Strawberry season has my heart forever and ever. In New England, strawberry season is perfectly aligned with the longest week of the year; the days are hot, sunny, and filled with the promise of the summer to come.
And, like all the best things in life, it’s incredibly fleeting; we might get a 3-week long strawberry season here in Massachusetts, if lucky. We always go a little overboard and pick upwards of 50lbs to freeze and use throughout the rest of the year; that might seem like a lot of berries for two people, but even when we ration them out, we rarely make it to February with any left.
Sometimes on particularly gloomy winter days I’ll grab a bag of strawberries from the depths of the chest freezer, pull it open, and just inhale the sweet scent of summer; it’s like my own little time machine, right in the kitchen.
The smell of summer strawberries transports me back to June, when the strawberry fields are full to bursting with juicy berries, the days are long, the sun is bright, and the sweet smell of strawberries is carried on the breeze throughout the whole neighborhood.
I am usually so smitten with the small, red, juicy berries we pick at Warner Farm that I don’t bother baking them into anything at all, preferring instead to just eat them fresh by the handful, or use them in recipes that don’t require cooking.
I’d rather use my frozen berries later in the year to bake crumbles and cobblers, to sweeten up oatmeal and yogurt bowls, or for sauces and jams. But in June, when the berries are fresh, my heart is set on one thing and one thing alone: eating as many perfectly ripe, sweet, juicy little berries as I can possible stand.
Sometimes, though, we find ourselves with more berries than even we can eat at once, and after sitting out on the counter for a day, these delicate little local berries start to get a little soft and squishy. Since I would rather die a thousand deaths than throw away my precious local berries (okay, a bit dramatic, but seriously), I quickly got to work in the kitchen.
And so, a cake was born.
Tender, whole wheat, honey-sweetened cake batter gets topped with as many strawberries as you can possibly fit atop it; sprinkled with a little sugar and baked until golden, and you have yourself a cake worthy of snacking on anytime of day.
The berries mix with the sugar on top to form jammy little puddles on top of the cake, reminiscent of the fruit inside a cobbler, and somehow perfume the entire cake with a hint of strawberry essence, despite only being nestled on top.
Cut into 16 squares, this cake is the perfect hand-held snack.
This isn’t a birthday cake, or a special party cake, it’s an everyday cake; a snack cake; a rustic, 1-bowl, whole grain, let’s eat some cake cake, designed to be eaten on a weekday, for breakfast, or anywhere in-between.
Made with simple pantry ingredients like white whole wheat flour, honey, melted butter, and vanilla extract, and out of the oven in less than 45 minutes, flat, so you don’t have to heat up your house any more than it already is.
Top with a dollop of whipped cream for dessert, crumble it into a bowl of yogurt for breakfast (my personal favorite), or just grab a slice and eat it anytime you’re craving cake.
And, if you happen to live somewhere where strawberry season has already passed you by, rest assured that this cake would be lovely with raspberries, blackberries, sliced peaches, or whatever fruit is fresh, sweet, and in season right now. Or, for the other half of the world, where you’re just about to enter winter, grab a bag of organic frozen berries at the store and make this cake to transport you back to summertime!
If you make this simple strawberry cake, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below, or take picture of your cake and share it with me on Instagram! I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen. Happy strawberry season, Friends!
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups small summer berries
- 1 Tablespoon organic cane sugar, for topping
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter, oil, or nonstick spray of choice. Set pan aside.
- 2. Measure out milk and add vinegar to it in the measuring cup. Let milk + vinegar sit while you add the honey, melted butter, egg, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and whisk well to combine.
- 3. Pour the milk +vinegar mixture into the bowl, then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir again to fully combine.
- 4. Pour the batter into your greased pan, then cut your berries in half and spread them on top of the batter, cut side down. Sprinkle with sugar, then bake for 35 minutes, or until cake is golden and cooked through.
- 5. Let cake cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before cutting into 16 small squares and enjoying! This cake is best on the day it's made, though can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days (the soft berries on top will spoil at room temp, so it really needs to stay cold). To serve from cold, gently warm slices in the microwave or let sit at room temperature again before eating. Enjoy plain, with a dollop of whipped cream, or crumbled over a bowl of yogurt for breakfast!
- *White whole wheat flour has the same nutrition profile as traditional whole wheat, but a more mild flavor and texture. If desired, half all-purpose and half regular whole wheat can be used instead.
- Make it dairy-free: swap the milk and butter for coconut milk and coconut oil.
- Make it vegan: swap dairy as above, and use a flax egg in place of the chicken egg. The cake will be a bit more dense and sticky, but that's not necessarily a bad thing!
- Make it gluten-free: use any all-purpose GF baking blend with (like Bob's Red Mill) or try subbing equal parts almond flour and oat flour
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