To Make Strawberry Puree

To Make Fresh Strawberry Cake

1) Hull and cut strawberries into pieces. Add 2 tsp of sugar, stir and set aside for an hour. The sugar will help draw the juices out of the strawberries.2) After the strawberries have sat for an hour, add the strawberry/sugar mixture to a saucepan and add 1/4th cup of water. Simmer the strawberries for 20 minutes.3) Next, using a fine mesh strainer, strain the juice from the strawberries into a bowl. Using a spatula, mash the strawberries around to get the maximum amount of juice from them.4) Place the juice you collected back into the saucepan and reduce this on med-high heat for about 25 minutes. The strawberry puree will get thick and turn a deeper red color. You will be left with 1/2 cup of puree. Let the puree cool.1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).2) In a bowl, combine milk, eggs, vanilla, and strawberry puree. Whisk and set aside.3) Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl, and then add in the sugar.4) In your stand mixer, on low speed, mix the dry ingredients for 15 seconds.5) Add in the butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low. The consistency should be of moist crumbs or a sandy-like texture.6) Next, add the wet ingredients from step 1 slowly to the dry ingredients on low speed.7) Once the wet ingredients are incorporated, mix on medium speed for one minute and then on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the cake batter is combined well.8) Pour batter into pans and level.9) Bake for about 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Depending on the size of the cake pan, it may require longer or shorter time. In our experience, our 6-inch cake pans baked in 30 minutes and cupcakes in 16 minutes.10) Once the cakes are done, cool in the cake pans for twenty minutes and then turn over onto a cooling rack. Once your cake is completely cooled, ice your cake and enjoy. If you need some icing tips, check out Craftsy for a free online tutorial on icing a cake