Summer cake with strawberries – perfect for Midsummer’s Eve

If someone were to ask me what summer is to me, I’d say fresh strawberries. Nothing says summer more than those delicious red berries. I think many Swedes agree with me on this since strawberries are one of the most important things during the Midsummer celebrations here in Sweden (for most people at least). 

It seems like there will be a very hot summer in Sweden again. It’s not as bad as it was last year (no rain and 30+ degrees Celsius for 3 months) but it’s for sure not raining enough and it’s way too hot for a country like Sweden. I’m so not used to this heat, I’m way more comfortable when it’s 17°C and cloudy, hehe. Anyway, you can’t change the weather so the best thing to do is to enjoy it as much as possible, right? So, why not bake a summer cake? Let’s talk more about the cake in a minute. 

As you have probably noticed, there hasn’t been much going on here on the blog lately. I guess there are several reasons for that – I’m spending all my time with Adam (who doesn’t sleep much during the days anymore), and when I have some time over I usually prioritize doing the laundry, the dishes or I just enjoy some time with a good book. I still cook a lot, and I photograph when I feel like it, but somehow I don’t turn my new creations into blog posts. I have a whole bunch of new photos and recipes in the folder on my computer that’s called ”unpublished”, I just have to find the energy to publish them here. 

Speaking of the blog, some of you have asked why most blog post lack pictures and I’ve been looking into this. When I moved my blog from Squarespace back to WordPress a couple of months ago, it seems like the pictures were lost in the process. This means that I have to manually upload all the pictures to every blog post I’ve ever written. Funny, isn’t it? This is on top of my to do list right now (although it’ll take forever) so that’s also a reason why no new posts are showing up. But, today I have a new recipe for you! 

Back to that cake again. I’ve been wanting to make a summer cake since forever so I thought – why not make a Midsummer cake? With strawberries as the key ingredient of course! And my favorite flowers for decoration. When we find a house I’ll fill the garden with peonies and dahlias. I mean, they should be everywhere. Sorry K, but you have no saying in this. Hehehe. We have actually been looking at a couple of houses this spring, but none felt right so the search continues. Ok, time to share the recipe or I’ll write a novel about my dream garden. Happy Midsummer guys! <3 

Summer cake with strawberries

Cake

3 dl wheat flour
1 dl potato starch
1 1/4 dl sugar
1 1/4 dl cacao 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar (white wine or apple cider)
1 dl rapeseed oil or melted margarine
2 1/2 dl hot water

Filling 

250 g fresh strawberries, hulled and rinsed
3 tbsp dusting sugar
1 tbsp corn starch 

Frosting 

200 ml whipping cream (I used soy)
2-3 tbsp strawberry filling

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
2. In a baking bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for the cake. 
3. Add vinegar, oil and then the hot water. Stir to combine. 
4. Butter (well, use vegan margarine for this) and flour (use cacao instead of flour) a 18 cm cake pan and pour the cake batter into the pan. 
5. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out dry. 
6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan (preferably overnight). It’s super important that it’s cool when you cut it. 
7. Slice cake layers equally in half with a sharp knife. 

Filling 

1. Cut the strawberries in halves. 
2. Place the strawberries in a blender and mix until smooth. 
3. Pour the mixed strawberries into a saucepan and cook over low heat for a few minutes. 
4. Add sugar and corn starch and let cook for another few minutes (5-10 minutes or so) while stirring. Remove from the stove when the strawberry mix is starting to thicken. 
5. Set aside and let cool completely (you can leave it over night in the fridge). 

Frosting

1. Combine the cream and the two tbsps of strawberry filling in a bowl and whip until thick and fluffy. It should have a texture that is almost like butter when it’s done. 

Assembling the strawberry cake

1. Place the first base layer onto a cake platter. Cover with strawberry filling and put the other cake layer on top. If you have any filling left, you can pour it onto the second/top layer. 
2. Frost the sides and top with just enough frosting to cover and smooth out the cake. 
3. Decorate with flowers and/or fresh berries. 
4. Your cake is now ready!