Name: Simple Strawberry Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
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, divided; 1 large egg; 1/2 cup milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved; Vanilla ice cream, for serving.

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SIMPLE STRAWBERRY CAKE — A simple homemade cake batter is loaded with fresh cut strawberries and baked in a skillet. Best served warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I’m a big fan of finding simple but delicious ways to use my farmers’ market produce, and this Simple Strawberry Cake is the perfect way to show off fresh, in-season strawberries

In fact, fresh, in-season berries are one of my favorite things about summer. The growing season in Colorado is a bit shorter than some places, so our strawberries don’t appear until a little later, but when they do, I’m ready!

And when you toss a big handful of fresh strawberries with a simple but delicious cake batter, the result is a wonderful summer dessert that’s perfect served with your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Simple is the key word here. This truly is an easy cake to whip up, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry right now.

If you have a pick-your-own berry patch close buy, then baking this cake can become a fun family activity. Perfect if you have kids at home who complain about being bored!

I like to bake my cake in a cast iron skillet, but a pie pan, or even a round or square cake pan will work just as well. When I serve it in a skillet, I just top the whole thing with vanilla ice cream and hand everyone a spoon!

And yes, this batter lends itself well to other types of berries. Blueberries are another favorite in this cake, and sometimes I’ll just toss in whatever odds and ends of berries I have in the refrigerator.

This cake is a great way to use them up before the go bad. And it’s easy enough to whip up at a moment’s notice–even if you have unexpected guests.

And although the recipe calls for a sprinkling of two tablespoons of sugar, I highly recommend being even more generous. The sugar creates a yummy, crackly topping on the cake–it’s my absolute favorite part of this dessert.

This Simple Strawberry Cake is a summertime dessert staple at our house. Easy and delicious. What more could you ask for. I hope you love it as much as my family does!

Be sure to save this Simple Strawberry Cake recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

Tips for Choosing and Storing Strawberries

Color: Strawberries don’t ripen once they’ve been picked, so look for bright red strawberries. Strawberries with too much yellow or green won’t taste as sweet. Fresh berries will also have fresh looking, green leaves.

Size doesn’t matter: Lot’s of things can affect the size of strawberries, from the type of berry to weather and growing conditions.

Smaller strawberries are sometimes sweeter, but larger berries are delicious too.

Storing: Store strawberries in the refrigerator, unless you’ll be eating them that day. Leave the stems on as long as possible, and don’t wash berries until you’re ready to use them.

Strawberries are like little sponges–once you get them wet, they’ll get mushy and spoil faster.

Here’s what you’ll need to make Simple Strawberry Cake

Butter
Flour
Baking powder
Salt
Sugar
Eggs
Milk
Vanilla
Strawberries