Strawberry Fields Forever


No, I don't like the Beatles, I'll leave that to my mother, thank you very much. She was a major Beatles fan in her youth, and still digs the band. I mean, she even has a rare - for portuguese standards, I mean - edition of Abbey Road on vinyl, for those of you who are as ancient as I am and know what that actually is. I grew up listening to the Beatles among other shtuff, but they don't tickle my fancy all that much. Except for "Eleanor Rigby", because that has got to be the song that never stops making sense. I mean, two hundred years may go down the road over the date it was written, and it will still hold true. 'Look at all those lonely people, where do they all belong?' It's one of the songs that manages to get me depressed - unlike Black Metal, which happens to be very un-trve of me!


I don't even like the song "Strawberry Fields Forever", you know? I like the word play in the title, it's kind of like Stephen King's SSDD (Same Shit Different Day) or George R.R. Martin's "You know nothing, Jon Snow" - although I used to write a lot "You know nothing" on my dialogues, and now I can never use that shit again, thank you Mr. Martin! I like the word play, the sound of it. As for the song, makes no bloody sense to me at all - but most of their songs make no sense to me at all, I feel like I should be high on LSD or very, very drunk to manage to even grasp "The Yellow Submarine", despite that being one of my favourite childhood films. But I was a child and I knew nothing, just like Jon Snow. I could never connect to the Beatles' lyrics - besides "Eleanor Rigby". Not like I connected with Jim Morrison's poetry, without booze or drugs


But like I said, I fancy the damn title - jeesh, I do curse a lot!! - and whenever I cook with strawberries and post about it, there's always this itch to name said post Strawberry Fields Forever. I have managed to skirt away from that kind of obvious, as you can see here and here, or even here, where I almost didn't make it and here, my first strawberry post ever. So, eventually after two plus years of food blogging my heart out, it was bound to come, that pesky Strawberry Fields Forever blogpost. It only means it's done and out of the way, move along now. I can actually feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from my back. Fine, so my sense of humour is weird, I know, not even I get it sometimes, I suppose it needs popping some LSD - get it? LSD, Beatles, nonsense? Yeah, well, I did try, people!!


So, why am I now making yet another strawberry post, you ask. Because I love strawberies and I could eat them by the handful and smile about it all day! Come May and you'll see me munching on strawberries very contentedly, while I toil and work away at my writings. They're so portable, you know? I always keep a bowl of washed strawberries in the fridge - I actually have a huge bowl I call the strawberry bowl, you know? And I kind of loose it if it gets used for other things but my strawberries, that's how annoying I am! - so I can grab a handful and sit at my desk and write and revise and edit. Portable, see? Convenient. And delicious and good for you, so it's a win! I can never make them last long enough to cook with, though, because I eat them all raw!


So when I, the antisocial biatch that I am, decided I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and join in with Marta on her monthly ode to a particular ingredient, I knew May had to be THE month, because she chose strawberries. Now, I really do not usually participate on this kind of initiative, because most times I am a hermit and a mysoginist who tends to keep to herself far too much - hey, they say that after your turn forty you never make new friends again, so I simply shy away from folks knowing they will never want to be my friend, LOL!! - and because I have this itsy bitsy thing with obligation: I pretty much do as I want and hate it if I know others expect me to do something. I hate not being able to live up to expectations, so I tend to not allow others to expect anything from me.


But try as I can, this time I wanted in. It was hard, I won't deny it, it was hard grabbing those handful of strawberries and knowing I was going to be using them in a cake and not popping them in my mouth as a snack of sorts. It broke my heart, to cook those strawberries that were so ripe and juicy and sweet and heady scented! Ironies aside, I decided to participate on the spur of the moment, one day my son was home from school and feeling bored, and I thought well, why not go into the kitchen with him and bake a cake he can help with and have fun with it all? The virtual mingling with others being included. And in the end, it turned out quite alright and it was all in good fun, and I even ended up with this strange sense of belonging that is so foreign to me!! Just for that, kudos to Marta, whose iniciative is mostly responsible for this. And if you do not know her blog... huh, people, you're missing out!! Go, check it out!


As for this strawberry cake, here's the how to:
  • 150 gr flour
  • two level tsp baking powder
  • 150 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 100 gr - give or take - light muscovado sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup poppy seeds
  • five very large strawberries - or ten small ones, plus
  • five medium sized strawberries + three more for decorating - optional
  • one tsp vanilla sugar
  • one tsp vanilla essence
Start by lining a tin, I chose a round one for personal esthetic reasons alone, any tin will do. Turn on the oven at 180º. Wash and chop the large strawberries, place them in a bowl and scatter the vanilla sugar over them. Reserve. Wash the five other strawberries and cut into slices or chunks, reserve. Cream the sugar with the butter until pale and fluffy, on a stand up mixer. Now start adding the flour with the baking powder, alternating with the eggs, making sure everything is well mixed together before adding another batch. With a fork purée the large strawberries you covered in sugar and add this to your batter, mixing well. Add the vanilla essence and get your bowl out of the stand up mixer. With a wooden spoon blend in the sliced strawberries and the poppy seeds, carefully, as not to mash them up. Pour batter into tin and bake for 30 minutes. Use a skewer to check at the 20 minute mark - every oven is different! - and once the cake is done, let it rest on a cooling rack for about ten minutes inside the tin, then take it out and allow to cool completely. Once the cake is cold enough, cover with the remaining strawberries and enjoy with coffee or tea, or a cold glass of milk!




Comments

  1. Olá Miranda!
    Olha estou sem palavras...depois de ler o teu post, estou sem palavras para te agradecer teres saído da tua zona de conforto, pores de lado o teu lado mais "shy", e teres decido participar no meu repto - principalmente por não ser um hábito teu! Sinto-me verdadeiramente honrada! Moça nem sabes o quanto o teu post me tocou, de coração....e linda, nunca é tarde demais para se fazer amigos ;)
    O teu bolo ficou lindíssimo, fizeste bem em te controlar e não comeres os morangos todos, e deixares alguns para o bolo! lol
    Muito, mas mesmo muito obrigado pela tua deliciosa participação!
    Beijos enormes

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    Replies
    1. Ai, oh Marta, agora quem ficou completamente sem palavras fui eu, caramba!!! <3

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  2. Lindo post e bolo extremamente delicioso, adoro morangos :)
    Beijinhos ...
    Guloso qb

    ReplyDelete
  3. Já estou como a Marta Miranda - arrepiada e sensibilizada - e nem é para mim o post...
    Que texto lindo!!
    Nunca é tarde demais para fazer amigos, mais mais vale qualidade que quantidade e às vezes, os amigos que são só virtuais, dão menos trabalhos e canseira que os físicos, lol!!
    Lindo o teu bolo e olha, eu adoro os Beatles!
    um beijinho,
    Lia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Olha que disseste uma grande verdade, os amigos virtuais dão menos dores de cabeça que os fisicos looool!!! Tenho umas quantas pessoas que conheço apenas virtualmente e que me têm dado mais apoio e mais incentivo nas minhas escolhas de vida, nos meus objectivos e na minha ideologia do que os amigos fisicos de toda uma vida...

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  4. Exatamente, é tudo uma questão de adaptares o sabor :D

    Este tem um aspeto divinal mesmo!!!

    NEW OUTFIT POST | Classic Navy.
    InstagramFacebook Oficial PageMiguel Gouveia / Blog Pieces Of Me :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Eu gosto de Beatles :P MUITO e a Eleanor Rigby é uma das minhas preferidas!! Ahahahh antisocial biatch... Mt bom! É p isso q gosto de ti!!! E já estou no blog da Marta :P não conhecia

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    Replies
    1. ;) a Eleanor Rigby consegue um misto de uma letra q a mim me diz muito com uma melodia que me arrepia, e isso nunca acontece com Beatles looool, para mim, claro.

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  6. always there for you and I truly mean it!
    lindo o bolo, lindo!

    ReplyDelete

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