Hands up if you’re a Pinterest addict?
I go through phases, but I certainly have wasted spent many an hour on it!
As a result, however, I have built up quite a good stock of recipes that I can try and go back to, which is especially useful when meal planning. I have even created a specific “Tried & Tested Favourites” board that I tend to go back to on a monthly basis (One-Pot Farro tonight and I made my favourite muffin recipe in bulk to freeze for the month ahead this morning!).
One of the wonderful recipes I discovered in one of my Pinterest browsing sessions was a recipe from The White Ramekins (now one of my favourite food blogs) for a Strawberry and Almond Olive Oil Traybake. I was initially captured by the beautiful photos, but anything that promises me strawberries, almonds and cake, I figured, had to be worth it!
And oh, it was.
A beautiful blend of sweet fruit and dense almonds, this cake is surprisingly light and easy to eat. Oil cakes have a tendency to be like that.
I have since made this cake again (“yay” for strawberry season being upon us!) and tweaked the recipe to my personal tastes (I love the light zing of the lemon rather than orange zest especially). My husband and I actually prefer it now, but the original recipe is also delicious and worth trying out.
I guess all those hours spent on Pinterest were worth it after all! Well, perhaps…
Strawberry Almond Cake
Adapted from The White Ramekins recipe.
Serves 12
200g self-raising wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
175g unrefined/dark brown sugar
240ml rapeseed (or other light) oil
1 tsp almond extract
Zest of 1 lemon
20g ground almonds
200g strawberries, hulled and sliced
Handful of flaked almonds
Icing sugar, to dust
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
2. Place flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, beat together eggs and sugar, then add in oil, almond extract and lemon zest, and mix well.
4. Mix dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix to incorporate.
5. Pour batter into a 20cm cake tin, and place sliced strawberries lightly into the batter, then sprinkle flaked almonds on top. Bake for 40-45 mins.
6. Allow cake to cool, then remove from tin and dust with icing sugar.
