Strawberry Lovin'

This is my submission for Rach's June Baking Challenge. The challenge for this month was strawberries! Yesterday was my birthday (yay!) and I was going to post my celebration dessert, but I didn't want to feel rushed in editing the photos and uploading the recipe so instead, I present you with Strawberry and Blueberry Cobbler Cake. I originally spotted this cake at The Kitchen Sink and was taken aback. It looked so lovely. Kristen said it tasted almost like a strawberry shortcake. I'm not a huge fan of shortcakes so I wasn't sure I wanted to make this but I'm glad I did.

I did have a minor problem when I made this. I doubled the recipe and put equal amounts into 2 pie plates. One for us and one for my neighbor- their son was graduating. Only I wanted to use my new-to-me Corning ware pie plate that I got from Goodwill for only $2.99! Only that's where my problem was. The recipe calls for a 10-inch pie plate and this one was significantly smaller so it overflowed in the oven and burned all over the place. It was a freakin' mess.

I immediately smelled the smoke and rushed into the kitchen. I pulled out both cakes- the Pyrex pie plate was just fine- thank God! I scraped the over-flowing lava-like cake batter off of the edge and took out about half a cup of batter. I cleaned the oven as best I could and popped them back into the oven to finish their baking with a sheet pan underneath them, just in case.

With 10 minutes left to go on my kitchen timer, I went to check on the cakes and the berries had completely sunk despite me flouring them :-( Bummer, I hate when that happens. So I added a few more blueberries to the top of the cake and popped them back in. When the timer beeped at me I went to check them and they looked perfect. Nothing like they should but, but perfect to me.

Oh my gawd, this was delicious! I didn't think my husband was going to like it, but he went back for seconds! We finished this cake off in a day and a half, it was that good. It didn't taste like a shortcake to me at all. It was definitely cakey, but very moist (maybe because I added more fruit) buttery, vanilla-y and very reminiscent to a cobbler, so I renamed it. Beside if I want strawberry cake, Ill make this one! Despite my many mishaps, I would definitely make this cake again (in my Pyrex pie plate, not my pretty Corning ware find) :-)

Strawberry and Blueberry Cobbler Cake adapted from Martha Stewart

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

NOTE: You can use all strawberries (1 pound) or a combination of berries that you prefer. Use enough to cover the top of the batter.