Strawberries and Cream Cake Kebobs

Strawberries and Cream Cake Kebobs.

March 22, 2011

This started off as a loaf cake.

After finding some amazing strawberries at the grocery store, all I had in mind was something “strawberries and cream.” I didn’t care what it was. All I knew was that I could practically smell the strawberries when I stepped into the store. They are so ripe and fresh and sweet! Just how I like them. I wait for this all year long.

As soon as I got home, I decided I was going to make a strawberries and cream loaf cake. Because a loaf cake is sort of like a snack cake. Similar to banana bread, if you will. Which means it’s an entirely appropriate snack at all hours of the day.

But I found it slightly boring. And plain. I thought it needed some spice in it’s life. So I cut the slices into squares and skewered them with some sugary, sweet strawberries.

Now is the time when I should probably come clean and tell you that my loaf cake wasn’t as pretty as I wanted it to be. Hence all of the skewering and the kebobing. The cake still turned out, but it wasn’t as full as I wanted it to be. I think my loaf pan was too large. I think the strawberries were too ripe. I think I lost my marbles half way between the creaming of the sugar and the baking of the cake.

But that’s neither here nor there, because this turned out to be a fun and delicious dessert! The cake was so good. It was creamy and cakey and fluffy.

I made a glaze too because, well… if you haven’t noticed – I’m obsessed with glazing things.

This glaze was by far the best part. I am not even joking. The best.

I was slurping this off the spoon. I would have drank an entire glass of it. Total sugar shock… but delicious. Strawberries plus cream plus vanilla – it tastes exactly what you would think “strawberries and cream” should taste like.

Let’s talk about what else this glaze would be perfect on. Pancakes. Ice cream. Biscuits. Yogurt. Waffles. Crepes. Bagels. Apples. Cinnamon sugar pita chips. I could go on and on and on. If I’m being honest, I don’t care if you make the cake. You can make any cake and skewer it however you want to. But you must make the glaze!

It’s good for you. It has fruit in it.

Strawberries and Cream Loaf Cake

from the vanilla lime poundcake

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Whisk together.

In the bowl of your electric mixed, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Add butter and mix until batter starts to come together. Add half of the egg mixture and mix on medium for 30 seconds. Add the remaining egg mixture in two parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed for about 30-45 seconds each. Add strawberries and mix until they begin to break down into the batter.

Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of your loaf pan and butter it. Spray the entire loaf pan with baking spray and lay the parchment paper down, buttered side up. Pour the batter in the loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. If cake gets too brown on top, lightly tent it with foil. Let cool before cutting. Once cool, cut slices. Cut each slice in half, then in half again, creating squares. Skewer cake with sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Cream Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 strawberries, mashed or pureed

Mash or puree the strawberries (I used a mini food processor) until they are soupy. In a bowl, combine the berries, sugar, vanilla and cream and whisk until smooth. You may need to add a bit more liquid or sugar to reach desired consistency.

So now you know: if you have a cake that is less than beautiful, skewer it. I think next up is chocolate cake kebobs with peanut butter dipping sauce. (And a bacon crumble. Duh.)