This simple strawberry cake is perfect for spring and summer. It’s based on Marian Burro’s plum torte recipe from the New York Times. I like to put grapefruit zest in the batter and grapefruit glaze on top of the cake, but you can use different citrus or skip the glaze. I serve it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Strawberries and Cream Cake
1 pound strawberries
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon (divided)
2 eggs (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 grapefruit
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
Grapefruit glaze:*
4 Tbs grapefruit juice
2 Tbs sugar or 4 Tbs powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9” cake pan and line with a circle of parchment paper. Flip the paper so both sides are greased.
Hull and quarter the strawberries. If they’re really big, cut again. You want 1/2” pieces. Set aside.
Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Mix in vanilla, zest and salt. At a lower speed, mix flour and baking powder in to batter until just combined.
Add half of strawberries and stir to combine. Dump batter into cake pan, spread to the edges, and add the rest of the strawberries on top. Gently press into the batter. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over strawberries. Bake 50-60 minutes. The top should be golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. Don’t undertake or it will be mushy - use a toothpick to make sure it’s not still gooey.
Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges to loosen. I invert the cake onto a cutting board, take the parchment off and then invert it again on to a serving plate.
For the glaze, boil grapefruit juice, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan for 3-5 minutes until syrupy. Let cool slightly and pour over cake.
Comments