I had some leftover strawberry puree from making my neapolitan cake and initially decided to make a strawberry cake as it was my favourite layer of the cake. I then got to thinking about what would pair well with strawberries and thought of my favourite herb basil. It's basically a sponge cake with pureed strawberry and basil mixed in. It was really aromatic and tasted amazing. It has a banana bread like texture and you can definitely taste the basil. Not too exciting to look at but absolutely delicious! I imagine it would be great served warm with a strawberry puree!
I'm entering this to Javelin Warrior's Made with love Mondays where the idea is to make something from scratch. This is about as fresh as you can get. No artificial flavours or colours!
I'm also entering it to Herbs on Saturday hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. Basil is my favourite herb and I've baked with it a few times now.
An original recipe by bakingaddict
250g butter
270g sugar (I added a little bit more as strawberries are out of season and are slightly sour)
400g self raising flour
225g fresh strawberries
large handful of basil leaves
2 eggs
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Wash, hull and dry the strawberries.
- Blitz the strawberries with the fresh basil leaves into a puree.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time.
- Mix in the flour.
- Add the strawberry basil puree and mix until well incorporated.
- Pour into a bundt tin ( or any cake tin) and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until well risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
I love the idea behind this cake - I bet the flavors were amazing. Basil and strawberry are so good together, but I would never have thought to try combining them in a cake! Leave it to you, Ros... Thanks so much for sharing and this is one my favorites yet...
ReplyDeleteI love it when things just come together :) I love strawberries and basil and I do hope you try this cake for yourself.
DeleteLove this Ros look really yum!! and love basil!
ReplyDeleteI love basil too :)
DeleteI would never have thought of using basil in a cake. The combination of strawberries and basil sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was an inspired moment :)
DeleteThat looks pretty interesting. Is the colour on the top of the baked cake just from the shape of the tin you used? Did you think about icing it or would that have been overkill? Does look lovely anyway!
ReplyDeleteYes the colour is from the baked cake - no artificial colours. I did think about a glaze but decided against it in the end and it was delicious on its own. I would like to try a strawberry puree or maybe a lemon glaze next time.
DeleteThis is really interesting, I would never think to put a savoury herb in a cake!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was an inspired moment :)
Deletelooks delicious. i like the idea of basil in a cake. B
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've baked with basil a few times now and it's always worked well.
DeleteOH! HOW clever Ros! I love basil with strawberries and in a cake? C'est parfait! Karen
ReplyDelete