Strawberry Cake

I don't know if it's just my area, but strawberries this year have been quite a disappointment.  Every spring, I look so forward to having strawberries around the house-I love them in my yogurt, in my cereal, in my salads, chocolate covered, and just as a snack or part of breakfast.  This year though, I don't know what's going on, but the strawberries I've been seeing have been terrible and I've only been able to buy them a few times.

Luckily, Matt and I made our annual trip to a local farm and did some strawberry picking.  I'm not going to lie-we were actually a little disappointed there too-the strawberries were all really small!  We did manage to come home with what Matt would describe as more strawberries than we need and what I would describe as just under not enough :-)  I froze quite a bit for us to enjoy over the next few months and I almost immediately made this cake.

This cake was just what I wanted it to be-not terribly sweet and perfectly moist with just the right amount of fresh strawberry flavor.  It's almost a cross between a pound cake and an angel food cake-lighter than a pound cake but still on the dense side.  It came together in almost no time at all and made the house smell wonderful when it was baking!  I loved this cake and plan on using the recipe as a base for future cakes by substituting other fruits like blueberries, blackberries and peaches for the strawberries-yum!

Strawberry Cake

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 plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.

Add butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges.

Source: Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart