Bright berries balanced beautifully on a baked brita. # 271: Berry Brita Cake

Using some alliteration joy to make up for a flat meringue. The lovely heights it reached in the oven were so promising, but its shoulders slumped in a harumph when I brought it out to cool. Good thing it’s yummy!

It’s usually a summer cake with fresh berries, but there are no rules when it comes to eating cake! Frozen berries can stretch it into a middle of September cake, and I bet it would be really good in December with an orange cranberry topping.

Pausing for a moment to enjoy the Finnish word for cake: kakku. Brita doesn’t have a direct translation, but apparently it’s a typically female name that means “exalted one”. So now I can only think of this bake a “lofty cake”, which would be even more appropriate if the meringue decided to cooperate. Next time!

Nathan and I are on our honeymoon until October (!!!) and he’s thrilled to not have to wash every ramekin in the house every week. This one was a simple bake but still racked up over a dozen dishes – oops!

Whipping the meringue first so I can re-use the stand mixer for the butter cake batter. Voila!

There are so many reasons a meringue might collapse after baking, from adding the sugar too quickly during whipping, to not baking it long enough, to baking it at too low of a temperature. I’m not sure what the exact culprit was for me this time, but I might throw in some cream of tartar next time to help stabilize the meringue.

Coolest cake pan making an appearance.

Heyyyy batter batter! (Did anyone else play Backyard Baseball on the computer as a kid?)

Meringue hat.

Couldn’t resist a tiny photoshoot while waiting for the cake to bake – the lighting was too good! Meet Zucca. He’s here to peel your vegetables whether you like it or not.

The Smitten Kitchen recipe I was following called for a layer of whipped cream on top of the meringue, which honestly sounds divine. Basically a pavlova on top of a butter cake. Yes, please!

At least there’s a distinct line between the cake and meringue!

Nothing a little pile of sugared berries can’t fix, amirite? We will meet again, brita-kakku. Stay tuned for next summer’s edition (send me all your tall meringue vibes).

Happy munching!

Recipe from: https://smittenkitchen.com/2022/06/strawberry-brita-cake/