Strawberry Summer Cake
Back in May, when smitten kitchen posted this recipe for Strawberry Summer Cake, I was certain it would be the very first recipe I made with the season’s first local strawberries. The smell of these berries when I brought them home from the Lexington Co-Op was so sweet. I was really happy to see them when I walked through the produce section. When this cake was baking, the scent filled the entire house — literally all three floors. My husband and I couldn’t believe the power of the fragrance, but we both eagerly awaited the cake coming out and tasting as good as it smelled. Here’s the recipe as I made it:
Strawberry Summer Cake
6 tablespoons unsalted Organic Valley sweet cream butter, at room temperature, plus extra for buttering pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling over cake before baking
1 large egg
1/2 cup Organic Valley milk
1 teaspoon Simply Organic vanilla extract
1 pound farm fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan.
- Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a larger bowl, beat softened butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, ~3 minutes.
- Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined.
- Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until smooth. Batter should be thick.
- Pour batter into prepared pie plate and arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter. Place berries as closely as possible in a single layer.
- Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.
- Bake cake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake until golden brown, ~50-60 mins. Tester should come out dry, but berries will be moist and gooey even when done.
- Let cool in pan on a rack, at least 30 minutes. When cooled, cut into wedges and serve.
This recipe is very straightforward, uses simple ingredients and is easy to assemble from start to finish. I love that it doesn’t require a ton of labor on the front-end or include standing by a hot stove, which is always a bonus for summer recipes.
This cake kept well when wrapped tightly and left at room temperature for a few days. It stayed very moist, particularly on top, thanks to the sugary topping and the moisture from the berries. I will definitely make this one again, and I hope you try it too!
This cake was delicious! The only change I made was to add brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon to the sugar topping.
Glad you enjoyed it!! Great idea to sub for brown sugar — I’m a big fan of that too. Cinnamon sugar sounds excellent! I love cinnamon anything.