Summer alliteration: Sunshine, strawberries and spritzes. # 403: Aperol Spritz Cake

An olive oil cake imbued with prosecco and orange zest is a joy on its own, but why not gild the lily with strawberries in an Aperol sugar syrup?

We have a lot of moody amaros on our bar cart but the happiest one is definitely Aperol. Bright orangey red in color, it makes me think of summery patio dinners and winding Italian streets.

While not as bitter as Campari, it can be a little intense and herby without a healthy splash of prosecco and ice. So simmering it with strawberries, sugar and prosecco brings it straight to its happy place.

The recipe suggested poaching rhubarb in the syrup, but texturally it’s not my favorite and I already had strawberries on hand soooo.. strawberries won! I just had to make sure to take the strawberries out of the syrup quickly so they didn’t turn into a jam.

Aren’t the blue eggs pretty? One of my parents’ friends gives them fresh eggs and there are always a few blue ones mixed in.

Obsessed. I’m almost positive I have a nail polish in this color! Brb, home manicure time.

Adding the prosecco made the batter fizz up like the best kind of science experiment.

Do you ever read the reviews of a recipe? Normally I skim them for trends, but the combo of two 5-stars and a single 1-star made me do a double take. The 1-star complained that the proportions must be wrong and there was way too much liquid with the added prosecco, but luckily it ended up the consistency of pancake batter.

Just in case, I went with an enclosed cake pan instead of my normal springform pans. No sneaky batter leakage on my watch!

Success! The bottom probably wouldn’t have stuck to the pan but I whipped out my emotional support parchment paper nonetheless.

The batter continued to fizz around the edges while baking, and now all I can think of is Wallace and Gromit’s cheese moon.

Syrup time.

Started with just a drizzle but it didn’t feel like enough.

Much better!

Happy munching!

Recipe from: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/aperol-spritz-cake-with-prosecco-poached-rhubarb