Strawberry Summer Cake

My mother-in-law loves strawberries. One of the many things we have in common! When I went to make a cake for her birthday dinner, I knew it had to incorporate this delectable summer fruit. I found this recipe on The Smitten Kitchen blog.

Strawberry Summer Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart by Smitten Kitchen

• 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour (can swap 3/4 cup or 94 grams all-purpose flour with 3/4 cup or 75 grams of barley flour, see Note)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
• 1 cup (200 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 pound (or as many will fit!) strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan. This cake does not work in a standard 9-inch pie pan; it will overflow. Big apologies to anyone who learned the hard way! This cake would work, however, in a 9- or 10-inch springform or cake pan. The 10-inch would make a thinner cake than pictured.
Whisk flour or flours, 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 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.
Pour into prepared pie plate.

Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer (though I had to overlap a few to get them all in). Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries (I only used about 1 1/3 tbsp sugar and I thought it was plenty).
Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream).
Do ahead: Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, loosely covered.