strawberry streusel cake

category: dessert
serving: makes 6-8 slices

after how many months of not cooking or baking, here's my first dish/cake for 2009.

i was supposed to do this yeasterday but we were invited by friends to a pictnic at the park. today i just had the desire to do it and i'm uber glad that the result is simply perfect. what she said of this recipe when she baked it herself was true... "the cake is soft, smooth and moist, and the the streusel topping, crunchy".

i'd like to thank ms. connie veneracion for posting this strawberry streusel cake recipe on here foodblog. i'm a fan of hers... she's not a chef but she's a great cook. i hope my cooking and baking mojo returns with this successful cake.

ingredients:
for the cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, allowed to soften at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh milk
200 gm. fresh strawberry, stems removed and choped

for the streusel topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes

procedure:
do the cake:
place the butter in a large mixing bowl. take the wrapping and rub the remaining butter on the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan.

mix the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and stir to combine.

beat the butter with a wire whisk. add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light in texture. add the egg and beat until well incorporated (no egg steaks remain visible). add the flour and milk, alternately and in batches, to the butter-sugar mixture, starting and ending with the flour.

the batter will be thick. you have to scrape it off the mixing bowl to spread it on the springform pan. set aside.

do the streusel topping:
mix the ingredients for the streusel topping together in a mixing bowl until the texture resembles coarse crumbs. you can either mix it using your hand, a fork, or a wire whisk.

scatter the chopped strawberries on op of the cake. then add the streusel topping, filling the gaps between the strawberry pieces and making sure that no cake batter remains visible.

bake in a preheated 170ºc oven for 55 minutes.

test the cake for doneness by inserting a sharp thin knife or a toothpick at the center of the cake. if it comes out clean then it is done. however, in this recipe it's a little hard to do because the first and last thing that your knife or toothpick will hit will likely be a piece of a very wet strawberry which will leave a trace on the knife or toothpick. so, look closely and try to determin whether the smudge is uncooked cake batter or strawberry.

cool the cake in the pan for about half an hour. you may have to use a knife or spatula to loosen the sides cake from the pan.

this strawberry streusel cake is best served while warm but it is still great after resting overnight on the kitchen counter.