Strawberry Summer Cake

Summer and strawberries go hand in hand! My sister made this cake for Father's Day a few weeks back and it has been on the back of my mind ever since. I picked up two boxes of Danish strawberries at the grocery store yesterday and although the boyfriend and I like strawberries, it would take us a few days to finish all of them. So, why not bake a cake with them! I just made this cake this morning and I've already had two slices! The cake is buttery and moist and the strawberries turn all gooey and taste like an amazing jam. It's so good! This really is summer in the form of a cake.

Strawberry Summer Cake (slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 1 9-inch cake

6 tbsp or 85g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups all purpose flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
just under 1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound or 450g strawberries hulled and halved
2 tbsp vanilla sugar (or white sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C and butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add dry mixture gradually and mix until smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of the batter and as close together as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar over the strawberries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 325F or 160C. Continue to bake until the cake is a golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, this can take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes. Check the cake at 40 minutes to decide whether or not it needs more time in the oven. Let cool on a rack before serving.