Strawberry Summer Cake

You MUST try this recipe! It was a huge hit and very satisfying for me to make "homemade" (no box mix for this!).

Credit to www.smittenkitchen.com, by the way. I did not create this on my own.

6 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1lb strawberries, halved and hulled

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a deep pie plate or a 9 inch cake pan. I don't have a deep pie plate but the cake pan worked fine. The recipes says NOT to try it in a regular pie plate...not deep enough...will overflow...don't lose any of this precious cake!

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about three minutes. I couldn't ever get my butter to look "fluffy" but the cake came out right anyway. Mix in egg, milk, and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into baking dish. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of b atter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Strawberries will definitely cover entire cake and you may have a few that overlap. Not a problem! Sprinkle remaining 2 TBSP sugar over berries.

Bake cake for ten minutes at 350 then reduce heat to 325 and back for 50-60 minutes. Cake will be golden brown and no batter will come out on tester. Let cool (or rip piece off immediately). We sprinkled powdered sugar on individual slices as we ate the cake. In two days. Don't judge.