Strawberry Summer Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart and Smitten Kitchen

Servings: about 8

It's strawberry season and I'm jumping with joy!  There's not much better than freshly picked local strawberries and the fields around here are full!  I just made a trip to the farm market and have arrived home with buckets of juicy red berries.  I made a strawberry pie last week so I decided to make a cake today.  It's sort of like a kuchen or coffee cake... not too sweet with just the right amount of berries.  This cake is simplicity at its finest!  No frosting or filling, just old fashioned goodness. 

INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (plus extra for greasing pie plate)

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon table salt

1 large egg

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled and halved

¼ cup of powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 10-inch pie pan, a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan, or a 9-inch square cake pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat with electric mixer 6 Tablespoons butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined.

Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate and smooth with spatula.

Arrange the strawberries on top, cut side down over the batter to completely cover the batter in a single layer. (You may have to overlap a few).

Sprinkle remaining 2 Tablespoons sugar over berries

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. and bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes.

Let cool.  Dust with sprinkling of powdered sugar if desired.

Cut into wedges and serve with lightly whipped cream.