Red Berries Tray Bake with Cheesecake Ripple - Berry Week #2

I am a girl and I love pink. Well, maybe a woman now, hehe.

Well, girls seem to be born with this liking for pink. My girls love pink. I never teach them to like pink.

I am not pink crazy that I love my car or room to be pink, dressed in pink from top to toe, pink lipstick and eyeshadow, but when cakes or desserts come in pink, I am totally swooned. Absolutely swooned!!! So, when I saw this cake on Technicolor Kitchen, I just can’t say no to it, and I have half a block of cream cheese left from my Pomegranate Cream Cheese Orange Salad. And I also have strawberries left over from the “tomato sauce” for the Pizza Cake. And I just bought some raspberries too.

Not that I don’t love plums that I don’t want to use them like Patricia did. Red plums are in season now, and I just saw them at RM12/kg. Not too expensive, cheaper compared to using rasps and strawberries. But since I already have those ingredients in hand, so just use them, rather than go and buy 4 plums for this. Plums when baked are very pretty. They have this wonderful pinkish hue from their skin. It doesn’t look as pretty when the fruit is raw, but when baked, the colour is super pretty. You can see how pretty it is in my plum and nectarine cobbler.

At first I wanted to use some blueberries too, but then I don’t want to spoil the “pinkness” in this cake. Feel free to use blueberries or even fresh peaches (Australian peaches in season now!!!!).
Basically, any soft fruit will work with this cake. Substitute with whatever you have on hand. But don't forget to change the name to fit the cake. A cake with blueberries can't be called red berries tray bake, or a cake with peach can't be called a berry cake too, as peaches are stone fruits, a category in its own.
I also changed the method for the cake. I used creaming method, just to reduce slightly the amount of baking powder used. I didn’t reduce the sugar content as my fruits are rather tart. If your fruits are really, really sweet, then reduce the sugar, as the sourness of the fruits seems to intensify after baking.

Red Berries Tray Bake with Cheesecake Ripple
Sources:

As seen on Technicolor Kitchen

Original recipe from : Waitrose

Cream cheese mixture

125gm cream cheese

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake batter

120gm butter

120gm soft brown sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

140gm all purpose flour

1/ 2 tsp baking powder

200gm raspberries and strawberries

1. Rinse fruits and set aside to air dry.

2. Fully line a 8 inch shallow square pan with overlapping baking paper.

3. Preheat oven to 160(fan)/180C.

4. Sift flour with baking powder, set aside.

5. Beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until creamy, put into a plastic bag.

6. Cut the strawberries and tear raspberries into halves.
7. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
8. Add in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
9. Put in half of sifted flour and beat until combined and beat in the balance of flour.
10. Put 40% of the batter into the lined pan, spread it around.
11. Snip a corner (abt 8mm) off the plastic bag with cream cheese in it. Squirt ½ the cream cheese all over the spread out batter.
12. Arrange half the fruits over the batter. Gently press them in.
13. Dollop remaining batter over fruits, press and spread the batter over the fruit.
14. Squirt the balance of cream cheese over cake and arrange the balance of fruits. Gently press the fruits in.
15. Bake for 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Verdict:
Very soft and moist!!! The cream cheese ripple added a special dimension to the taste of the cake. Creamy and dense compared to the soft moist cake. Yummylicious! As predicted, the berries turned tarter after being baked. The strawberries were still fine, but the rasps are…. Hahaha, squince a bit when you eat. But then, the next day, the tartness mellowed and was longer as sharp. Same thing happened to my Stone Fruit Tea Cake 2. It only tasted fragrant and sweet the next day. So, if you ever find the cake to be too sour for your tastebud, keep it for one day, it’ll be much better.

Do not keep it at room temperature for more than 24 hours. It contains cream cheese and you better chill it to prevent it from turning bitter and bad. Warm it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds, and the cake is very nice when eaten warm.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers March 2011 Fruity March