Susan - Hmm, not quite sure why the ooze wasn’t red…I’d suspect it may have something to do with the berries used. As for the oozing, I have to admit that it was only really oozy the first few hours out of the oven, there was no more ooziness by the next day (though that might have had something to do with the fact that most of the strawberry had already oozed out by then!)
Holy crap does that look awesome!!!! I want to make it right away!! F*ck the strawberries are no good here anymore.. I need to think of something else that will work.. My imagination is running wild with different ways of changing the flavors.. I’m so glad you decided to make this once you saw it.. now I can too
xoxo