Nigella Lawson’s Strawberry Sour Cream Streusel Cake

Every year, we make a double batch of strawberry shortcake cookies to share. This year, I had the intention of sharing this cake as well, but…oh my! We ate the entire cake (well, almost) in one sitting. Oops.

My husband said that it was one of his “favorites” and my son described it as “like our homemade strawberry ice cream- but warm.” ❤ It was slightly crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and the strawberry filling oozed just perfectly.

The recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Nigella Lawson. I incorporated whole wheat pastry flour, unsalted butter, coarse salt, used homemade strawberry-vanilla bean jam in the filling, and modified the baking time.

Although similar to one of our favorites, warm strawberry crumb cake, it was different enough for me to justify indulging in both this strawberry season. 🙂

Yield: one 9-inch cake

For the Strawberry Purée:

• 8 ounces strawberries
• 3 tablespoons strawberry jam
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Cake:

• vegetable oil or cooking oil spray, for greasing the pan
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
• scant 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the Crumb Topping:

• 2 teaspoons Demerara or turbinado sugar

To Prepare Strawberry Purée:

1. In a blender, combine strawberries and jam. (I used a Vitamix.)
2. Make a paste of cornstarch and vanilla, and add to blender. Purée until smooth. Set aside.

To Prepare the Cake:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, preferably on convection.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and place on a parchment paper-lined, rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Sprinkle in butter cubes and incorporate with a pastry blender until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup and set it aside.
5. Combine the sour cream, egg and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Add to the large flour mixture. Mix well.
6. Using a little over half the cake batter, drop dollops of batter into pan. Pat batter across bottom of pan and about 1 inch up sides; mixture will be very sticky and somewhat uneven.
7. Add the strawberry purée, making an even layer across bottom of pan and leaving a rim of dough above it.
8. Cover with remaining cake mixture.

To Prepare the Crumb Topping and Bake:

1. In a medium bowl, combine reserved 1/2 cup dough and Demerara sugar or turbinado sugar.
2. Stir with a fork to mix. Sprinkle evenly over cake.
3. Bake cake until lightly golden, about 35 minutes in a convection oven or up to 45 minutes in a standard oven. (I baked mine for 37 minutes on convection.)
4. Cool completely before serving. (We ate it warm! This may have created the oozing filling- which we loved.)

About Josette@thebrookcook

I live in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. I love garlic and baking. My hobby (and love) is to try new recipes. My favorite recipe resources include The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Living. Enjoy!

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