Super Simple Strawberry Cake

My curly girl LOVES strawberries. Really. Loves. Strawberries. ... so we almost always have them in stock. Of course when you buy some strawberries that quickly go beyond their prime, you need to find something to do with them so this Martha Stewart recipe became a big winner in our house. It comes together so easily for a from-scratch cake recipe.

i made this for a social so i added an extra half to the recipe and it worked perfectly in an 8x13 cake pan

Strawberry Cake
original recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

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 pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved (I couldn't fit this many on my cake so if you're a little low, no worries!)

Directions:

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

Put 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. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

BONUS! I just had to make it my own so I also made a lemon glaze to put on the side. To make a simple lemon glaze, simply mix together a few tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh squeezed preferred always) with about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. You can play with the ratio of lemon juice to powdered sugar until you get a nice drizzly texture and the sweetness that you like. 

Enjoy!