(Those windows are on the third floor!)
I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was busy with lots of outdoor activity, last minute school work, and a bit of baking. Some family was in town, so we drove through Hood River and on up to Mt. Hood and saw Timberline lodge. We stopped, had Hot Cocoa and Hot Cider, checked out the mountainous masses of snow (pun intended!), threw a few snow balls, and then came back to regular spring weather back down in Portland. We then took a 10 mile bike ride on one of the area’s bike trails the next day on Sunday afternoon. When the sun comes out in Portland, no body messes around!
(This was an oil painting in the lodge of the larger-than-life Architect who created Timberline. I kind of loved his sweater…ha)Finishing up school is such a strange spot to be in, but absolutely exciting! The thesis has been pretty much all consuming as of late. But the good news is I am sending off the book for a proof publishing this week, but final draft of my thesis paper is done this week, and I’ve found an amazing baker in town to help me with my five foot long bread loaves…oh yes:).
Last night I decided I needed to do something with the 2 pound box of strawberries we had in our fridge, so naturally, I made cake! It was a simple white cake with a layer of sliced strawberries in the middle. It made the house smell like a strawberry shortcake wonderland, with a mingling of vanilla, sugar, and butter undertones. You could also substitute the strawberries for any other berry or fruit and have a great outcome. Enjoy this spring time treat! Now, I’m back to work…
Bon Appetit!
Ingredients
1 cup blanched almonds
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
6 eggs, separated (best when eggs are cold)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar
Method
Using a food processor or a spice grinder, pulverize almonds until they resemble coarse flour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.
With an electric beater or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light yellow in color and fluffy.
Sift flour and baking powder three times. Fold flour mix into creamed butter and sugar, alternating with milk, until well blended. Stir in almonds and beat well.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they have stiff, firm peaks. Beaters must be washed and dried thoroughly before whipping egg whites or they will not stiffen properly. Fold egg whites gently into batter with a rubber spatula. Add vanilla extract.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for one hour, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Cool for at least 20 minutes before inverting, then allow to completely cool before serving. Sift confectioners’ sugar on top.
Makes about 12 slices.
