Strawberry Pound Cake

Step 1

Lower the oven rack to the next to lowest position.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a tube pan. If you are baking in a dark colored pan, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and you may need to bake a bit longer.

Step 3

Strawberry Puree and Reduction— Wash and slice 1 pound of strawberries. Puree using a food processor or blender ( I used a Bullet smoothie blender) until you have 1 cup puree.  Put the puree in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until it reduces to 1/2 cup, stir frequently. Set aside to cool.  Reducing the puree gives you the flavor of 1 cup puree without adding too much liquid to the recipe.

Step 4

In a separate bowl whisk the flour and baking powder to combine, set aside for later

Step 5

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter until sooth.  Gradually add the sugar and beat at  medium speed until lightened in color and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, a bit longer if using a hand mixer.

Step 6

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yolk disappears.

Step 7

In a 1 cup measuring cup, add 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 cup of the reduced strawberry puree.  If you end up having a bit less than 1/2 cup, when you add it to the 1/2 cup milk, add more milk to bring the total liquid to 1 cup. Add the 2 teaspoons strawberry extract to the cup. Set Aside

Step 8

Add the flour/baking powder mixture alternately with the milk/puree mixture.  Begin and end with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet ingredients.  Do not mix above medium speed.   If adding a little pink coloring gel, you can do so at this time.

Step 9

Pour the cake batter into prepared tube pan/bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden skewer comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.  Keep an eye on the cake, if the top of the cake begins to get to dark, loosely place a piece of aluminum foil over it. Check at 1 hour for doneness.

Step 10

Remove the baked cake from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before carefully inverting the pan onto a cake board or cake plate.

Step 11

2 1/2  cups (230g) powdered sugar (sift then measure)

Step 12

2 to 3 Tablespoons milk  depending on how thick you want the glaze

Step 13

1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract  (use clear extract for a whiter glaze)

Step 14

Mix all ingredients until smooth.  If it is too thick add a little more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Add more powdered sugar if it is too thin.