Serve up a slice of summer with strawberry-lemon cake
By Millie Peartree |
This cake is summer in a loaf pan. When baked, strawberries can become sour and a little gummy. Here, berries are macerated with sugar first to remove some of their liquid and concentrate their flavor. The lemon icing adds a nice finish.
STRAWBERRY-LEMON LOAF CAKE
Time: 1 ½ hours
Makes: One 9-inch loaf
For the cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon) 2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt, such as Diamond Crystal
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, at room temperature 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the lemon glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon) 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 .Ma ke the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick
cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl,
toss the strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar to macerate while you prepare the cake batter.
2 . In a lar ge bowl, combine the flour, lemon zest, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 cup sugar. Whisk to combine. In a second bowl, combine the sour cream, oil, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir to mix. Lift the macerated berries out of their liquid and add them to the batter. Gently fold in the berries until evenly incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. If it appears to be browning on top too much, tent with aluminum foil. Cool it in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then unmold the cake carefully and transfer to the rack to cool completely.
5 . Ma ke the glaze: In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the lemon zest and juice, and stir until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Let stand until set.