Strawberry coffee cake and must-have summer desserts

New: Strawberry coffee cake and must-have summer desserts
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Summer in Vancouver never lasts as long as I hope it will and it definitely doesn’t last long enough for me to enjoy all my favourite summer treats. You’ve got a week, maybe two weeks left to indulge in the warmth of our shortest season, so before it ends, make sure you give one of these delicious summer desserts a try:

Taiwanese Shaved Ice

Delicious and simple. This dessert is simply a pile of what only could be described as fluffy snow topped with fruit jellies, sweet beans, fresh fruit and a drizzle of condensed milk. Try it at The One restaurant in Burnaby, or Frappe Bliss in Richmond. There's also a great place (so great I can't remember the name currently...) inside Crystal Mall near Metrotown where you can pick seven different toppings for about $5. 

Taiwanese shaved ice with fresh fruit and ice cream

Taiwanese shaved ice for the slightly more daring with red beans, grass jelly, ice cream and taro

Frozen Banana Popsicles

Easiest dessert to make ever. Just peel them, dip them in chocolate and pop them in the freezer. Sprinkle the still-wet chocolate with your favourite toppings such as roasted almonds or toasted coconut shavings for a little something extra and pop them back in the fridge to set.

Chocolate banana popsicles

Italian Gelato

I recently discovered a few of the best gelato places in Vancouver. Fiasco Gelato inside Famoso’s has some of the most unique and delicious flavours including fior di latte, zesty lemon sorbetto,and salted caramel. Their flavours change regularly so check back for the newest flavours. Bella Gelateria is another great gelato place with its own set of unique flavours including Thai coconut milk, saffron and rosewater and black sesame.

Mocha Ice Cream Pie

Delicious combination of coffee, ice cream and pie. This smooth, frozen, creamy dessert can be found at the Boathouse. Bakeaholic Mama has also come up with a skinny version if you’re trying to slim down.

Decadent mocha ice cream pie

Although I didn’t find any particularly tempting icy dessert recipes on Martha Stewart’s site recently, I did discover a fantastic strawberry coffee cake recipe. With summer winding down, I really wanted to squeeze in the last bit of summer fruit into my baking. I made this recipe in a muffin tin and turned them into delicious little strawberry cake muffins. That’s right, cake muffins. Not exactly cake but not quite muffins either. These dense, yet soft and moist cakes have a sensational strawberry flavour in every bite. It’s laced with just the right amount of vanilla flavour to perfectly compliment the intense taste of strawberry.

Finish off the summer with the last batch of sweet, fresh strawberries with this amazing strawberry cake recipe. I promise you won’t regret giving this one a go.

Summer Strawberry Coffee Cake

Strawberry coffee cake

Makes: One 8-inch cake or 12 muffin cakes
Oven: 350 F
Rating: 5/5

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Wash, dry and thinly slice strawberries
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt
3. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar. Mix well, then add in egg, milk and vanilla extract. In small additions, add in flour mixture and mix on low.
4. Add in strawberries and mix in by hand with a spatula. Leave a few extra to place on top for aesthetic purposes. For a little something extra, sprinkle some granulated sugar on top before popping the cake into the oven.
5. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your oven, until cake is a golden brown. Poke a stick in the middle to check for readiness. 

Prepping strawberry coffee cakes in muffin format

Tips for baking the perfect strawberry coffee cake muffins

• Make sure to dry the strawberries thoroughly, you want to avoid adding any extra moisture to the cakes.
• Thinly slice the strawberries otherwise the cakes will not cook as thoroughly. It also makes for a fluffier cake texture.
• Grease the tin or pan with butter instead of using muffin liners. The cake tends to stick to the liners.