Strawberry time is approaching, so it's good to have great recipes ready to take advantage. This pound cake does just that with a moist cake that's topped with a fresh strawberry glaze.
Cake:
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 c. granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. strawberry extract, optional
1/2 t. red food coloring, optional
Glaze:
2 T. strawberry puree, reserved from cake
2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. pure freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
Cake:
Remove strawberry stems; wash strawberries thoroughly; drain.
Add strawberries to food processor or heavy duty blender; puree until smooth. Set aside 2 T. puree for glaze.
Add strawberry puree to a small pot over medium heat; reduce puree for 15-20 minutes or until there is about ½ cup left and is pretty thick. Cool puree down to room temperature; set aside.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 12 cup Bundt pan with non-stick method of your choosing.
In mixer bowl, add butter; beat for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add in sugar; beat on high speed for 4 minutes until fluffy and a very pale yellow. It might be a bit crumbly. Next, add eggs, 1 at a time, combining well after each addition, scraping down the sides of bowl, as needed.
Turn mixer down to lowest speed; slowly add flour in 2 increments; add salt and baking soda. DO NOT OVER-BEAT!
Add buttermilk, cooled strawberry puree, vanilla and strawberry extracts and red food coloring, if using; mix until just combined, then stop. Pour cake batter into the Bundt pan.
Bake for 70 - 80 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake on a serving plate.
Glaze:
Once cake has cooled to room temperature, whisk together reserved 2 T. strawberry puree, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon or lime juice until smooth and thick, but pourable.
Use a spoon to test this by seeing how it runs down the side of the spoon. If too thin, adjust with powdered sugar. If too thick, add a bit more juice until reaching desired consistency.
Glaze top of cooled cake. Allow to set for 10 minutes. Sprinkle on powdered sugar.
Serve.
16 servings.
*Tip: Be sure to slow down mixer when adding in dry ingredients to not over-activate gluten in the cake.