Eggless Strawberry Cake
Another strawberry season and the market is filled with these ruby red beauties. I can’t resist buying crates and crates of strawberries and using them in everything from cakes, cookies, smoothies, juices, ice creams, jams, and many more. I had half crate of fresh strawberries in my fridge, so decided to make this delicious Eggless Strawberry Cake for Valentine’s Day. Just added some cocoa powder and milk chocolate chips (two of my favourite ingredients) to the cake batter and it turned out super yummy.
To pack lots of strawberry flavour to the cake, I’ve included fresh strawberries in three different stages – small bite sized pieces, strawberry puree and strawberry sauce to top up. With a subtle taste of chocolate in every bite, this Eggless Strawberry Cake is filled with lots of fresh strawberries and loads of love! If you like this recipe, check out my strawberry filled vanilla cookies topped with melted strawberry jam!
Ingredients
Fresh strawberries – 10
Milk chocolate chips – 100 g
Brown sugar – 5 tsp
Strawberry essence – 1 tsp
All purpose flour – 140 g
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Bicarbonate of soda – 1/2 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Cocoa powder – 1 1/2 tbsp
Unsalted butter (melted) – 60 ml
Sweetened Condensed milk – 200 g
Fresh milk – 100 ml
STRAWBERRY SAUCE
Fresh strawberries – 10
Brown sugar – 5 tbsp
Lime juice – 1/2 tsp
Yield
8 pieces
Prep time
30 mins
Cook time
40 mins
Method
1) Roughly chop 5 strawberries, add brown sugar and blend (in a mixer or using a hand blender) to a pulpy consistency. Add the essence, mix and set aside.
2) Finely chop 5 strawberries and set aside to add to the batter later.
3) Take all the strawberries for the sauce, chop them roughly and puree in a blender until there are no lumps. Strain this through a sieve to get rid of all the seeds and residue. Add the sugar to this smooth strawberry puree. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add this sugar-strawberry mixture and start cooking.
4) Cook the sauce for nearly 8 to 10 mins on medium heat, stirring constantly. After around 10 mins the sauce will thicken slightly and look glossy. Add lime juice, mix once and switch off the heat. Remove the pan from the stove top and allow it to cool completely. (See note 2 for storage instructions of this sauce).
5) Sieve flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa powder twice. Reserve 1 tbsp of this dry ingredient mixture. Take the finely chopped strawberries and milk chocolate chips in a bowl. Add this reserved dry mixture and mix well so that the strawberries and chocolate chips get coated with flour. Set the main dry mixture and the flour coated strawberries and chocolate chips aside (separately).
6) Preheat oven at 180° for 10 mins.
7) In a deep bowl take the melted butter and condensed milk. Blend both with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Add the strawberry pulp you made in step 1 and blend again until combined well.
8) Now slowly add the dry ingredient mixture to this wet mixture in two batches, mixing each time using cut and fold method. Add milk and mix gently until everything is combined and the cake batter is evenly smooth.
9) Now add the flour coated strawberry and chocolate chips to the cake batter. Mix light handedly using cut and fold method to incorporate all the ingredients properly.
10) Transfer the batter to a greased/lined 20 cm x 20 cm baking tray. Gently tap the tray a few times to remove any air bubbles. Place the tray in the middle rack of your oven and bake at 180°C for 35 to 40 mins (mine took 40 mins).
11) Pull out the tray from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 mins. Then carefully transfer the Strawberry Cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled, cut into desired shapes with a sharp knife. Coat the top of the cake slices with strawberry sauce and garnish with some fresh strawberry slices, chocolate stars/chips. Your delicious eggless strawberry cake is ready to serve.
12) Serve the cake slices at room temperature to enjoy its soft and fluffy texture. Refrigerate the leftover slices and warm them up before serving.
Notes
- I’ve used fresh strawberries to make this strawberry cake. To me, fresh berries pack maximum flavour and so I prefer to use them while in season. If you are making this cake when strawberries are not in season, then go for the frozen ones as an alternative.
- Strawberry sauce can be made in larger quantities, stored in airtight bottles and refrigerated. The same method can be followed to make other types of berry sauces too when the fruits are in season. The lime juice we add at the end acts as preservative and helps the sauce stay fresh for nearly 4 to 5 months when refrigerated. Can be used as a topping in many other desserts or as jam substitute for your sandwiches and toasts too.
Beginners’ tips
- While mixing the dry and wet ingredients, always use cut and fold method and mix gently. The air that is incorporated while sieving the dry ingredients and the air incorporated in the wet ingredients while blending them together, helps to make the cake nice, soft and airy. Also, mix the batter in one single direction. Mixing back and forth will make your cake dense and hard as it removes more air.
- It’s always a great idea to use flour to coat your chocolate chips and nuts before adding it to the batter because it prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the baking tray.
- Allow the strawberry cake to cool down completely before slicing it up with a sharp knife. The chocolate chips we have added might come in the way while slicing the cake and make it crumble unevenly if you try to cut the slices before it cools down completely. So letting the cake cool completely and using a sharp knife helps to get even slices.
