Very Strawberry Pound Cake (All-Natural Color and Flavor)
This strawberry pound cake gets its intense strawberry flavor from freeze-dried strawberry powder as well as a serious strawberry reduction. Garnished with strawberry glaze and strawberry whipped cream, there is no doubt about the strawberry flavor!
182gramsall-purpose flour6.5 oz or about 1 1/2 cups
2teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsalt
84gramsfreeze-dried strawberry powder3 oz
140gramsunsalted butter, soft but not melted5 oz or 1 1/4 stick
3large eggs
1teaspoonvanilla extract
112gramssour cream4 oz or a generous 1/2 cup
28grams1 oz or 2 Tablespoons milk
all the strawberry reduction
Instructions
For the Strawberry Reduction
Place the strawberries, half the sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Whisk together the remaining sugar and Instant Clear Jel and set aside.
Mash the strawberries with the back of a spoon and let them sit for about 45 minutes until they get really juicy.
Heat them over medium heat until they come to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until you have 7-8 ounces of puree, about 20-25 minutes. Keep mashing the berries until you have a reasonably smooth puree. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. The berry mixture will be very thick.
Whisk the sugar/Instant Clear Jel mixture into the hot berries.
Let the berries cool for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to promote cooling. Refrigerate or place in the freezer until they reach room temperature, about 30 minutes in the freezer or an hour or so in the fridge. Stir every so often until cool.
For the Cake
Set a rack in the center of your oven, and preheat to 350F.
Lightly spray a standard loaf pan with pan spray. Fold a sheet of parchment paper into a strip that you can fit into the bottom and up the two long sides of your pan. Fold the excess down over the edges of the pan. Set aside.
Mix the sour cream, milk, and vanilla together until well combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and strawberry powder. Whisk a few times to combine.
Add the softened butter to the bowl and mix, using the paddle attachment, until the butter is evenly distributed and there are no large chunks remaining. The mixture should look sandy and be darker in color than when you started mixing.
Add the eggs all at once and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary.
Mix in the sour cream/milk/vanilla mixture on low speed, mixing until mostly combined. Finish mixing by hand, folding well until there are no streaks of sour cream visible.
Spread about 1/3 of the batter evenly into the pan. Dot liberally with half the cooled strawberry reduction.
Repeat with another 1/3 of the batter and the rest of the puree.
Dollop on the last of the batter and spread evenly.
Take a knife and stick it into the batter all the way down to the bottom. Zig-zag the knife up and down the pan and then from side to side to swirl the berry reductions into the batter. Smooth out the top of the batter.
Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. The temperature in the center of the cake should be 195F-200. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with foil for the last 30 minutes or so of baking.
Once the cake is done, remove to a cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes. Loosen the short ends of the cake from the pan with a thin knife or small offset spatula and lift the cake out using the overhanging parchment.
Allow to cool another 30 minutes or so, and then carefully remove the parchment paper so the cake can cool completely.
Serve as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar or freeze-dried strawberry powder, or see the NOTES section below for glaze and stabilized strawberry whipped cream as seen in the photos.
Store the cake, tightly covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days. Allow slices to come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
For the Optional Glaze
4 oz (about 1 cup) powdered sugar
1 oz freeze-dried strawberry powder
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-3 Tablespoons milk
Combine everything but the milk in a medium-sized bowl.
Whisk in the milk, a bit at a time, until you have a glaze of your desired consistency. Drizzle over the cake. It will take 3-4 hours to set completely.
For the Optional Stabilized Strawberry Whipped Cream
about a cup of whipped cream
1-2 oz freeze-dried strawberry powder
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Instant Clear Jel
Whisk the powdered sugar and Instant Clear Jel together. Set aside.
Whip cream, strawberry powder, salt, and vanilla until the whisk starts to leave tracks in the cream.
Sprinkle in the sugar mixture and continue whipping until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
Pipe or spread decoratively on the cake or poof some on individual slices.
Shortcut
If you do not want to make the strawberry reduction, use 8 oz of best-quality strawberry jam.
Storing
Keep cake tightly covered in the fridge for storage. For best texture and flavor, cut slices and allow them to come to room temperature for about 30-45 minutes before serving.
Freezing
For longer storage, wrap the cake in a double layer of plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight.Slice and the allow pieces to come to room temperature before serving.Freeze slices individually by wrapping them in plastic wrap and then foil or by putting the plastic-wrapped slices in a heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw as stated above.