PRE 
SERVES 
I prefer to eat seasonally wherever possible. Frozen strawberries are a relative newcomer to the supermarkets, allowing us to eat the summer treat for most of the year. I experimented with them in this cake and was pleased with the results. The red isn’t as vibrant as a fresh berry, but the flavour is great.
Best eaten warm from the oven or on the day of baking, as it may get soggy after that from the excess liquid in the berries.
Best eaten warm from the oven or on the day of baking, as it may get soggy after that from the excess liquid in the berries.
If you can find strawberries that haven’t flown thousands of miles then by all means use them!
- Preheat oven to 160°C (fan) and line a 20cm springform baking tin with baking parchment.
- Melt the butter and put aside to cool slightly.
- Beat the sugar and egg yolks with electric beaters until thick, pale and fluffy. When you lift the beaters the trail of beaten mixture should sit on the surface of the mixture for at least 20 seconds.
- Beat in the melted butter and vanilla extract and fold in the ground almonds.
- In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Use a tablespoon of this mixture to lighten the almond mixture then gently fold the rest of the egg white into the almond mixture.
- If using frozen strawberries take them from the freezer, halve them (they should be easy to cut in half whilst frozen) and stir gently into the mixture before pouring it into the tin. If using fresh strawberries, wash, dry and halve them, then pour the batter into the tin and arrange the berries on the surface of the cake.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when you poke it into the cake and the surface of the cake feels springy when pressed lightly with a fingertip. Makes sure you stab an area without strawberry in it as they will still be gooey.
- Cool in the tin, then carefully loosen the edges and transfer to a cake plate. Serve decorated with (ideally) a shower of freeze dried strawberries and icing sugar if it’s mid-winter; Or, if you must (or if they are in season) a few fresh strawberries.
First published in the Jewish Chronicle April 2019
