Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Streusel Topping

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Streusel Topping

submitted by Melanie

I was at my local farmers market store and I saw that they had RHUBARB. I love rhubarb. I started to think what can I make with it. Well I looked to my left and I saw STRAWBERRIES. I knew right then I was going to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. If you have not tried this combination before, I would recommend it. I prefer streusel topping over a crust topping. So that is why I made this recipe. I used a store bought crust because I had a time crunch.

The pie is great just out of the oven or served cold. I love it cold with a dollop of cool whip ( I know some of my sisters would cringe at cool whip). Enjoy!!

 

Ingredients

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 2-¾ cups Sliced Fresh Rhubarb, About 5-6 Medium Stalks
• 2 cups Sliced Strawberries
• ⅔ cups Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch

• FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
• 1 cup Flour
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Butter (1 Stick), Cold And Cut Into Small Pieces
• 1 Unbaked Single Pie Crust (store Bought Or Your Favorite Recipe)

Preparation Instructions

In a medium-large bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well. The mixture should be thick and syrupy after being stirred well.

Roll out pie crust according to recipe or package instructions and place in a 9- or 9.5-inch pie plate.

Pour the strawberry/rhubarb mixture into the crust, using a large spoon to fill evenly.

For the topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into pieces and using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the top of the pie.

Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes, covering the pie crust edges with foil halfway through in order to prevent over-browning.
**Watch the baking time... my oven cooks fast so the pie was done in about 35 minutes.

Let the pie cool completely before cutting into pieces. Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, if desired.

Source: www.tastykitchen.com

Strawberry Cake

submitted by Heather

When my sisters were visiting last month, we made this as a birthday cake to celebrate all of our birthdays. I love good excuses to make yummy desserts! I usually choose chocolate cake for my birthday, but this one looked so springy and delicious that we just had to try it.  It was very good.  I liked how it tasted like real strawberries, unlike boxed versions that give an artificial strawberry flavor.  The real star was the frosting, though.  It was very smooth, creamy and strawberry-y. It almost tasted like strawberry ice cream.  If you make this cake, make sure that the cake is cooled and ready to frost when you make the frosting.  We made the frosting and set it aside for a little while before frosting the cake.  While it still tasted wonderful, it didn't spread as beautifully as it would have, had it been used immediately.

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup milk
2½ cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

For the frosting:
1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped*
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For garnish:
Additional fresh strawberries

Directions:
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper rounds and butter the pan and the parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the cake pans.  Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the strawberries in a food processor or blender.  Puree until completely smooth.  Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160° F and the sugar has dissolved.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.  (The bowl should be cool to the touch.)

Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated.  If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (or longer – don’t worry, it will come together!)  Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Decorate the cake immediately for best results. Garnish with fresh strawberries

Source: Adapted slightly from Annies-eats.com who got it from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

 

Red Velvet Strawberry Cake

Submitted by Heather

Last week it was my husband's birthday.  I will never live down the time that, instead of making him a lovely, homemade cake/pie/dessert, I bought him an apple pie at Costco for his birthday celebration.  Never mind that we were moving the next day.  Or that apple pie is actually his favorite dessert.  It didn't live up to expectations.  So, here and there the "Costco pie" is mentioned and I've known better than to ever think of making that grave mistake again.  What looked to be a big, beautiful, lattice-topped pie didn't deliver in the flaky-crust,-tasty-apple-filling department.  Actually, I think I'd be better off just making him a cake mix or giving him a bowl of ice cream, than buying a pie or cake for his big day.  

He often tells me not to stress myself out making him a cake.  He doesn't realize, though, that I don't get stressed out.  I look forward to finally making something fun and different and special.  It's an excuse to try making something delicious and beautiful. And I think this cake did both!

I got the idea from iambaker.com, where she shows off a beautiful cake she made...the week after having a baby, while her house was full of guests!  Wow.  Since my youngest is just over one year old and I wasn't recovering from childbirth, I felt like I'd try to take it up a notch.  So, instead of using cake mixes, I made the cakes from scratch.  Yes, it took more time than cake mixes would take, but if you have the time it's probably worth it. The whole cake was really tasty and was gone in a matter of hours.  The kids inhaled it and the birthday boy seemed very satisfied.

This would also be a great cake to make for the Fourth of July.  Instead of strawberries on top or in the layers, you could use blueberries and have a very impressive and patriotic cake.

Note#1: If you want the layers to look prettier when you cut the cake, I would suggest leaving the berries out of the layers of the cake and serving them on the side.  You could even make a strawberry sauce to drizzle on the cake or to fill the layers.

Note #2: I must warn you that the red velvet cake flavor gets kind of lost in this dessert.  I really love red velvet, so I was looking forward to eating it, but with all the other flavors going on, it didn't really stand out.  In fact, I had to eat a layer by itself in order to actually taste it.  So, while it did make a very impressive looking layer, and was a moist and delicious addition to the cake, don't expect to taste its unique flavor in this dessert.  Just trying to be honest so you're not disappointed!

For the Red Velvet Cake layer:

Use the recipe on our blog, found here: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Divide the batter into two 9" greased cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the white cake layer:

I used a recipe I hadn't tried before, but that was very good.  It was called Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes and I found it on melskitchencafe.com.  Instead of cupcakes, I put the batter into cake pans.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 for light, aluminum or silicone pans or 325 for dark, nonstick pans. Grease 9" round cake pans and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in eggs and egg yolk one at a time and then mix in the vanilla. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Mix. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix. Add the final 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Mix and then add the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and the batter is smooth. Divide the batter between two 9" cake pans.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven), until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbs. Don’t overbake!

To Assemble:

Once your cakes are baked and cooled, which you may want to do the day before, it's time to chop the strawberries and whip the cream!  I used about 2 pounds of strawberries.  I chopped the ones for in between the layers, and sliced the ones for on top, just to make it a bit prettier.

You can use just plain whipped cream for filling the cake or, as I did, get a little bit crazy and make a cream cheese frosting and lighten it up with whipped cream.  I made the frosting that goes with the red velvet cupcakes:


8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Beat cream cheese and butter well, add vanilla and then add confectioner's sugar and beat well.  Fold in 2 C. of whipped cream (that's whipping cream that has been whipped, just to be clear) with 2/3 C. of cream cheese frosting.  Fill the cake layers, adding as many chopped strawberries as you'd like.

Cover the outside of the cake with sweetened whipped cream and garnish the top with strawberries.  YUM!

Happy Fourth of July!

Sources: White cake layer adapted from Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes from melskitchencafe.com, idea for cake from iambaker.com