Strawberry Cake for One

Where I live, I can get strawberries all year, and it’s nice to have fresh fruit in your baked goods, wouldn’t you agree? This cake is so simple, you’ll wish you’d made it sooner.

For the Cake:

6 TBLSP all-purpose flour (whole wheat works nicely, too)

½ teaspoon baking powder

Large pinch salt

2 TBLSP granulated sugar (less, to taste)

Slosh of vanilla extract

2 TBLSP melted coconut oil

2 ½ TBLSP almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

2 TBSP fresh strawberries, chopped

For the Frosting:

3 TBLSP vegan butter, such as Earth Balance

½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 ½ teaspoon crushed fresh strawberries, juice included (use a garlic press or potato masher) (It took about 1 ½ small strawberries)

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease one ramekin for one large cake and two for smaller cakes or layers.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add in the vanilla extract, oil, and almond milk, stirring until just combined. Fold in the strawberries, trying not to crush them.
2. Place the batter in the ramekins, dividing into even batches if you want a layer cake.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch and just starting to turn golden.

One of my layers refused to cook because it was heavily laden with strawberries, so I zapped it in the microwave for about a minute and thirty seconds. You can’t even tell which one it was!

For the Frosting:

1. Cream the butter in a small bowl. Keep going until it starts to seem a bit fluffy. Don’t shirk. This is an important step.
2. Add the powdered sugar, blending until the sugar is well-integrated. Don’t worry if there are lumps. Once the moisture is in, you can work on those.
3. Add the crushed strawberries, stirring with considerable enthusiasm until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and spreadable.

The frosting may need a few minutes to cool down so it doesn’t slide off your cake. Or, you might be a super-swift froster and can slam that cake into the refrigerator before it slides off. I am not so efficient, though, so I let the frosting rest in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Assemble the Cake:

1. Once the cake is completely cooled, slice off the rounded tops so that you have a flat surface to frost. You can use the tops and any left-over frosting to make a sandwich cookie. Yummm. (I didn’t have any leftover frosting because I kept tasting the frosting to see if it was stiff enough. So I slopped some jam inside the sandwich instead.)
2. Place one layer on a plate and raise it up a bit so you can access all its little edges. I put mine on an upturned bowl. Frost the top of that layer completely. If you like, put diced strawberries in there too. I did. Yummm.
3. Place the unfrosted layer on top of the frosted layer. Frost the sides and then the top of the stacked cake. Decorate with sliced strawberries, crushed almonds, or chocolate chips—whatever pleases you! Let the cake rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so before consuming like the crazed strawberry hound you are!

Variations:

• Try substituting almond extract for the vanilla and putting some crushed almonds on the outside for decoration.
• Toss in some chocolate chips (perhaps 2 teaspoons) with the strawberries.