My grandmother’s house was in a small village 200 kilometers north of Stockholm. It sat in a row of traditional wooden red houses along the edge of a dense forest. I knew her as Mormor – Swedish for mother’s mother. Her unpretentious shingle roofed house stood out because of its yellow color in a row of red, set back with a large front lawn and lined with a gravel driveway to the left. I remember how the fragrance of pine, spruce, birch, and wet moss from the surrounding forest filled the air around us as we slept, the thick blinds pulled down every night to block out the summer sunlight, but allowing the sound of the nearby waterfall.
Alvkarleby was for me a lush playground filled with fern lined forest trails that brought my clogged feet to hidden pockets of chanterelles, or brambles of wild blueberries and raspberries. My mother and I would spend hours foraging in the forest, filling buckets that we would carry home one in each hand. If a field was too far away to walk, we would ride bicycles, hanging the full buckets on the bicycle handles for the trip home along the bumpy dirt road.
Mormor had a large garden alongside the left side of the house where she grew lettuce, cabbage, rhubarb, herbs, potatoes, and other root vegetables. There were apple trees and gooseberry bushes in her garden in front of a large strawberry patch that ran the length of the back of the house. For us there was so much abundance, that after she had already filled 3 baskets and distributed a portion to the neighbors, my mother and I would kneel in the sunshine of the strawberry garden eating the sweet berries ripe off the stems. I remember how we could smell the berries even before we dived in for a bite.
The kitchen would be sweet with the aroma of blueberry jam, or sylt, and raspberry saft – a syrup that when mixed with water becomes a drink that I would have with cookies at fika, or shared coffee time. Deep dish pies with only a top crust overflowed with the wild blueberries or strawberry and rhubarb, served with a vanilla cream sauce that melted into the warm welcoming pies.
Every August that marked another birthday that I spent in Alvkarleby, Mormor would make me a strawberry and cream cake with the handpicked berries from her garden. This is still my favorite “go-to” summer birthday cake. Layers of dense white “torta” layered with fresh whipped cream and juicy berries dripping sweet and red.
I was at the grocery this morning and saw a large full case of red organic berries. I was reminded that summer and berry season is coming to an end. So are softer and sweeter berries of my childhood that can be found in Europe. Our US berries have been modified to be larger and firmer making them easier to transport and giving them a longer shelf life in the store – at the expense of the natural sweet flavor.
Memories are odd adventures into a past we carry in our cells. They are often triggered by a sight such as the berries, or the smell of wet soil after a rain, or the nearby sound of flowing water on a warm summer night.
I have been using my kitchen as a sort of time machine to shorten the distance between the present and the past. I have been cooking and baking and bringing back the tastes and smells and textures of my ancestral heritage. I have been seeking the nourishing and the tangible in an unseen seed deep in the soil of my memories.
This version of her Strawberry Cream Cake made from all whole food ingredients like the one’s she used, is an updated version – her recipe, and many others, has been lost to boxes in many moves and I hope for them to resurface at some point. This is my sweet summer homage to a time when things did not have to be so perfect, and we could take the time to create and play in a medium that brushes and plays with all our senses.
Strawberry and Cream Cake
Ingredients:
- 12 tbsp unsalted organic butter, room temp and softened
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 4 whole eggs
- ¾ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 quart (1.5 lbs) fresh organic strawberries
- 2-4 tbsp sugar
- 2 cups organic heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup warm water
- ½ package unflavored gelatine powder
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 8 inch cake pans or two deep 6 inch cake pans (that is what I used for the photo of the cake above.)
- Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl – flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl or preferably a Kitchen Aid mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy which should take about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for ½ minute between each egg. Add the yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Mix the flour into the wet mixture one cup at a time, folding in gently with a spoon ( do not combine with the mixer.) Divide the batter into the cake pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes depending on which pans you are using – you may need to bake a bit longer (35 mins) if using the deeper pans. Test with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. (you can also use a piece of spaghetti if you do not have a toothpick!) When done let the cakes rest for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to continue cooling.
- In the meantime – while the cakes are baking or cooling, rinse, hull and slice the berries. Mix in 2 tablespoons of sugar and toss. Let sit for 15 minutes or more to macerate.
- Warm ½ cup water and add the gelatin. Let sit for 5 minutes until a gel forms.
- In a medium bowl or the Kitchen Aid mixer add 1 tbsp sugar to the heavy cream. Whip until soft peaks start to form. Whip in the vanilla extract. Heat the gelatin mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Add 2 tablespoons one at a time to the cream and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. The gelatin will help to stabilize the cream when you spread it onto the cake.
Assemble the cake
- Slice each cake horizontally to make 2 layers. Slice away the rounded top on each cake to create a flat surface. Place one layer on the cake platter you will use to serve. Cover with a layer of whipped cream and ⅓ of the strawberries. Repeat until all layers have been stacked and top with more whipped cream and any remaining strawberries.
- Garnish with fresh strawberries and serve.
Variation: You can whip some of the strawberries into a portion of the cream to create one layer that is more blended.
