Pound Cake with Strawberry Topping

Members of the Hudson Valley Baking Society were given a pound cake recipe and asked to recreate it anyway we wanted as a “June Baking Challenge”  The recipe was a simple pound cake recipe provided by Mimi Shotland Fix in her newest book: Home Baking for Profit.

I haven’t seen many other entries yet so I decided to run with the recipe as is and just added some strawberry… I want to say compote but its more of a filling for layer cakes or cupcakes; it works really well as toppings on ice cream and obviously, pound cake. Another topping that made this a completed summer dessert is the whipped cream. Since this was the June baking challenge, I figured strawberries would be perfect.

I wasn’t planning to eat all of it. It was so good, I tried to pawn it off to my aunts but they weren’t interested. I cannot fathom why, I guess desserts just call my name.

I’m not sure I can let you in on this recipe because it was given to the members of the baking society here in Hudson Valley as a group challenge but, I can give you the strawberry recipe and the whipped cream recipe. They are so simple, I made them a few days before I made the poundcake so I would be prepared for when my aunts came over.

I like to think my food photography is getting a bit better as I practice more. What do you think? I’ve been reading Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin and I although I’ve had to read several paragraphs over while letting it really sink it, I think the book itself is very helpful. I’d really recommend picking it up if you haven’t yet and are interested in becoming a better food photographer.

Strawberry Filling Recipe

ingredients:

• 2-3 cups strawberries. Hulled & halved
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

directions:

Add the strawberries to a medium sized pot – turn heat to high. Mix in the sugar & water, add the cornstarch and mix together leaving on high for about 10 minutes, mixing ever so often. I like to mash the strawberries a little bit, too. If the mixture is too watery, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for a few more minutes.

Whipped Cream Recipe

ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar

directions:

Add the powdered sugar to the heavy cream and beat with a hand mixer until thickened. You can also add 1 tsp of vanilla if you’d like.