Guys, sometimes you just need some cake. This week I needed some strawberry rum cake.
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There is something about winter that encourages me to bake. Probably the fact that if I bake the house doesn’t heat up to an insane amount of degrees like in the summer. Actually, it warms up this house on a nice cold day. When you primarily heat your home with wood, any extra heating comes in handy.
Of course with baking comes eating, and I probably eat a little too much around this time of year. Granted, I love food no matter what season or month it is, but being stuck inside a little more often makes it easier to reach for that plate of baked goods on the counter.
No regrets though. Okay, that’s not true. I have a little bit of regret. But not enough to stop eating the baked goods that keep popping up on my counter.
My daughter has developed a love for baking too, so that doesn’t help. She wants to bake all the time. I always want to encourage the kids to work on their basic life skills that will hopefully help them as they grow, so I try to say yes as much as possible when she asks to bake.
Recently I’ve given her the opportunity to not only bake, but to teach her younger brothers how to. I figure it’s good for all of them. They are learning how to bake and also how to take direction, and she is learning how to teach and lead.
That is the cool thing about homeschooling (though you don’t have to be a home school parent to do this.) You start teaching the oldest ones how to do things, and they naturally start teaching the younger ones.
There have been a few times when I’ve opened a school book to teach my 6 year old something only to find out he already knows how to do it. When I ask him where he learned it he tells me his brother or sister taught him.
I’m definitely down with that! Makes my job a heck of a lot easier. 🙂
Anyways, homeschooling and baking lessons aside, I decided it was time to create a strawberry rum cake. Don’t worry if you don’t like to cook with actual rum – this recipe uses rum extract.
I also sweetened this with honey because, well, my issue with eating so much food in the winter. I figured the least I could do is minimize my refined sugar consumption. While I did use white flour, I made sure to use spelt as well for another boost of nutrition. There’s actually more spelt flour than white flour in this recipe.
I like to make cakes in a spring form pan. These pans are great because you can take the sides off so they look nice on a plate. It’s perfect when you are on dessert duty when going to someone’s house for dinner. They are especially great for things like cheesecake, but they work well for this recipe too.
So, Let’s get cooking!
STRAWBERRY RUM CAKE
First, let’s talk about the strawberries. I used frozen whole strawberries. If you put them in just as is you will find they are a tad sour. Therefore you want to take your 2.5 cups of strawberries, place them in a bowl and add 2 tbsp of honey as well as the juice of one lemon into the bowl. Mix well and let the strawberries sit for at least two hours in the fridge, or overnight. I just did it overnight.
Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease a spring-form cake pan.
Crack two eggs into a bowl and beat’em. Add the 3/4 cup liquid honey, 2 tsp rum extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of melted butter into the bowl. Mix well.
As you can see by my picture, my butter isn’t completely melted. This is one of those, “do as I say, not as I do” kind of things. Of course, it’s more of a “do as I say, not as I do…please?” kinds of things because, manners are important. 🙂
Add the 1.5 cups of spelt flour, 1 cup of white flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, and a pinch of salt into the egg mixture bowl. Stir until it is mixed completely.
Add in the strawberries and fold in. Do not overmix.
Pour it into your greased pan.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. It always depends on your oven so watch it closely at the end. It is done when you can stick a toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean. Let cool (or at least try to if you an resist the temptation of not eating it right away.)
My whole family loved this cake and asked me to make it again the next day. Of course I said no because this mom isn’t going to bake a cake every day, but I’m not going to lie, I was tempted so I could eat it again. It was the perfect dish to enjoy with a coffee on a cold winter day. The strawberries were like a tiny reminder telling me that one day spring will come again.
Strawberry Rum Cake
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup liquid honey
- 2 tsp rum extract
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
- 1 cup white flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
For sweetening strawberries:
- 2 tbsp liquid honey
- 1 lemon
- 2 1/2 cups strawberries
Instructions
- To sweeten the strawberries, take the 2 1/2 cups of strawberries and put them in a bowl. Mix them with the 2 tbsp of honey and the juice of one lemon. Cover and place in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a spring form cake pan.
- Crack two eggs in a bowl and beat. Add in the honey, rum extract, vanilla extract and melted butter and stir well.
- Add in the spelt flour, the white flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Stir until completely mixed.
- Add in the strawberry mixture. Fold into the batter just until mixed. Do not overmix.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven. It is done when you can insert a toothpick in the cake and it comes out clean.
Related: Amish Baked Oatmeal
