CAKE WITH FRESH STRAWBERRIES IN THE MIDDLE RECIPES

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Mix together the softened butter with 2 tablespoons of the flour to make a paste. In a 10-inch Bundt pan, paint on the flour and butter paste with a pastry brush until the pan is well coated.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, oil and eggs until smooth. Add the orange juice and vanilla extract and mix well. In another bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and remaining 3 cups flour. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and continue to beat well. Stir in the apples and walnuts.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a cake plate.
• For the glaze: Combine the sugar, butter, buttermilk and baking soda in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil the mixture until it thickens slightly and begins to turn a light brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Using a toothpick, punch 15 to 20 holes in the top of the cake and pour the glaze over the cake. Let the cake set and cool before serving. Store the cake in an airtight cake carrier in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a 9-inch spring form pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper, and flour (use almond meal or a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to keep the cake gluten-free).
• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and all but 2 tbsp of the sugar.  Whisk until the yolks become thick and pale in color, about 1 minute. Whisk in the vanilla extract and the salt and set aside.
• In the bowl of a standard electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a bowl with a hand mixer), beat the 6 egg whites on medium speed until they become opaque, about 1 minute.
• Sprinkle in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, and continue to beat the egg whites until they hold medium peaks.
• With a flexible rubber spatula, stir in about 1/4 of the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture (no need to be gentle here).  Scrape the remaining egg whites over the yolks, and about half of the almond flour.
• Gently fold them into the yolks, but only partially.
• While the mixture still has a few streaks of white left, add the remaining almond flour and fold in, folding until you have a homogeneous batter.  Be gentle!
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shimmy until the batter is level.
• Bake the cake for about 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and springy to the touch. Let the hot cake cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then run a butter knife along the edges of the cake pan.
• Invert the cake pan onto the rack, remove the sides and bottom, and peel away the parchment paper. Turn the cake right side up and allow to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, cut into 12 slices and serve with fresh berries.