Strawberry Bundt Cake

  With Valentine's Day just a week away I wanted to make a fun dessert that was pink and festive to brighten our day since it's been so cold and snowy out. This Strawberry Bundt Cake certainly did the trick. In fact it's frosting alone could brighten anyone's day and reminds me of the strawberry flavored cream cheese I used to spread on my bagel as a kid. I will admit the cake is dense and similar to the consistency of banana bread instead of dessert cake. Mike, the original baker of this recipe mentions reducing the amount of strawberry puree to make it lighter but when I was following his recipe I forgot to do that so I've reduced the amount of strawberry puree in my post which should help make your bundt cake lighter. Nevertheless it is delicious and the perfect dessert for your sweetheart if you're spending the holiday at home with a romantic home cooked meal.

Ingredients for Cake:

1 Cup Strawberry Puree - Buy 2 lbs of Strawberries but only puree 1 1/2 containers

2 3/4 Cups Flour

1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

3/4 Tsp Salt

2 Sticks I Can't Believe it's not Butter - Softened

4 Eggs

Zest of 1 Lemon

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Skim Milk

Pam Spray

Ingredients for Frosting:

8 oz Cream Cheese - Softened

1 Stick I Can't Believe it's not Butter - Softened

2 Cups Confectioner's Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Strawberry Puree

Adapted from: http://mikes-table.themulligans.org/

Start by pureeing your strawberries. I bought 2 lbs but I wanted some to garnish the top of the cake and serve on top of each slice so I only pureed a little over 1 lb. Wash, cut off the top and slice each one in half before putting in the food processor. Puree the strawberries and then push them through a strainer using a spatula, this is slightly time consuming but it will make the puree smoother and leave behind some of the seeds.

Now it's time to preheat the oven to 325 F and make the cake batter. In your stand mixer cream the softened butter and sugar until it's smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and the lemon zest. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder). Pour in some of the dry ingredients and then some of the milk followed by about half of the strawberry puree. Mix until completely combined. Add the rest of the ingredients in that order until everything has been mixed into the batter. 

Spray your bundt pan with Pam and pour in your batter. Give it a few good taps on the counter to get out any air bubbles and push the batter down into all of it's crevasses. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before attempting to take it out of the pan. I used a plastic scraper and just loosened the sides a bit before I flipped it over onto my serving dish.

While the cake is baking it's time to make the frosting. I rushed my frosting because it was the end of the day and my sunlight was dwindling quickly so my cream cheese and butter weren't as soft as they should've been which made my frosting a marbled pink instead of a nice pink color. In your stand mixer bowl combine the softened cream cheese, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and strawberry puree until smooth and creamy. Once the cake is completely cooled decorate with the frosting and strawberries as you see fit depending on the design of your budnt cake. Each slice I served I drizzled with more frosting and topped with extra strawberries. Make sure to keep the frosting and any portion of the cake that has frosting on it in the fridge.

Enjoy!!