Wholemeal and Low Fat

It’s been almost an entire month since I started this blog. The idea to start a blog actually came to me a year ago, but it took me this long to actually get there. Part of the reason it took so long was the feeling that I wasn’t ready. I’d just got the camera for my birthday, and had only really worked out how to charge it properly. I’d been baking regularly for at least two years, but I still hadn’t mastered things like a simple sponge or perfectly frosted cupcakes- something I thought was the hallmark to becoming a food blogger. I was also incredibly busy in my final year of school. The main reason it took me so long though, undoubtably, was my complete lack of computer knowledge. I have zero understanding of the simplest forms of technology. 

For example, in starting this post it took me ten minutes to work out the sizing of the photographs. (I didn’t actually figure it out, I just kept clicking ‘new post’ until for some reason the photos took up the entire screen length again…). Over the past year I fell in love with some beautiful blogs featuring breathtaking photos and delicious looking recipes, but I just could never imagine having the technical abilities to achieve that kind of thing myself. But I decided to try anyway. 

Since I started one month ago, I’ve learnt more things about food, photography and blogging than I did in an entire year. Every time I get a view from a new country, I feel a little thrill! Someone in Portugal is looking at my cookie recipe! It’s the best feeling. Every time I feel disappointed with my photos because they don’t look like the ones on pinterest, I remind myself that those photographers were like me at some point. I’ve got to start somewhere. 

 This strawberry cake is a one month celebration cake. It is nutty from the whole wheat flour, sweet and jammy from the strawberries and crunchy sugar topping. The brown sugar in the cake gives a sweet caramel flavour to compliment the fruit topping. If you don’t have wholemeal or whole wheat flour, plain works fine as well. I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and decided to bake it as-is, with wholemeal flour replacing the barley flour. It’s originally a Martha Stewart recipe I’m pretty sure, so I’ve linked to that as well.

Wholemeal Strawberry Cake: Adapted from here. 

Either 180g (1.5 cups) plain flour, or substitute half with wholemeal (90g or 3/4 cup)

180g (1 packed cup)brown sugar, + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for topping

85g (1/3 cup) butter

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla paste

120ml (1/2 cup) milk (I used low fat and it tasted fine)

450g (1 pound, 16 ounces) strawberries, hulled, washed and cut in half

Preheat your oven to 180C or 365F and line a 20cm or 9 inch cake pan with baking paper. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat together slowly until combined. Sift in both flours and baking powder and stir just to bring the batter together. Pour into your cake pan and smooth it evenly with a spatula. Carefully place your strawberries on top of the cake in an even layer. (You may have to overlap a few to get them all in, but try your best because they shrink!) Sprinkle over the granulated sugar and bake for ten minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160C or 340F and bake for 40-50 minutes longer, until a skewer inserted comes out with a few loose crumbs on it. Dust with icing sugar.