Warm Strawberry Balsamic Sponge in a frypan. This is exceptionally good if you don’t have an oven or even a mixer. Mix, bake and take to the table in the cooking pot. How easy is that?
Strawberry balsamic sponge
Sometimes recipes choose you and not the other way around. It happened to me today.
I arrived home this morning from 10 days in Malaysia. The flight left Kuala Lumpur at 11.40 pm on Saturday night and arrived into Sydney at 11 am the next day. Naturally I don’t travel business class so I sat upright all night and dosed just a little. At around 6 am as the horizon was glowing red through the tiny window of the airbus, my dearest friend asked me what I was going to do …today. I said sleep, knowing full well that that was a pipe dream, rubbish, ridiculous.
Strawberry Sponge
I took the dog for a walk and did the mountain of washing cleaned up a bit and talked to my teenager before going shopping and finding 3 punnets of late winter strawberries grown in Queensland for $3. I said 3 x $3! I had no plans but I was more than sure I would do something with them sleep or no sleep.
After unpacking the shopping I couldn’t resist looking at a couple of my favourite blogs . This happens in any spare moment that I have but, the first one I opened was thekitchn.com and that is where I saw the idea for this dessert. The recipe most certainly chose me. I have tweaked mine a little but have a little look at the original if you like.
What is really exciting about this is the fact that you don’t need an oven or a mixer. You can substitute any berries including frozen ones and if it’s summer you can make it on the BBQ, as long as it’s turned down low. You can also eat it cold the next day for breakfast (ask my travel buddy she did a good test on this subject)
Warm Strawberry Balsamic Sponge in a frypan
Ingredients
- 500 gm strawberries 2 Punnets (1/2’d or use other fresh or frozen berries)
- 100 gm caster sugar granulated, 1/2 cup
- 125 ml juice ( I used fresh mandarin juice but use whatever you have-no juice?..add water,1/2 cup)
- 40 ml balsamic vinegar if you have very sharp supermarket balsamic then use less
Sponge mixture
- 80 ml brown sugar 1/2 cup
- 150 gm plain flour 1 cup
- 50 gm butter cold 2 Tablespoons
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 180 ml buttermilk ( or use milk- the buttermilk makes it lighter 2/3 cup)
Optional 50 gm/ 1/4 cup roughly chopped nuts
- 5 gm salt
- 5 ml vanilla
Instructions
- You will need a frypan that doesn’t smell like last nights steak. It needs a lid. Mine is approximately 25 cm / 11 in
- Empty the Strawberries, sugar, juice and balsamic into the frypan and stir just a little. Let this sit for a minute or two. This produces and nice juice that helps the strawberries cook.
- Bring the strawberries to simmer and stir well. Simmer for 5-10 minutes or just till the strawberries are soft and the sugar looks syrupy (Try to keep the cooking to a minimum). Set aside for a minute
- Put the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor and combine. It will look like a floury crumb mixture. Add the butter milk and whizz till just combined. It will be a thick but spoonable batter
- Spoon tablespoons of the mixture straight from the processor bowl onto the top of the strawberries and syrup, until all the mixture is used. Sprinkle with nuts if using (I used Macadamias on one occasion) ( If you dont have a machine, mix it the old fashioned way in a bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients then add the buttermilk till just combined.)
- Put the frypan back onto a medium high heat and when you can see the syrup bubbling between the cake batter, turn the stove to low and put the lid on. Leave for 10-12 minutes or till the sponge is dry to touch.
- Turn off the heat and leave to stand for a couple of minutes with the lid still on. It will stay warm for sometime like this.
Ahhhh. Such a good idea – especially for those nights when you want something sweet with a cuppa but don’t have anything prepared. Genius!!!!
this is a fabulous idea! one dirty dish but so much delicious dessert!
That is certainly an interesting way to cook a dessert. Those were very cheap strawberries!
cake in a frypan, now I’ve seen it all!! Love it, absolutely do! I too really must buy myself a decent balsamic, the one in my pantry is sure to spoil this recipe. And $3 for 3 punnets? Score!!
Ooh, I love the topping! Yum!
This might be the perfect way to recover from jetlag. What an amazing looking dessert!
We’ve missed you! And this looks fantastic – I know someone who’s going to love it.. 🙂
Ooh what an interesting recipe! And lol about the frypan that doesn’t smell like last night’s steak 😛 I had a hellish flight from Bangkok to Sydney. The woman next to me smelled so bad that I threw up 🙁
I have never prepared sponge in a pan…this looks so good!
Breakfast? Ohhh yeeeaaahh! Gorgeous Tania, and welcome home 🙂 x
Welcome home, Tania! This sounds like a great dessert, Tania. Easy to prepare and delicious! Strawberries, blueberries, apples, you name it. I bet each one would be better than the last. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome home! Don’t you just love it when you have an abundance of an ingredient and are wondering what to do with it then one of your blogging buddies has just the inspiration you need. I really do need to go and splurge on a decent bottle of balsamic (I won’t show you the one I currently have in my pantry) xx
$3 for 3 punnets? It would have been madness not to buy them. I saw this on thekitchn too – I’m forever getting lost in there. Your version is much more photogenic than the original!
Thanks. I am always lost in there its great
This cake looks like trouble, so easy. I’m wondering if I could try this with apples instead, minus the balsamic.
Yes you could use apple . Cut them ( or slice ) small so they cook fully by the time the sponge is done. You could still use a little balsamic or even lemon juice to cut down sweetness. You may need a smidgen more liquid ( juice ) but you can add this as you cook the apples just a couple of teaspoons at a time. I might make one tonight. I love apples
Ok now I must hunt down some value strawberries. Yum!
That sponge looks and sounds so good! I really love the fact that you’ve used balsamic vinegar to flavor the strawberries.
Cheers,
Rosa