strawberry buttermilk and halva cake
Every now and again Instagram suggests a post that interests me, which is how I came upon this recipe by Baked by Benji. The recipe is for a buttermilk halva cake topped with cream and strawberries which would be the perfect cake to bake to celebrate the start of Wimbledon.
I grew up eating halva so I didn't need to buy any because I had an almost full container in the fridge. I spent a small fortune on strawberries though because it's not really strawberry season here in Sydney. I had a small container of mixed black and white sesame seeds that I use to top my sourdough bread, so I used them to top the cake.
Benjamina reports that the cake can be baked in advance, wrapped well in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container. Once the cake has been decorated, it’s best served on the same day. Any leftovers will need to be stored in the fridge but the refrigerated cake will start to dry out.
The recipe makes a very deep 17-cm cake, which I think might work even better as a layer cake sandwiched together with extra cream and berries. I've given measurements for both options.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a deep 17-cm round cake, which I've adapted from a Benjamina Ebuehi recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20-ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.
Strawberry buttermilk and halva cake – makes a deep 17cm single or layer cake
Cake
80g unsalted butter, softened
120g caster sugar
65g plain or vanilla halva
pinch sea salt flakes
80g unsalted butter, softened
120g caster sugar
65g plain or vanilla halva
pinch sea salt flakes
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
185g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
80ml buttermilk
2 large eggs
185g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
80ml buttermilk
Strawberries (double for sandwich cake)
150g strawberries
2 tsp caster sugar
squeeze of lemon
2 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted in a dry pan
Topping (full amount for sandwich cake, reduced amount for a single cake)
250/200ml cream
100/75g crème fraiche or cream
1 tsp/3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbs/2 tsp icing sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease and line a deep 17cm cake tin with baking paper.
Add the butter, sugar and halva, salt and vanilla extract to a bowl and beat for 3-4 minutes until pale and creamy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each one.
Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a separate bowl. Add half of this to the butter mixture and stir until smooth. Mix in the buttermilk followed by the rest of the flour mixture.
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45-48 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let it cool completely.
Strawberries
Prepare the strawberries by washing them and slicing into discs. Add them to a shallow bowl and add the sugar and squeeze of lemon. Give it a gentle stir and then let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until they get syrupy.
Topping
To make the topping, add the cream, crème fraîche, vanilla and sugar to a bowl and whisk by hand until the cream starts to thicken and holds soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip!
Once the cake is cool, top it with the cream and use the back of a spoon to swirl it around. Spoon on the strawberries along with some of the syrup. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top and serve.
If you're going down the layer cake route, halve the cake horizontally into 2 separate layers. Spoon some of the strawberry juices over the base layer. Spoon over just under half of the whipped cream and the berries. You may want to place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm the cream before topping with the final layer.
She's pretty isn't she?
See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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