Strawberry, Almond & Yoghurt Sheet Cake

When I was a young woman my then boyfriend and I would spend our weekends at a small coastal town a couple hours from home, him working on dive boats and me exploring nearby villages. I’d spend my time meandering through local farmer’s markets, collecting fresh produce from farm gates and walking on sun kissed beaches, toes in fine golden sand and water lapping at my feet. As the middle of the day would roll around I’d meet him and his boss at the pier in between dives to deliver a basket of food to sustain them through the busy afternoons taking tourists out in the bay. Amongst those goodies was often a hearty yoghurt cake to finish off their lunch and offer a little sweet treat. It was a simple cake reminiscent of a pound cake and symbolic of my cooking skills and taste at the time. Well those parcels of love must have worked because that boyfriend is now my husband and this cake like our life together has evolved to something even more enjoyable and interesting.

And like our life together, the cake too, has grown in size. The original recipe that’s inspired this week’s recipe was a normal small round cake perfect for two young lovers. But this more interesting version is what’s today known as a slab or sheet cake, perfect for a larger family, a group of friends enjoying a picnic or get together. It’s dotted with sweet bright strawberries and textured with both ground and sliced almonds. Scented with finely grated orange zest, it’s finished with a drizzle of citrusy icing.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ C plain flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ C ground almond meal/almond flour

1 ¼ C sugar

125 G butter melted

3 eggs lightly beaten

¾ C greek yoghurt

¼ C Milk

250 gm strawberries hulled and halved

Grated rind of a blood orange (regular orange is fine if blood orange notin season)

1 tsp Vanilla extract or paste

¼ c almond slices

Icing:

¼ Icing sugar

1 tbs blood orange or regular orange juice

Combine and mix until smooth and runny for drizzling.

Method:

Preheat oven to 180c, grease and line a 32cm x 22cm high sided pan.

Combine all dry dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and give it a quick stir with a hand whisk or for to ensure everything is thoroughly combined. Add all wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combine then mix on high speed for 1-2 minutes until lighter in colour and slightly increased in volume.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth over with the back of a spatula or large spoon. Place strawberry halves even spread over top and gently pushed half way in. Sprinkle over almond slices and bake 30 minutes or until skewer in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool in tin. Drizzle icing over and slice to serve.

Notes:

The strawberries are also lovely mixed through the cake. If you want to do this fold them through before pouring batter into tin.

Any berries will work well. If using blueberries try lemon rind and juice for the cake and icing.