Fresh Fruit and Cream Cake

I first had the Fresh Fruit and Cream Cake at my BFF’s kiddie’s birthday party in India. I am not too fond of desserts and cakes, but this one did surprise me in a good way.

I made this cake for a friend’s barbecue party this last weekend, and though I cheated a bit to save on time, I did the layering with fruit and cream pretty much without any previous experience!

I used one box of Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix and made two separate cakes. Beat whipping cream with some vanilla essence and sugar and slobbered it in between the two cakes. Sneaking some kiwi slices in too.

For fruits I used fresh slices of kiwi, strawberry, handful of blueberries and pomegranate. So far, so good. I’d like to know from you what other seasonal fresh fruits can be used in a cake like this? I was thinking of Mangoes if you are doing it for a summer treat in India, where you get the best mangoes.

Mid-week Craving Overcome By Strawberry & Almond Clafoutis

Some call this something in between a cake and a custard. I call it a huge baking success. I guess its those lucky ramekins again! There could be lots of reasons to head to the kitchen. But ramekins. Yes, certainly!

I am not sure whether its a hormonal imbalance or the need for nutritional support that I was craving something gooey and crusty all at the same time. I blame today’s middle of the week dessert desire to human conditions and the darn ramekins and to KD Lang!I baked these Strawberry and Almond Clafoutis pronounced (kla-foo-TEE) out of nothing. Okay, not really, because I had all the ingredients at home, so it feels it was not much of a hard work.

Ingredients for Strawberry and Almond Clafoutis are:

One fourth cup melted unsalted butter
Half cup granulated sugar
One cup fresh strawberries
Half cup all-purpose flour
One-third cup almonds
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
Three-fourth cups milk
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
Half tablespoon confectioner’s sugar (now that I did not have. I just powdered some ordinary sugar and used it). Wash the strawberries and drain in a colander. Pat dry with paper towels. Hull the strawberries and slice them lengthwise.

In a blender, add the flour and almonds and grind finely. Add the cornstarch, pinch of salt and blend again. Crack the three eggs into the flour mixture and whirl again, adding the milk and melted butter to get a smooth crêpe-like batter.  With little butter on your fingertips, grease the ramekins. If you don’t have ramekins use a gratin or an eight inch baking dish. Create a layer with the strawberries in each greased ramekin. Pour the batter dividing it equally into the ramekins. I used up all four of mine with the quantity of batter I made today.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the Clafoutis for about 45-50 minutes. They would have set by then and puffed up nicely.  You will see their edges browned.
Serve them while they are still warm, either with more strawberries on top or with some ice cream or with crème fraiche.
I dusted them with some homemade powdered sugar and topped them with some more slices of strawberries.
My craving now has a new name…Strawberry and Almond Clafoutis!