Homemade Strawberry Poke CakeRecipe by Chef Heidi Fink

Directions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease the insides of an 8-inch round cake pan or an 8-inch X 8-inch square pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk and vanilla, stirring well, then whisk in the melted butter.

4. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and mix until just evenly blended. There should be no bits of dried flour, but stop immediately as soon as the flour is mixed in. Do not over mix. Use a spatula to scrape this mixture into the prepared cake pan. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean (with no crumbs attached). Place cake pan on wire rack to let cool.

For the syrup:
1. Place the frozen berries, water, sugar, and jam in a pot. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let cook gently for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate small bowl, mix the unflavoured gelatin with the 2 Tb cold water. (This blooms the gelatin, allowing it to mix without lumps into the hot liquid.)

2. Pour the warm strawberry mixture through a strainer into a bowl to catch the juices, pushing with the back of a spoon to get out as much as possible. You should have about 2 cups strawberry juice, with minimal solids. Discard the berries in the strainer, but keep the juice. Use a whisk to stir in the bloomed gelatin mixture into the warm strawberry juice. Let cool for about 20 to 30 minutes, until barely warm to the touch.

3. While you are waiting for the strawberry mixture to cool, use the thin end of a chopstick to poke holes in the cake. Very important – don’t poke all the way through to the bottom. Only poke about ¾ of the way through. Make sure to poke all over the cake and wiggle the chopstick around in each hole to make them big enough to catch the strawberry gel.

4. Evenly drizzle the barely warm strawberry liquid all over the cake. It will fall through the holes and make stripes through your cake. I often use a skewer to gently swirl in each hole to release air bubbles and make sure each poke gets filled completely.

5. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

To make topping:
You can top the cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries OR you can make this delectable creamy yet not-too-sweet topping:
1. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

2. Add the icing sugar and cream until smooth.

3. Add the cold whipping cream and beat with the electric mixer for several minutes until it has a nice whipped consistency.

4. Spread it over the top of your cake.

5. Garnish the cake with sliced strawberries, if desired