Strawberry Fields

Last weekend our church had a special conference called Global Impact Conference. This is a time for us to learn about different missions opportunities and how God is working in other countries. Many missionaries, often assocatiated with our church, come to the states for reports, etc. During the Sunday worship service we (the choir) sang a song called "Hallelujah to the Lamb." It is one of my favorites as it reminds me of how one day everyone will sing praises to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Another reason is that we have a processional of all the national flags. It's really neat.

ANYWAY, on to the food! My Sunday School teacher asked me to bring something for breakfast, as we were going to have two of the missionaries visiting our class. The other two girls were bringing cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole, so I decided we needed something fruity! Thanks for the suggestions many of you gave me last week. I would have loved to have done a fruit salad, but that is just too expensive right now. So, I decided to try a recipe from Cooking Light that I have been eyeing since May.

It's really pretty easy to make, is very moist, and tastes great! I did have to add more strawberry jam than the recipe called for, but other than that I give this a 4/5! I'll probably make it again, maybe trying different jam flavors or even adding some fresh fruit! This can be frozen if you want to make it ahead of time.

Strawberry Jam Crumb Cake
Cooking Light May 2006

Crumb topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

To prepare crumb topping, lightly spoon 1/4 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal; set aside.

Cake:
Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
6 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup reduced-sugar strawberry spread (such as Smucker's) (I used about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, lightly coat an 8-inch springform pan (I used a round cake pan and it worked just fine) with cooking spray; set aside. Lightly spoon 1 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine powdered sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat 2 minutes. Combine milk and juice; add to sugar mixture, and beat 2 minutes. Add half of flour mixture to sugar mixture; stir until smooth. Add remaining flour mixture, and stir just until combined.

Spoon half of batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Top with strawberry spread. Spoon remaining batter over strawberry layer, spreading evenly. Sprinkle reserved crumb topping evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 191(30% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 3.8g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 2.5g; CHOLESTEROL 33mg; CALCIUM 32mg; SODIUM 123mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.7g