victoria sponge cake with fresh strawberries and cream

Looking for an easy dessert for your holiday weekend celebrations? This cake is perfect because it's super simple to make and assemble, but it looks pretty (and festive) as well.

The cake is a simple Victoria Sponge Cake (I used this recipe accompanying this article by Felicity Cloake, found in The Guardian).

Now, here's the thing. I didn't have self-rising flour on hand. I substituted all purpose with the appropriate amounts of added salt and baking powder, but I feel the cake, as a result, was lacking a bit in sponginess (though, not lacking in taste!). Next time I will either add more than the recommended amount of baking powder (even though it seemed like too much already), or I'll just pickup a small bag of self-rising. You'd think from reading the article that I would have just waited. But the fresh strawberries from market were at that perfect point, where waiting even just one day further would have resulted in waking up to slightly mushy berries, and a small army of fruit flies that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

Layer sponge cakes rounds with generous amounts of whipped cream, sweetened with powdered sugar for a little extra hold, and top with fresh berries. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Also, the first of the roses have made their appearance in the garden.

 

Perfectly imperfect and very patriotic.

in season - peonies, local strawberries and local rhubarb

This is one of my favourite times a year to visit our farmer's market as some of my favourite things are now in season.

A few weeks a year, locally grown Peonies are available and it's such a sight - pails and pails of blooms! And so reasonably priced, you can pick up an armful to enjoy a bunch in every room of the house.

Rhubarb is also still in season, and something I pick up each time I can. We never tire of Rhubarb Crumble Coffee Cake, or Rhubarb Almond Muffins, or a favourite of ours - Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble topped with Vanilla Ice Cream. I also freeze it to enjoy through out the summer.

And local Strawberries have become readily available, and while I will eventually get out to pick my own for jam, we still can't leave without two pints - one to eat and one to enjoy over waffles or with our yogurt.

Within a day or two the Peonies unfurl into the most beautiful flowers and they smell so pretty.

This weekend I also stopped by the Oliver and Rust parking lot sale and grabbed another one of my favourite locally made pillows. I also used my market tote which I brought back from Nantucket!

In Season - Peonies and The First Strawberries

With our local farmer's markets back in full swing, the displays of local fruits and vegetables, cut flowers, and fresh-baked goods seem to become more abundant each week as more becomes available.

This week was a favourite of mine and it meant a special trip into a neighboring city's Saturday morning market.

For only two or three weeks in the year, a local Peony grower fills a stand with pails and pails of Peonies, in as many as half a dozen different varieties. I snapped a picture with my cellphone quickly to send to Ryan so he could understand my excitement.

She sells them for $4 a bunch (five stems) or 3 bunches for $10.

Needless to say, we each left with an armful of peonies.

Another favourite sight were rows and rows of little baskets mounded full of bright red strawberries.

Our strawberry season has officially begun and we are looking forward to when we are able to "pick-your-own", which will start in the coming weeks. There are few things as wonderful as freshly-picked strawberries, still warm from the sun.

These berries didn't last long. I couldn't wash them fast enough.

And no trip to the market is complete without taking home a treat - this week we picked a sticky bun and pain au chocolat and split them between us.

The Peonies found their homes all over the house. In the bathrooms on the vanities, on my night table, on the coffee tables and on the mantel.

Gorgeous.

An Afternoon in the Strawberry Fields

The boys and I spent an afternoon a few weeks ago picking strawberries at a farm down the road from us.

I had planned on picking them before we went to the cottage, so when I wasn't able to get around to it, I was afraid that by the time I got back, the season would be over.

Fortunately, though they weren't picking any more for the stand, I was allowed to head out and see what I could find.

Luckily for us, the plants were still full of plump, ripe berries, sweet from the summer's sun.

We took our time filling our baskets, sampling a few here and there. Is there anything more wonderful than a just-picked strawberry?

Next to a buffet of delicious berries, the golf cart ride out to the back field was a highlight for the boys.

Most of our berries were canned as Strawberry jam, but a few pints were frozen for a couple special desserts. Maybe a strawberry pie or a crumble?

Strawberry Picking

After spending this morning at an auction, I decided to take the boys strawberry picking at a farm down the road from us.

With all the rain we've had lately, the fields have been really wet and picking conditions haven't been ideal.  But as the season is quickly coming to a close, I put their rain boots on and out we went.

The berries were a little sparse from being picked over, but the few quarts I could get were well worth the effort. Plump strawberries, perfectly sun-kissed and sweet, are the perfect reward.

Though the boys were no help with the actual picking, they kept themselves entertained by climbing fruit trees and playing in the grass (and eating it).

He was so content when I finally let him out of the buggy.

Sweet Cherries are also in full swing! The trees are just exploding with bright red fruit. Last year, unseasonably warm weather and then a hard frost wiped out most of our cherry crops. So this is a welcomed sight.

I wasn't ambitious enough to pick any cherries, though it would have been much easier. I just picked up a quart on my way home (as well as a flat of already picked berries!).

I came home and spent the evening hulling berries and making jam. My 12 little jars of sweet, strawberry jam are under a towel on my counter. Every now and then I hear a pop. One will most definitely be opened with breakfast tomorrow.

And with that, canning season begins.

To Market

On Saturday morning the boys and I went to the market. Our town has a market, however at this time of year it's still quite small. In the city, the St. Catharine's Farmer's Market is quite decent. 

They have a few produce vendors (some of whom are actually right down the road from our home), a flower man, a few different types of cuisine, gourmet coffee, cupcakes, cheese and cured meats, homemade ice cream and of course fresh breads and pastry.

One of my favorite bakeries is De La Terre in Vineland. Originally they were right down town here. I managed to resist the sticky buns and beautiful pain aux chocolat, but I did take home a fresh baguette.

I also picked up a quart of the first local strawberries! I'm so looking forward to strawberry season, however it's still a bit early. Pick-your-own will start in two weeks and that means I need to organize my jars for making jam.

As expected, the cut peonies were finally available. I brought home enough to fill each room of the house.

There are few other flowers that I love as much as these.

I also love a fresh baguette, especially when it's accompanied by delicious cheese. The French are clearly onto something!

And who doesn't love fresh picked strawberries?

A simple snack of a few berries, cheese and some fresh bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious.

The peonies didn't stay tight for long. By the end of the weekend most of them were unfurled and in full bloom.

Each room is filled with their beautiful scent!