Strawberry Cake and Quick Summer Meals Ideas

I had care group snacks last week and wanted to make something pretty and summery. Also Sam's had a huge container of beautiful strawberries on sale, so I wanted  to make something with strawberries.

So I made this:

I just wish you could smell it. Obviously, since I brought it to care group we didn't eat it warm, but next time I definitely want to try it warm. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and as always she knows her stuff. I can't wait for her cookbook to come out.



6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature,e
1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract
1 pound  strawberries, hulled and halved
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (I used this, but you could probably just use a cake pan too.)

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until  fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until barely smooth.
Pour into greased pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer (it's okay to overlap a bit). Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries. I'm underlining this because it's an easy step to forget since the pie looks oven ready.
Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (The strawberries may be gooey on the tester but that's just how you want them!) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with whipped cream. I bought some because I thought it would be more portable but I want to make it next time. Enjoy!

Oh, and I promised easy summer meal Ideas:

Here are two:

1) Grill smoked sausage (not dishes to clean up in the kitchen) and sprinkle chili pepper on it after. My cousin, Natalie, served these as appetizers at her wedding and they were incredible. Serve with Jenn's Amazing Blackeyed Pea Salsa. Find this recipe at the bottom of my Fiesta collection: http://sophie-flourchild.blogspot.com/2011/05/mexican-fiesta.html Note: Don't use cilantro if you plan on having left overs.

2) 4 Cheese Avocado Turkey Sandwiches. We really liked these, plus they were easy. I used the pesto I had on hand from my Pesto Béchamel and had a coupon for Sarah Lee deli turkey. 

This makes for a healthy-ish lunch.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 Sandwiches

1 Avocado

Mayo (I use the olive oil kind)

Cheddar Cheese (I used sharp)

Kraft Romano & Asiago, and Parmesan  cheese blend

Pepper and sea salt

Wheat Bread

1 teaspoon of pesto

Butter for the pan 

On a grill pan I melted a generous amount of butter and flipped both sides. Then I spread the mayonnaise on pieces of the sandwich. On one side I put cheddar and salt and pepper and on the other I created a pesto mayo blend and added the parmesan. Top with turkey. Cook until it melts and add your avocado. I served mine with oven roasted zucchini. Cheap and fast! Make your own version!