Strawberry 'Marvel' Cake

This is something Claire begs for pretty much every week. It's technically a marble cake with strawberries sort of like a strawberry shortcake idea. Claire started calling it strawberry marvel cake, and it stuck. We usually use frozen strawberries, as we can get them cheap. However, I once made this with fresh berries, and the kids are now spoiled.

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 c softened butter
1 1/4 c soy milk
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp flax meal

Beat everything together with a hand mixer on high for about 3 minutes. Scoop out the 1 3/4 c batter for the chocolate part, then pour the rest into a greased 9x13 pan. Make the chocolate 'marvel' part:

1 3/4 c of the above batter
3 Tbsp baking cocoa
2 tsp baking powder

Mix together. Drop by spoonfuls onto the batter already waiting in the cake pan. (In this picture, I had added crushed chocolate chips to the batter. I thought it was pretty tasty, but funnily enough, the kids didn't like it!!!)



Using a butter knife, slice through to make pretty marble designs.



Bake at 350F/180C for 40-45 minutes. If you're using frozen strawberries, just pour the amount you want into a mixing bowl, add some sugar, and let it thaw. Stir it to make sure the sugar isn't all in one place! :) If using fresh, cut up your berries, add a little water and sugar (just for the syrup).

This is what happens when it's all gone...