Strawberry kombucha cake

You may have heard of strawberry champagne cake; this cake is a riff on that concept, except using kombucha!

Credit: Renee Byrd

• serves

  12

• prep

  1:30 hour

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

The acidity of the kombucha gives the cake a nuanced flavor, not unlike champagne. I like using ginger kombucha to play off of the vanilla and strawberry, but it's very subtle. Adapted from the recipe for Chocolate & blood orange cake in Sarah Britton's My New Roots cookbook. The frosting is made with all whole ingredients, requires no whipping or fancy gadgetry, and is spreadable, pipe-able, and perfectly easy. It's creamy, luscious, buttery goodness. 

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups einkorn flour (spelt flour is also fine)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• scant 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch Celtic sea salt, finely ground
• 2 tbsp psyllium (whole or ground are both fine)
• 1 cup maple syrup
• ¾ cup kombucha (plain or ginger are both excellent)
• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp virgin coconut oil, melted
• 2 cups halved strawberries, greens removed

Genius cashew coconut frosting

• 1 cup coconut cream skimmed from the top of a can of full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup unroasted cashews
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup maple syrup, plus 1 tbsp, extra
• ¼ cup virgin coconut oil (about 3 tbsp)
• pinch Celtic sea salt, finely ground

Cooling time 1 hour

Chilling time 4-12 hours

Instructions

For the frosting, combine the coconut cream, cashews, vanilla extract, maple syrup, coconut oil and salt in a small sauce pot. Bring to a low simmer and keep at that heat for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let the ingredients set together in the ambient heat for 15 mins.

Add everything to the bowl of a high powered blender and combine until you've reached a completely smooth, creamy, liquid consistency. Remove the liquid frosting to a glass container with a lid and cool in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours up to overnight (I find a good 8-12 hours in the fridge makes for a thick, spreadable frosting).

For the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 23 cm (9") spring form pan with coconut oil or line with parchment paper

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the einkorn flour, baking powder, baking soda  and sea salt. Add the psyllium to the bowl.

In a separate medium mixing bowl, stir together the maple syrup, kombucha, almond milk, vanilla extract and coconut oil.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and whisk gently to combine, removing lumps as you go. Take care to mix until just combined. Avoid popping too many of the air bubbles forming from the kombucha and sodas interacting.

Pour the batter into the springform pan, scraping the bowl clean as best you can.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown on top and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for a minimum of 20 minutes before releasing the springform. Remove the cake and place it on a cooling rack and let completely cool to room temperature before frosting, up to an hour. You can even make this cake the day before it's meant to be served.

Once the cake is totally cool, flip the cake so that the bottom is facing up (this is just an aesthetic thing, but I think the bottom of the cake is flatter and better looking). Take a wide, sharp knife and slice the cake through the center to create your layers. Gently lift the top layer away using the knife or a spatula (or both of your hands, palms flat and facing up) and set it on a sheet of parchment paper set out on your work surface.

Spoon frosting over the bottom layer and spread it out evenly with a spoon until you have a ¼ inch layer of frosting. Layer 1 cup strawberry slices out evenly over the frosting.

Gently pick up the top layer and lay it over top of the bottom layer.

Frost as you like, or - to get that frosting swirl - place the remaining frosting in a pastry bag, snip of the end to your desired width, and pipe the frosting from the outside in towards the center of the cake.

Top the cake with more halved strawberries. I like to pile them up in the center so you can see the frosting pattern. Slice, serve, geek out!

Note

• I find the parchment makes for an easier clean-up and removal from the pan, but the cake won't come out looking as perfectly pretty due to the folds in the paper. But hey maybe you're an origami wizard and can fold that paper nice and flat! Good for you!

Recipe and image from Will Frolic For Food by Renee Byrd

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

The acidity of the kombucha gives the cake a nuanced flavor, not unlike champagne. I like using ginger kombucha to play off of the vanilla and strawberry, but it's very subtle. Adapted from the recipe for Chocolate & blood orange cake in Sarah Britton's My New Roots cookbook. The frosting is made with all whole ingredients, requires no whipping or fancy gadgetry, and is spreadable, pipe-able, and perfectly easy. It's creamy, luscious, buttery goodness.