Recipe of the Month: Strawberry Cake From Scratch

Happy Sunday!  This month's recipe is perfect for summer!  I mean, who doesn't love strawberries?  Mmmm.....

I had a special request several months ago for a strawberry cake.  A quick Google search revealed lots of recipes, but almost all were made with cake mix and strawberry jello.  These aren't necessarily bad, but I wanted a completely from-scratch cake using only fresh strawberries.  

After a little more searching, I came across this recipe which looked quite promising.  It is based off of the Cook's Illustrated white cake which I have used before, so I knew it had to be good.  I was not disappointed!   It tastes just like fresh strawberries!  The texture is tender, but still holds together well.

The best part about this recipe is how versatile it is!  I've made layer cakes with both vanilla buttercream and cream cheese frosting.  This weekend, I made strawberry cupcakes and topped them with lemon buttercream for a strawberry lemonade cupcake. 

I've also topped the cupcakes with a rum buttercream and sprinkled lime zest on top for the perfect strawberry daiquiri cupcake.  

Strawberry goes well with so many other flavors...citrus, chocolate, vanilla, cream cheese....The possibilities are endless!  Now that I've made you really hungry for strawberry cake, here's how I make it: (the full recipe is below)


I started by pureeing frozen strawberries until compltely smooth.  I have used both fresh strawberries and frozen berries and both turned out equally as delicious.

The original  recipe called for adding the strawberry puree to the wet ingrediants, but I just added the milk, eggs, and vanilla to the blender and gave it a quick pulse instead of using an extra bowl.  I'm all about saving on dishes (I make enough dirty dishes as it is!)

After combining the dry ingredients with the butter, I added the strawberry mixture.  I think the batter is the most beautiful delicate pink color.  If you want it a little more colorful, you can add a drop or two of red food coloring at this point.

The batter will deepen slightly in the oven.  The cakes on the right just came out, while the cakes on the left are getting ready to go in the oven.

Everyone was so excited about the cake, I didn't have a chance to get a picture before they cut it!  But I guess you can see the inside this way :)

On a side note, when I bake/cook, I'm usually making an extra large batch, so the amounts in pictures will look like more than what the recipe calls for.  I always scale the recipes down to a normal amount since I imagine most of you aren't making a triple batch of cupcakes!  So, go by the amounts in the recipes, not by what you see in the photos.


Strawberry Cake

Approx. 8 oz strawberries, either fresh or frozen

1/4 cup milk, at room temperature

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup cake flour

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temp

Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and process until completely smooth.  Measure ¾ cups of strawberry puree and return to the blender.  Discard extra or use for another recipe.  (I recommend pouring it over vanilla ice cream…yum!)

Add egg, vanilla, and milk to the blender and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.

Add strawberry mixture and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, mix for 30 seconds more.

Note: The batter will not get any pinker in the oven so if you prefer a deeper color, add a drop or two of pink or red food coloring.

Divide the batter evenly among the pans or cupcake tins.

Bake for about 25 minutes for layer cakes or 18 minutes for cupcakes. Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.


Happy baking (and eating!)  As always, let me know if you have questions about any of my recipes.  I love hearing from you!  You can email me or post on Facebook.

Mother's Day Dinner

Happy Sunday!  I just finished a really busy cake week, and I'm so thankful for a lazy Sunday afternoon to cook just for myself.  But this week's cakes were all a big hit, and I can't wait to share them with you starting next week!  

Last week for Mother's Day, my brother, sister, and I made a surprise dinner for my mom.  I planned the menu and they helped prepare it.  

Of course, they all wanted to know if I was going to blog about.  So, my dad (who doesn't cook at all) decided he would take pictures of the whole process...so here's a picture of my dad taking a picture of me working...

On the menu for dinner was:

Crab-stuffed Tilapia with Lemon White Wine Sauce

Mushroom Risotto

and Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas

But, before we had dinner, I made Blue Cheese and Cherry Tartlets as an appetizer:

The tartlets were actually quite simple to prepare...puffed pastry filled with a smoked blue cheese, local cherry preserves, and sliced almonds, then drizzled with a little bit of honey.  The flavors blended together perfectly!

According to the cheesemonger at whole foods, this blue cheese was smoked over hazelnut shells and is the only smoked blue cheese made in America...interesting (at least I think it is, anyway).  

For dessert, I had planned to serve homemade Orange Curd Ice Cream with Almond Brittle, so my brother was outside with the ice cream maker, while my sister and I worked on dinner. 

She volunteered to stir the risotto...bless her heart.  Risotto is a deliciously creamy dish made with Arborio rice, but it must be stirred constantly.  She joyfully stood at the stove and stirred the risotto for an hour, carefully adding the chicken stock a half cup at a time.

I prepared the Crab-Stuffed Tilapia...which actually ended up being Crab-Topped Tilapia, since the tilapia fillets were so thick.   But, they were equally as delicious :)

In between tasks, I kept tasting and adding a little salt and pepper to the risotto...and everytime, my sister would roll her eyes and say, "Dad, she's doing it again.  I think she's dirtied 10 spoons already."

Dad kept snapping pictures of everything (I think he was really getting into the whole blogging thing!)....so without further ado, the pictures!

Shallots for the Lemon White Wine Sauce...

Crisp Sugar Snap Peas, beautifully cut on an angle....

Fresh thyme from my garden for the Mushroom Risotto....

And of course, you can't have Mushroom Risotto with mushrooms...I used a combination of baby portabella and shitake 'shrooms...

 And finally..........the finished product!

And as we all know, I don't really use recipes, but I actually do have one for the tilapia!

Crab-stuffed topped Tilapia

1 onion, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

2 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup bread crumbs

16 ounces crab meat

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dash of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

5 tilapia fillets

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Sauté onion and celery in butter until tender.  Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Add parsley, bread crumbs, crab meat, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.

Lay the tilapia fillets out of parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Carefully divide the carb mixture between the fillets.  Gently press the crab mixture onto the fish.

Bake in a 400°F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until the tilapia flakes easily with a fork.

Happy eating!

Coconut Cake with Sour Cream Buttercream

Happy Sunday!  Many of you may remember the Rubik's Cube cake I made for my sister's birthday last year.  Well this year, she requested a coconut cake.  A quick Google search revealed a gazillion coconut cake recipes, but most were made with cake mix and coconut cream..... neither of which was a I very keen on using. 

So I did some more searching to find from-scratch recipe that didn't use sweetened coconut cream.  Finally I stumbled upon this recipe on Tender Crumb and it didn't disappoint!  I made a few adjustments and frosted it with a sour cream buttercream instead.

I also really liked this recipe because it was easier to mix up than a traditional cake made by creaming the butter and sugar together.

You start by combining the dry ingrediants.  Then add the butter in chunks.

Mix on low speed.....

.... until the butter is almost blended in.  There should still be a few small bits of butter, no larger than a small pea.

Then, with the mixer running, adde part of the coconut milk...

And beat until fluffy.

Then slowly add in the egg white and coconut milk mixture....

Evenly divide it between two 9" cake pans.  

On a side note: I absolutely LOVE Pam Baking Spray!  Obviously I bake a lot of cakes, and it works better than greasing and flouring, lining with parchment paper, or traditional Pam.  I have never had a cake stick to a pan using Pam Baking Spray.

After the cakes were baked and cooled, I frosted them with Sour Cream Buttercream.  The great thing about a coconut cake is that the frosting doesn't have to be smooth at all.

because it's just going to get toasted coconut pressed on the outside, so there's no need to worry about it.

I hope you can see the amazing texture of the cake.  It was soft and moist with a fine crumb, but it held together beautifully.  The sour cream buttercream added a slightly tangy element that really complemented the toasted coconut and it kept the frosting from tasting too sweet.

Coconut Cake

5 egg whites

½ cup of coconut milk (unsweetened)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons coconut extract

3 cups of cake flour

2 1/3 cup sugar

4 ½ teaspoons of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)

2 ½ cups of sweetened flaked coconut, for pressing on the outside of the cake

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk slightly. Add the ½ cup of coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut extract and whisk thoroughly; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and mix on low speed until crumbly.  The mixture should look sandy with a tiny flecks of butter. 

With the mixer on low, slowly add the 1 cup coconut milk.  Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy. 

Add the egg white mixture in 2 or 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among the pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake taster inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then turn the cakes out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake plate. Cover this layer with about 1 cup of frosting. Then sprinkle about ½ cup of coconut on top. Add the second cake layer and frost the top and sides of the cake.

Place the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded coconut on a large baking tray. Pick up the cake and hold it on the palm of one hand over the tray. Using the other hand scoop up the coconut and press it to the sides of the cake. Continue with this process until the sides and top of the cake are covered. 

Happy Baking!

St. Patrick's Day

Happy Sunday!   Last Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and I made a delicious Irish-inspired dinner.  My brother and sister came over for dinner and we ate Shepard's Pie, Irish Soda Bread, and St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes while watching sappy Irish movies on the Hallmark Channel!  Good times!

I didn't really follow a recipe for the Shepard's Pie (I know, I know, big surprise right?!  I'm notorious for making up great recipes, but not writing them down, so I can't ever make them again!  I like to think of it like a work of art....there's only on Mona Lisa, right?  Everything else is just a copy.)

ANYWAY, back to Irish cooking...for my Shepard's Pie, I browned about a pound of ground beef, added some diced onion, carrot, and garlic and cooked that for a few minutes until the carrots started to become tender.  Then I added some tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and cooked that down a little bit more.  I took the mixture off the heat and added some frozen corn and peas.  I poured all of this into my favorite green casserole dish (perfect for the occasion) and spread some mashed potatoes on top.  Since everything was hot, it only took about 25 minutes in the oven and everything was bubbly and smelled delicious!

I really wish I had kept track of how much of everything I added because the filling was really good....savory, but not too salty and a nice balance of meat and veggies.

I also wanted to make a gluten-free Irish Soda Bread recipe, but I couldn't find one anywhere that sounded right to me, so, you guessed it....I made up my own.  BUT, this time, I wrote down what I did in case it turned out and I wanted to make it again.

So here it is:

3 cups almond flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Combine the almond flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Whisk until well combined.  (There are few things worse than biting into a piece of bread or a cookie and getting a lump of baking soda....blah!)

Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth and no streaks of egg remain.  Since almond flour doesn't contain any gluten, you can stir the mixture as much as you want and it will never become tough like traditional biscuits, scones, or muffins made with flour.

I poured all the batter onto a greased cookie sheet and shaped it into a mound.   Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

While the Shepard's Pie and Irish Soda Bread were really tasty, I thought the best part was dessert.  Again, not a surprise though :)

I wanted to make a cupcake version of a popular St Patrick's Day drink using Guinness, Irish Whiskey, and Bailey's Irish Cream.  So, I made a chocolate Guinness cupcake, filled it with Irish Whiskey Ganache, and frosted it with Bailey's buttercream.  The result was superb!  Perfectly balanced between the flavors....no one component dominated the cupcake.  And bonus, these too were gluten-free!

Guinness Cupcakes

2 cups almond flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

3/4 cup Guinness

1 tsp vanilla

Thoroughly combine almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Add eggs, melted butter, Guinness, and vanilla and whisk until well blended.  Evenly divide between 12 muffins tins with paper liners.  These cupcakes are more delicate, so you definitely want to bake them in cupcake liners instead of just greasing the pan. 

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes are until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  They will still feel soft.

Cool completely!  Then scoop out a little of the center of the cupcake so there's more room for ganache :)  It is very important that the cupcakes are not warm or the ganache will melt.

Whiskey Ganache:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons whiskey

Finely chop the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth and not lumps of chocolate remain.  Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but not hard.  This took about 20 minutes in the fridge.   Once ganache is firm, use a small spoon or cookie scoop and place about 2 tsp of ganache in the center of each cupcake.

Bailey's Buttercream

1 stick butter, softened

Pinch salt

2 cups powdered sugar

about 2-3 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat butter and salt until smooth.  Then alternately add powdered sugar and Bailey's.  Once all the sugar is incorporated, increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 45 seconds until light and fluffy.  Frost cupcakes.

The recipe sounds like a lot a work, and it does take some time, but the ganache and buttercream can be prepared while the cupcakes bake and cool.  So it didn't take as long as I though.  And, trust me, the results are worth it! 

As always, post a comment here or email me at creativecrumbsnashville@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, or to place an order.  You can follow me on twitter too!  @creativecrumbs or click the "follow me" button on the right.

Happy baking and cooking!

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Happy Su.....I mean Monday!  I made some delicious strawberry lemonade cupcakes yesterday to take to a picnic lunch with some friends.  As I was taking pictures of the cupcakes, I realized that I haven't posted any cupcakes recipes yet!  I was really surprised because I LOVE to make cupcakes!  Somehow they just always get eaten before I can get any shots of them!  

This is my go-to cupcake recipe because it is so easy to prepare and can be customized to make many different flavors.  Last week, I added lime zest and lime juice and frosted the cupcakes with tequila buttercream and a sprinkle of flaked sea salt to make a fabulous margarita cupcake for Mexican night.

Basically, you just throw everything in the mixer bowl together....no creaming the butter and sugar first or adding the flour and milk alternately.  Just put everything in the bowl.

And mix it on low speed for about 15 seconds.

It will look thick and lumpy.....but don't despair, you'll end up with a fluffy batter eventually....

Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure there isn't any remaining streaks of flour or chunks of butter.  Then beat the mixture on medium-high for about 30 seconds.  The batter will become smooth, satiny, and fluffy.  It looks so delicious, I've actually had people ask if its frosting!

Then fill your cupcakes liners.  The recipe makes exactly 12 cupcakes, so you can just divide the batter evenly and you don't have to worry about them overflowing during baking.

After the cupcakes has cooled, I frosted them with a fresh strawberry buttercream...delish! 

These cupcakes are definitely the perfect spring and summer treat....a moist lemony cupcake speckled with fresh lemon zest, topped with swirls of sweet strawberry buttercream....Mmmm....  

Happy baking!

Lemonade Cupcakes

1 ½ cups cake flour

1 cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon table salt

Zest of one lemon

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sour cream

1 egg , at room temperature

2 egg yolks, at room temperature

Juice of one lemon

Line 12 muffin cups with cupcakes liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in bowl of standing mixer.  Add in butter, sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and lemon juice.  Beat at low speed until combined, about 15 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then beat on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 30 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake liners.  Bake until just starting to turn light gold or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.  Frost as desired.

All Things Chocolate

Happy Sunday!  I'm not really into the whole Valentine's Day thing with the red heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and crazy candy bar bouquets at the grocery store, but I do think its a great excuse to make all kinds of chocolate treats!  This weekend I've been working on Tiramisu Truffles, Chocolate Chip Cookies with Valentine's M&M's, and Dark Chocolate Bark with Coconut and Sea Salt.

The Tiramisu Truffles tasted just like the actual dessert!  And with the cocoa powder on the outside they looked like it too.  I think I may try half white chocolate and and half dark chocolate for the ganache next time I make them for a little more intense chocolate flavor...

Tiramisu Truffles

(Inspired by a recipe from Not So Humble Pie)

Makes 20 -25 1 inch truffles

10 ounces high quality white chocolate, finely chopped (not white candy coating)

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

2 1/2 teaspoons Marsala wine

2 steaspoon instant espresso powder (recommend: Medaglia D'Oro), divided

½ tsp rum extract

1-2 ounces dark chocolate

1 tablespoon dutch-processed cocoa

Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Set the chocolate aside and allow to cool until just lukewarm.

While waiting, dissolve half of the espresso powder in the Marsala wine.

When the chocolate has cooled a bit, whisk in the mascarpone until smooth then add the espresso Marsala and rum extract. Mix in the remaining powdered espresso, cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Grate the block of dark chocolate in a food processor.  Replace the grater with the blade and add the cocoa powder.  Process until fine. 

Scoop balls of the tiramisu ganache with a spoon or cookie scoop and roll quickly between your palms. If your hands get sticky quickly, dust your clean palms with a little powdered sugar between rolling.

To finish, roll the truffles in the shaved chocolate/cocoa mixture.

Store truffles in the refrigerator, but make sure you take them out and let them come to room temperature before eating.

For the chocolate chip cookies, I used my standard (but fabulous!) recipe and substituted Valentines M&M's for half of the chocolate chips.  

I also made some Dark Chocolate Coconut Bark with Chocolate-Infused Sea Salt...a deliciously simple treat!  All you do is melt dark chocolate (I used a 70% cocao from Calebaut) and add in some toasted coconut.  Then I sprinkle a little Chocolate Sea Salt on top.  The rich deep chocolate pairs so well with the buttery toasted coconut and slightly salty chocolate salt. 

And now after taste-testing all this chocolate, I'm going to go make myself a salad.....

Recipe: Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Happy Sunday!  I made a delicious gluten-free cobbler this weekend, so of course, I had to share the recipe with you!

Strawberry rhubarb cobbler is one of my favorite desserts!  Even though I make very elaborate desserts for clients, I really enjoy more simple fare...fruit cobblers with vanilla ice cream on top…Mmmm!  Unfortunately since I started limiting grains, especially wheat, from my diet, I haven’t been able to enjoy them….until now!  A friend sent me a delicious almond meal biscuit recipe, and I adapted it as a topping for my moms’s strawberry rhubarb cobbler.  

The result?  A fantastically delicious gluten-free dessert! I really don’t think anyone would know the difference.  My brother ate some plain biscuits I made from the leftover batter and he declared them delicious!

I started by combining the dry ingredients: almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Then added the wet ingredients: buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and honey.

Then mix it all together :)  The batter will be very thick…almost like cookie dough.

Once I had the biscuit dough ready, I started working on the filling…very simple: just strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, and cornstarch.

Once that’s mixed well, pour it into a baking dish and dot with butter.  Then drop spoonfuls of the almond meal biscuit dough on top.  

Bake for about 55 minutes or until the biscuits are deep brown and the filling is thickened and bubbly.  Deliciousness!

Here's the recipe.....

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp cultured buttermilk

2 large eggs

12 oz sliced rhubarb, thawed

16 oz sliced strawberries, thawed

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter and honey, until smooth. Add the buttermilk and eggs, whisking together until well combined. Using a spoon, stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly combined. 

Mix together rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch.  Pour into a square baking dish.  Dot with butter.  

Drop spoonfuls of biscuit dough on top and press lightly into filling.

Bake at 375 for about 55 minutes or until the biscuits are deep brown and the filling is thickened and bubbly.  

Happy baking!