When Life Gives You Strawberries Make Strawberry Cake

If you’re a strawberry lover like I am you might find yourself buying pounds of strawberries at local famers’ markets and making a LOT strawberry shortcakes over the course of the summer.  A good strawberry shortcake is a timeless classic but it’s also, dare I say, a bit of a cliche.  Maybe you’ll expand your horizons with the occasional strawberry pie but, if we’re going to be honest with each other, strawberry pies can be a bit tricky to get right.  There is a lot that can go wrong as you work to bridge the gap between soupy and jello-like filling consistency.  So why not try something a little unexpected that’s actually super easy to make?  The Strawberry Cake is the simply perfect, and somewhat unexpected, alternative for showcasing your delicious summer strawberries.

Take a photo of your Strawberry Cake as fast as you can because it will quickly disappear.

So Easy Anyone Could Make It

Unlike a strawberry pie or shortcake, which involve multiple components and steps, the Strawberry Cake is made up of two components: cake and strawberries.  The only thing that needs to be done with the strawberries is hulling and halving.  No mascerating, draining, or chopping into tiny pieces.  The cake itself is also super simple to make, just a bit of sifting, beating and blending and poof you are done.  The only difficult part of making this cake is waiting for it to cool enough to eat!

Strawberry Cake is just as enjoyable when eaten sitting on the couch as it is when sitting by the pool.

Baked to Golden Perfection

Even the most inexperienced baker can pull off baking this Strawberry Cake with pretty much guaranteed success.  My only tip for baking (experienced baker or novice) is to fully eyeball the top when the timer dings that the cake is done.  The top will be a light golden brown and you want to make sure that color connects to the strawberries.  Depending on how juicy your strawberries are they will add some moisture to the bake and you want to make sure the area directly around them is fully baked.  So when your timer goes off and the top of the cake looks perfectly done make sure the areas around the strawberries look done too. If not, just pop back in for another 5 minutes so the golden bake makes it way all the way through.

This slice of Strawberry Cake is frankly too small because, let’s face it, you’ll need to go back for seconds.

This buttery-vanilla cake would make a perfect base for any type of berry compliment.  I’m looking forward to testing out a version using blueberries this week!  Let us know in the comments how it goes if you create a new version you’d like to share.

THE RECIPE: STRAWBERRY CAKE

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (plus more for pie plate)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar for batter, plus 2 Tablespoons sugar for top
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved vertically

Step 1: Prepare to Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10″ pie plate and set aside.

Step 2: Make Batter

In a medium bowl, sift flour baking powder, and salt together.  In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium-low and mix in egg, milk and vanilla.  Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture.

Step 3: Add Strawberries

Transfer mixture to pie plate and smooth over top.  Arrange strawberries, cut side down, as close together as possible on the top of the batter.  Sprinkle remaining 2T sugar on top of cake.

Step 4: Bake

Bake 10 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake until top is golden brown (including the areas touching the strawberries) about an hour to an hour 10 minutes. Remove cake from oven and let cool on wire rack before serving.

Please tell us what you think. We really want to know!

Tell us what you think!

Please comment below if you try our Strawberry Cake recipe and let us know how it goes!  Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recipes in the Food section of our website.  We’d love to hear what you think about our other recipes too!