Strawberry Pazzo Cake With Herbed Crème Fraîche Recipes

Steps:

• For the Crème Fraîche: Stir together the crème fraîche and the herbs. Refrigerate and let sit for 30 minutes or overnight.
• For the Cake: Butter a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or 8-by-8-inch enameled cast-iron baking pan (if cooking in the grill) or standard 8-by-8-inch baking pan (if baking in your oven). (Don't put a standard baking pan inside your grill or over a fire.) Ignite the coals, turn a gas grill to high, or preheat an oven to 350°F.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until the mixture looks creamy, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix just until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until smooth with a creamy texture.
• Pour the batter into the buttered pan. Arrange the strawberry halves, cut-side down, on top of the cake batter. Don't overlap the berries; use just enough strawberries for one layer and set aside the rest to use as garnish.
• TO BAKE IN A GRILL: When the grill reaches 350°F, slide in the cake, resting the pan on the grill rack, close the grill's lid and let it bake for at least 20 minutes with the grill lid closed. Test the cake: It's done when a skewer inserted into the center (but not in a strawberry) comes out clean and the cake is golden brown on top.
• TO BAKE IN AN OVEN: Bake for 10 minutes and then decrease the heat to 325°F and bake for an additional 45 to 50 minutes. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the center (but not in a strawberry) comes out clean and the cake is golden brown on top.
• For the Glaze: While the cake is baking, in a small pan combine the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and black pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat and remove from the heat right away. Set it aside until the cake has baked. It should be the consistency of maple syrup; if it thickens too much before the cake comes out of the oven, stir in a few more spoonfuls of vinegar. As soon as the cake comes off the heat, drizzle the top with about three-fourths of the balsamic glaze.
• When the cake has cooled, cut it into wedges if baked in a skillet; if baked in a standard baking pan, cut it into squares. To garnish simply, top with a light dusting of confectioners' sugar. To dress up the cake, spoon several tablespoons of the Roasted Strawberries onto one side of each plate; on the other side of the plate drizzle a small pool of the balsamic glaze, and smear it lightly with the back of a spoon. Drizzle more balsamic glaze over the cake if you like. Set a cake slice on top the strawberry syrup, and top the cake with a spoonful of Herbed Crème Fraîche. Spoon any remaining crème fraîche into a bowl and set on a platter with leftover halved strawberries to pass so guests can add extra if they like.

Steps:

• Fill a small saucepan with about 1 inch of water and set over medium heat until the water steams.
• Meanwhile, coarsely chop about a quarter of the strawberries and combine in a medium heatproof bowl with the sugar. Cover the bowl tightly and set it over the saucepan. Reduce the heat if necessary to keep the water just below a simmer and allow the berries to sit, swirling the bowl once or twice to dissolve any stubborn sugar clumps, until they've released all their juices, are mushy, and swim in a translucent red liquid, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, uncover and strain through a fine-mesh strainer. (You should have 1/2 to 3/4 cup of strawberry syrup.) The mushy berries will have given off their color and flavor, and even though you won't use them in the cake, they're still tasty. Reserve the berries for spooning over pancakes or yogurt.
• In a separate medium bowl, combine the heavy cream, crème fraîche and salt. Whisk the mixture vigorously by hand, or beat with a hand mixer on medium-high, until thick, light and holding a medium peak. Chill the bowl of whipped cream. Thinly slice the remaining raw strawberries lengthwise.
• Invert the sponge cake on a flat serving plate or cake stand. Holding a long serrated knife horizontally and parallel to the work surface, use it to lightly score all around the side of the cake at the midway point. Then, using long, even strokes and still holding the knife parallel to the surface, slice clean through the cake, using the score marks as a guide, to cut it into two even layers. Set the top layer aside.
• Use a pastry brush to dab several tablespoons of the strawberry syrup across the bottom layer, lightly soaking the entire surface. Pull the bowl of cream from the refrigerator and dollop about half of it across the soaked layer, then spread in an even layer all the way to the edges. Arrange half of the sliced strawberries on top of the cream, then place the second cake layer on top of the first, cut side up. Lightly soak the top layer of cake with the strawberry syrup, reserving any remaining syrup for serving. Spread the remaining cream on top of the cake, then pile the remaining sliced strawberries over top. (If not serving immediately, cover loosely and refrigerate until ready to serve.)
• Slice the cake with a serrated knife and serve. Drizzle the slices with any remaining strawberry syrup. The cake is best served the day it's made, but will keep, covered and chilled, for up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F
• Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan.
• In medium bowl whisk first 5 ingredients to blend.
• In small bowl, combine Marsala and orange juice.
• In large bowl, beat 12 tablespoons butter and 1 cup sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and lemon peel. Beat in Marsala mixture in 2 additions alternately with flour mixture in 3 additions.
• Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups raspberries (sometimes I sprinkle with 2 cups of raspberries).
• Bake cake until top is gently set, about 20 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 375°F Dot top of cake with 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Continue baking until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
• Cool in pan on rack. Release pan sides; transfer cake to platter. Cool to room temperature.
• Mix crème fraîche and 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. (Cake and crème fraîche mixture can be made 8 hours ahead. Let cake stand at room temperature. Cover and chill crème fraîche mixture.)
• Cut cake into wedges. Top each with dollop of crème fraîche and fresh raspberries and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350*F.
• Grease the bottom and sides of two 9 inch cake pans.
• Line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, soda,salt and baking powder.
• Beat the butter with the sugar until light.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Stir together the buttermilk and the vanilla.
• On low speed, add half the buttermilk and mix until incorporated well.
• Add half the dry ingredients.
• Mix well and then repeat until all dry and wet ingredients are mixed in well.
• Stir in the poppy seeds.
• Divide the cake batter between the two pans.
• Evenly spread it in pans and bake on the middle rack of the oven until a skewer comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool the cakes in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
• The cake layers can be made up to 2 days in advance; wrap well and store at room temperature.
• To make the filling; cook the blueberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the sugar has dissolved and the berries have popped open and become juicey, about 5 minutes.
• Let cool to room temperature.
• Whip together the creme fraich, cream and remaining 2 TBS sugar until stiff enough to hold it's shape but is still smooth.
• To assemble the cake, cut the cake layers in half horizontally using a serrated knife, making a total of 4 layers.
• Place a cake layer on a serving plate.
• Spread one quarter of the creme fraich filling on top of the cake.
• Top with one quarter of the blueberry sauce and then one quarter of the raspberries.
• Place a second cake layer on top and spread creme fraich, blueberry sauce, and raspberries on top as you did with the first layer.
• Repeat with the third and fourth layers, ending with berries on the top of the cake.
• If not serving within an hour, refrigerate the cake.
• Once removed from the refrigerator, let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving for optimal flavour.