Strawberries are probably my favorite fruit. Or maybe blueberries. Either way, I overdose on all things strawberry when I see huge spreads of them at the farmers market.
At some point, I decided I wanted to try them in some cake and I found a recipe on Smitten Kitchen that I edited a bit. This one combined juicy strawberries with a light yellow cake, and my favorite parts were the slightly browned and crispy edges.
I imagine you could substitute all kinds of fruit for the strawberries, and I might just try it again with some peaches or nectarines.
Strawberry Cake
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups (188 grams) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 carton strawberries, hulled and halved (or quartered depending on the size of your strawberries)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line bottom of 10″ round pan with a circle of parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar (reserving a tablespoon or two) until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla and combine. Add the dry ingredients slowly, until just combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the strawberries cut side down around the pan, pushing into the batter slightly. Sprinkle with reserved sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean and the edges have started to brown. Let it cool completely before trying to flip and remove from pan.
was just wondering what to do with my overabundance of peaches. Now I know:-)
p.s. to my first reply–made the cake tonight with peaches:-) yum yum yum. Slightly different cake as I used more fruit than you did so my cake was wetter. But so so so good. Great cake base. Will post my picture and link back to you. Thanks for the inspiration!
Glad you enjoyed it! I think that’s a record on how soon someone made one of my recipes!
Looks great! I think I prefer uncooked strawberries in the cake though.
What are the two reserved tablespoons of butter for?
PS think I might make this with cherries or pears or peaches
I hope it works for you! I plan to try it with peaches soon.
Made it with cherries and turned out great! Thanks for the idea. http://stefangourmet.com/2012/08/01/cherry-cake/
It’s reserved sugar, not butter. The sugar is sprinkled on top of the strawberries after you place them in the cake.
This cake base it great. It has become a tradition of sorts that a friend of mine always ( and only) makes it with Italian plums. It’s the one thing I anticipate in late summer when the plums are ripe. A real treat.
This looks awesome