Strawberry Snack Cake
Y’all, there’s nothing better than 7th graders for your heart.
1. One of my kids taught another kid how to scan their face. “Close your eyes, because you’re not supposed to look at the light,” she explained. “My grandpa taught me that.” #familygoals
2. My little writing class’s prompt for our circle was (per a student suggestion) sharing our celebrity crushes. I shared mine first (Stephanie Beatriz and Andy Samberg). I’d estimate that roughly 50% of the kids also named crushes of their same or multiple genders. I cannot imagine having been comfortable enough at their age to do so — and I can’t imagine having been in a school and group where that would’ve been a nonissue. It. Was. So. Amazing.
3. Last week, after coming in voluntarily to do some project work after school and before he and his friends taught me the Duck Song, one of my kids announced: “I love this class, Ms. Julie.”
I’m gonna hold on to every precious moment this week. I’m a mess because we have a huge exhibition coming up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings where my students will be reading poetry and research from their semester-long zine-making project, Toolkit for a Revolution, at a gorgeous local coffee shop, Project Reo Collective (if you’re in San Diego, you’ve gotta check it out! It’s especially beautiful at sunset.)
I’m far from an event planner, but I’ve been rounding up chairs, canopies, flood lights — I’m way outside of my comfort zone. But I want these nights to be so special for them because they’ve worked so hard. I hope we all make it through to next weekend — at which point I will definitely be celebrating with some cake! — in one piece.
One year ago: Hot Toasted Coconut Cake
Two years ago: Hot Glazed Almond Cake
Three years ago: Brown Butter Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Four years ago: Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns
Five years ago: White Sheet Cake with Fluffy Whipped Icing
Six years ago: Healthy Roasted Tomato and Onion Bread Soup
Seven years ago: Strawberry Walnut Ricotta Muffins
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5-6 strawberries, chopped
- 1 tablespoon strawberry jam
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- whipped cream
- To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8-inch square baking pan (I even add a little square of greased parchment at the bottom). In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter and water to a boil. In the meantime, in a separate large bowl, whisk together the cake flour and sugar before adding the egg, sour cream, almond extract, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine. While mixing, slowly pour in the boiling butter and water mixture. Mix to combine completely. Your batter will be very runny. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in several places comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.
- To make the glaze: Put chopped strawberries and jam into a food processor to puree. Pour into a medium bowl and mix in milk and vanilla extract. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar. Pour glaze over the cake to cover (I used most but not all of it). Cut into sliced and serve with whipped cream.
Joanna
January 21, 2018 at 5:41 pm (7 years ago)YES! Both to precious seventh graders and to this strawberry cake. You have included two of my very favorite things in this blog post 🙂 One of the hardest things about being back in the classroom is that now I don’t have as much time to cook. Maybe I can talk my 14 year old into making this snack…
Natalie
January 22, 2018 at 4:49 am (7 years ago)YUM! This cake looks so good! I love these kinds of cakes – so easy to so yummy!
David
August 1, 2018 at 5:25 pm (6 years ago)I have a stack of frozen strawberries. I didn’t knew what to do with them! Now I know 🙂
RMB
February 13, 2019 at 10:45 am (6 years ago)Hi, you mention 1 egg in the Ingredients list, but eggS (plural) in the Instructions. Please clarify, is it one egg or more? Followed instructions exactly. Cake was like pudding after 15 minutes, 375F. Needed another 10 minutes baking time. By chance, is there a typo and you meant 25-28 minutes rather than 15-18 minutes? (Have a thermometer in my oven in addition to oven setting, so have ruled out there being an issue with my oven.) Thank you!
Julie Ruble
February 13, 2019 at 11:04 pm (6 years ago)It’s one egg — thanks for catching the plural in the ingredients; I’ll fix that! The 15-18 minutes is accurate, but cooking time can vary based on the pan/dish type, oven, altitude, etc. Glad you were able to test yours to the doneness you like!