Sometimes, you just need cake.
My go-to easy
cake, especially during strawberry season, takes no more than 20
minutes and is just so good. It's one of those foods that tastes great
the next day, too.
This strawberry cake is like angel food
cake, without the wasted egg yolks. And without the wait. It's also
pretty (rolled up), delicious (containing whipped cream as it does),
and hard to ruin (it's thinner and more golden than the cake in the
picture). Did I mention it's fast?
Here's what you need:
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
Another 1/2 cup sugar
Another 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Another teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar
1 pint heavy cream (or a container of Cool Whip ... if you go this route, don't worry about that last 1/4 sugar and the second teaspoon vanilla listed in the ingredients)
2 pints strawberries, cut into bite sized pieces
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Line with wax paper or parchment if you feel like it (I frequently don't).
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
In the bowl of an electic mixer, beat egg whites until foamy (high speed). Add 1/2 cup of sugar a little at a time and beat until you have stiff peaks.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks and another 1/2 cup of sugar. Beat in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Then fold the flour and yolk mixture into the egg whites using a rubber spatula until just blended (don't go crazy with the mixing here -- just make sure everything looks fairly evenly distributed.)
Spread this in the cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes.
Spread a clean dish towel on the counter and dust with powdered sugar. When the cake is done and cooled for a few minutes, slip a knife around the edge of the cookie sheet and then turn the cake out onto the dish towel. (Peel off the paper if you used it.) Roll the cake and the dish towel together and let it cool the rest of the way. (This is so it holds its form and also so it doesn't break apart, as it would if you rolled a completely cooled cake.
Whip the cream and 1/4 sugar and teaspoon of vanilla until peaks form. (Or break open the Cool Whip.) Stir in the strawberry pieces. Then unroll the cake gently, spread the cream and strawberries and reroll it. Sprinke the whole thing with more powdered sugar.
Slice into thick pieces. It's kind of messy, but who cares, right? You have cake!
Photo: HappyHomeBaking.blogspot.com
