Strawberry cake with pearl sugar

Strawberries are currently at their best – and at their most affordable – so it’s the perfect time to make the most of them (and their vitamin C!). While they’re of course healthiest eaten fresh, if you’re in the mood for a simple butter cake, I can wholeheartedly recommend this recipe. It’s one of the fluffiest and most reliable cakes I’ve ever baked, rich with a delicate aroma. The batter is thick enough to hold plenty of fruit without it sinking to the bottom. Now it’s perfect with strawberries or blueberries, and later you can try it with cherries, plums, or apples…

Ingredients for strawberry cake with pearl sugar:

• 100 g butter
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup soured cream
• 1⅓ cups plain flour
• 1 packet vanilla custard powder (40 g)
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 500 g strawberries, hulled (larger ones halved)
• pearl sugar, for sprinkling

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Sift together the flour, custard powder, and baking powder.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and soured cream alternately in three additions, folding gently with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be quite thick.

Line the base of a 23 cm cake tin with baking paper. Spread the batter evenly in the tin. Arrange the strawberries on top, cut side up, placing them close together. Sprinkle generously with pearl sugar.

Bake at 180°C for about 45 – 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool.

Enjoy!