I love birthdays. It doesn’t have to be my own, any birthday will do, as I’m not picky in the least. Birthdays equal fun times, friends, family, laughter and best of all, cake. Presents are nice too, but cake, well, you can’t beat cake. Today is my birthday and you better believe that I’ve baked myself a nice cake. It may look a little crufty around the edges but a nice soft blob of whipping cream will hide the dark cruft nicely. When dinnertime rolls around, you can bet that I’ll be cutting myself a nice fat slice. After reading Molly’s book, A Homemade Life, I knew that her Winning Hearts & Minds cake would make it to my birthday table. I’m not going to post the recipe here since you can read it on Orangette, or better yet, get yourself a copy of her book. Judging by scent alone, this cake is going to be great!
But I don’t want you to leave this post empty handed. I want to give you all a nice bit of cake, so I am posting a recipe I made for my mother-in-law’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. It looks a bit rustic, but don’t let that stop you from taking a second helping. The original recipe called for an 11 inch cake tin but all I had was an 8 inch one. I poured as much batter that would fit into the tin & then made one muffin (a tester!). I was worried about a spill over with all that batter packed into such a small tin, but despite some over-zealous bubbling, things turned out well.
This cake is perfect for a casual celebration. It’s quick to whip up and it’s utterly unfussy in the best way. This cake is bursting with strawberries (but you could easily sub in raspberries, blackberries or blueberries) and there is a sprinkle of raw sugar and a kiss of salt over top for a surprise crunch. It’s not too sweet so that you can easily convince yourself that this makes the most ideal breakfast in the world….even when especially when topped with whipping cream and homemade strawberry sauce. As for the salt, I couldn’t really taste it at all, so it’s up to you to bump up the salt, or leave it out entirely. So celebrate your birthday or someone else’s with cake, it’s easy to find a reason to celebrate.
salt-kissed strawberry cake
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 c yogurt
1/4 c butter, melted and cooled a bit
1 c of strawberries, roughly chopped (more if you like)
3 T large grain raw sugar
1 t kosher salt1. Preheat oven to 400F. Butter and flour an 11 inch cake tin.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and zest and set aside. In another bowl, beat together the eggs and then stir in the yogurt and butter. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix lightly until combined.
3. Pour* batter into prepared tin and drop strawberries into the cake. Smush them a bit to let the juices run if you wish. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar and a light dusting of the salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve with whipping cream and strawberry sauce. Or eat plain.
* Batter will not be runny by any means. Pour is more like “plop”.
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Oh goodness, they both look incredibly delicious! I love berry season!
I looove the Winning Hearts & Minds cake, good choice! And happy birthday!
do you think that this cake would work with an egg substitute? or is it pretty dependent on the eggs? sometimes, it’s hard to tell, but it looks so good and i’ve been dying to try it since you posted the pic!
Happy Birthday!!!! I wish you a wonderful day!!! All the best from Argentina!! Eugenia.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have an incredible day, and finish it off with a nice slice of that cake!
Happy birthday!!! Nothing better than a nice slice of cake to celebrate!
have a fantastic birthday – both cakes look gorgeous! 🙂
Happy birthday to you! I love birthdays too, especially my own.
Happy birthday! =) Delicious cakes.
Bon anniversaire, fellow Taurus!
Happy Birthday!!
Both cakes look great. I think I may have to whip one up wiithout waiting until October!
Happy Birthday! Thanks for the timely post – I have strawberries in the fridge that need to be used up quickly.
Either of these would make a fantastic birthday celebration in my book!
Happy Birthday! I’d agree that a happy day takes little more than good friends, lots of laughter, and a nice slice of cake!
Mmm. And who has an 11-inch tin? Crazy. But I may make this for Matriarchy Day (mother and grandma). Happy birthday!
MMMM!
yummy- and have a wonderful birthday! nothing like a good may birthday I always say-
🙂
Hey Happy Birthday! I’m always up for a bit of cake action – especially if they involve berries of any kind 🙂
You never disappoint kickpleat!! These cakes look incredible. Wishing you a great birthday and many more to come..with delicious cake, of course!
Happy Birthday! Lovely cakes! And the strawberry one looks most especially fantabulous!! ; )
That strawberry cake…..wow. I’ll be making that this summer.
Oh that strawberry cake is calling my name. The sauce looks fantaastically delicious. I have to try this!
Three cheers for baking your own birthday cake! I baked Molly’s cake for a friend’s birthday recently, and everyone in attendance agreed: it may look like it has been squashed by two ample butt cheeks, but it tastes divine!
Nice!! Cake is easily the best part of a birthday, wouldn’t you agree? 🙂
Hi- I made this this afternoon, and I’m not quite sure…
First, my batter wasn’t a batter at all (far too thick and clumpy) until I adapted by juicing the orange I’d just zested, and pouring that in. Then, I ended up baking it for an hour, definitely not 20-25 mns!
Maybe it was because GourmetSleuth gave me the wrong conversions- I add them below, what do you think?
300g all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
110g brown sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
200g yogurt
60g butter, melted and cooled a bit
166g of strawberries, roughly chopped (more if you like)
3 T large grain raw sugar
1 t kosher salt
Thanks for this- as it is, it’s quite nice! A nice orangey base, although a bit doughy and thick, with the strawberries on top all gungy.
I love the last picture of empty plate. Makes me want to lick the plate!
Happy Birthday!
I’m a big fan of making birthday cakes for others so I’ve started randomly bringing in birthday cakes for coworkers, regardless of whether or not it’s their actually birthday…
becka, both were amazing…and berry season is right around the corner!
adrienne, it was a good choice. that cake was delicious.
megan, i don’t think there would be harm in trying it out. go for it!
thanks eugenia210!
thanks hayley, it was a great day!
stephchows, agreed.
thanks radish!
haha, i’m with you, dana!
thanks, eatme!
backatchya, laviecerise!
thanks jc, don’t wait!!
lynn, i hope this works for you!
lo, it’s the recipe for birthday success!
bkynharuspex, i know! i sure don’t.
thanks tania 🙂
berries are the best, daily spud.
thanks so much, bijoux!
why thank you, anali! both were great.
sara, you should, it’s a good one!
thanks donna.
jess, molly’s cake was perfect! i was scared that i over-baked it, but no. it was good.
definitely, maris!
little bounce, sorry you had a bad go! i did find the batter really thick and mine did bake longer since i used a smaller pan than the original recipe, but i kept in the original recipe times since maybe others would use the 11 inch pan. as for your conversions, i have no idea, as i have a kitchen scale, but if you’ve had no problems with that site before, it should be fine.
mandy, be my guest 🙂
thanks brilynn! yay for cakes!
I love birthdays too – I
ll take any occasion to celebrate with friends and family surrounded by good food!
You cake looks delicious!
Happy Birthday!! Two beautiful cakes – yes!
Your blog makes me happy! Happy Birthday to you!
I will definately try out this cake. I might have to go a little lighter on the cream tho! But it looks SO good.
Liz in SLC
http://themorsel.blogspot.com
Happy birthday!!! And both cakes look fabulous to me!
i recognize that orla kiely plate in top pic!!!
Ahh, thanks Liz for stopping by!
Chocolate Shavings, any occasion should be celebrated with cake, I say!
Thanks Culinary & Cookie pie!
Pink, I've got a few of 'em! Love those plates 😉
Finsmom, indeed.
Happy Belated Birthday! Both cakes are fit for such a celebration!
Thats my kind of birthday cake! Yum!
I made the strawberry cake (in an 11-inch springform pan)! I’m dying to try it, but I thought I’d share a picture before I start slicing.
Oh thank you, Tartelette!
Erica, it looks beautiful!! I want to hear how you like it?!
My husband and I LOVED it. I made a couple of substitutions, of course, based on the random set of ingredients I had in the house (grapefruit zest in lieu of orange, and raspberry & vanilla yogurt instead of plain). It turned out really, really well, and the recipe is obviously really versatile. I'll definitely make it again.
I stumbled onto your blog just as my own hearts and minds cake (for my birthday treat) is cooking away – that is like fate:)
Erica, I’m so glad!
Fate indeed, peaknits!
I just made the strawberry cake in a 9×9 pyrex. My yogurt is really sour and I didn’t have an orange, so no zest. I also didn’t have baking powder, so did the 1t soda+2t cream of tatar trick. It took much longer to bake, and the sides are overly dry, but I was still pleasantly surprised. If it turns out this well with my alterations and in my terrible oven, I cannot wait to do it right! The salt is a nice addition, the middle is moist & has a great mouthfeel, and it’s really simple. Thank you!