Every freshly picked strawberry deserves a great use and this summer strawberry cake is IT. A lightly sweetened cake with jammy, roasted berries on top? Oh heck yes!

Can you smell the change of seasons in the air? Like when spring starts turning to summer and there’s this fresh, clean, grassy smell in the air?

Most especially after it rains, right?

I sit on the porch with my coffee or an iced vanilla latte in the mornings before going to work when the weather starts to warm up, loving the way the morning air smells. Watching the trees come back to life day-by-day is one of my favorite things about this time of year.

It feels like summer will never get here and then one day:

BOOM! The tree are green and flowering. The landscapers are back at ungodly hours all over the neighborhood.

The humidity is seeping back in and the mosquitos are back.

And cakes like this strawberry cake are being devoured everywhere.

At least there’s this cake.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love most aspects of summer, most especially the produce!

Because without local strawberries, I’d probably have a meltdown.

Fortunately for most of us, you can use out-of-season strawberries in this cake since they roast and get all jammy in the oven. But if you can score some local, in-season strawberries, you’re allll set.

I made this cake last summer with berries from our backyard strawberry patch and this cake alone made all of the work maintaining those berry plants each year more than worth it.

And should you feel like using a different berry, I’d say go for it! Raspberries or blackberries would be absolutely lovely in place of strawberries here.

If you’re looking to use up some blueberries, go for this blueberry buttermilk upside-down cake instead. It’s phenom!!

And that’s only because I love that blueberry cake so freaking much.

So go ahead and smell the roses – or drink some rosé!!

But make this cake too. Your strawberries are begging to be eaten this way.

More Strawberry Desserts Perfect for Summer

• French lemon strawberry jam cake
• Strawberries and cream tart
• Strawberry pie
• Strawberry vanilla layer cake
• Peach strawberry cobbler

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Strawberry Summer Cake

Yield: 8-12 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Every freshly picked strawberry deserves a great use and this strawberry summer cake is IT. Slightly sweet cake with jammy, roasted berries on top. Oh heck yes!!

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp table salt
• 6 tbsp (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate/springform pan
• 1 cup (200 grams) plus 2 tbsp (25 grams) granulated sugar, divided
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup (118 ml) milk
• 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 lb (450 grams) strawberries, hulled and halved
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 10-inch pie plate or a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. If using the springform pan, lay a round piece of parchment on the bottom and grease the top of the parchment, too. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the egg, milk, and vanilla until fully incorporated. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until no streaks remain and the batter is smooth.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared dish/pan. Lay the strawberries out over the batter, cut side down, in a tightly packed single layer. Sprinkle the remaining granulated sugar evenly over the top of the strawberries.
4. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 325° F. Bake for another 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake should be golden brown and the berries should be really soft and just ready to burst. Transfer the dish/pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Once fully cooled, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. If serving from the pie plate, cut the cake into wedges. If you baked the cake in a springform pan, release the sides of the pan and slip a large spatula between the parchment and the bottom of the pan to transfer the cake to a cake plate. Slice into wedges and serve.

Storage: Wrapped tightly, the cake will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

Notes

I opted to make this strawberry summer cake in a 9-inch springform pan since I love the look of a naked-sided cake, even if it's just one layer. Baked in a 9-inch springform pan, the cake is going to need towards the higher end of the suggested baking time listed below. And even though you're only seeing whipped cream pictured here, a scoop of vanilla ice cream goes really nicely with this cake as well.

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Recommended Products

As a member of the Amazon Associate affiliate program, I earn a small percentage from your qualifying Amazon purchases when you click the Amazon links on this page. I'm not informed of who purchases what, just of what products are purchased.

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  Wilton Aluminum Springform Pan, 9-Inch Round Pan for Cheesecakes and Pizza
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  OXO Good Grips Mixing Bowl Set with Black Handles, 3-Piece

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