*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*

A simple yet delightful sponge cake, with a strawberry top (or bottom…!). Perfect for the summer season and fresh berries

A simple yet scrumptious one layer cake, perfect for any summer party, barbecue, or just because.

Strawberry Season

When this post is coming out, it’s basically the start of summer still (June) and I am absolutely here for all of the summery baking that I can muster. It is also well into the start of strawberry season in the UK (at least for all the picking farms near me) so I always love to do baking with all of the fresh berries I can pick myself.

I have a few different pick your own farms near me which change seasonally to different things such as the fruit you can pick now, to sunflowers, to pumpkins and so on. It’s such a lovely thing to do one summery afternoon, and if you can literally pick a fruit and put it into a homemade cake an hour later, why wouldn’t you?!

Summer baking

Even though I utterly adore the Christmas and Easter baking seasons, which typically involve lots of chocolate in my world, I do adore the summer season as all my bakes tend to become lighter, more fruity.

My peaches and cream cake is definitely one of my favourites, along with my eton mess cake, and they are light, fruity and delicious. Lemon and blueberry is one of my favourite combinations and I have a fair few of those recipes now, and if I can add another fruity bake to my roster, I definitely will.

At this time of year, you can pick gooseberries, raspberries, and soon it’ll be the time for blueberries and loganberries. Even though this is a bake in the oven kinda recipe, I also have a lot of no-bake recipes that could take your fancy instead if you wish.

The upside down strawberries

To a point, this recipe is based on a pineapple upside down cake. My recipe for this is in my third book Everyday and it is an iconic classic, but there are so many delicious options you can do if you don’t fancy the pineapple side of bakes.

There are a couple different ways you can do an upside down cake, but I always start off with a layer of butter mixed with sugar. This is partly to stop the cake sticking, but also to help create a delicious layer of fruity goodness by the time you add your strawberries.

I mix the butter and sugar together to a creamy paste, and spread it over the base of a cake tin. You don’t have to line the cake tin if you don’t want to, but if you do, it’s worth greasing the tin to stick the paper down, and then carefully spreading the butter/sugar mix on top of the paper, without moving the paper about (I just poke it with a finger)

I cut the tops off my strawberries after washing, and then half the strawberries. You then want to press the strawberries into the butter/sugar mix, cut side down (see the photos for what I mean). I try to cover the base as much as I can, squeezing them in and filling every gap.

Cake mixture

Once the strawberries are prepped, and the oven is preheating, you want to make the cake mix. It’s based on a basic cake mixture, with an added little flare to make sure it’s a super light and soft moist sponge mixture, with a hint of vanilla.

I beat together some unsalted butter (or baking spread) with the caster sugar, and make sure they are creamy and combined before carrying on. I add in all of my eggs, self raising flour, some vanilla extract, and the secret… buttermilk.

However, I basically make my own buttermilk in the cake mix by using full-fat milk, and lemon juice. You can use actual buttermilk if you want, but adding all of this together works wonders and makes the lightest sponge. Mix everything together and then pour over the strawberries, spread and then bake.

Baking the cake

For this bake, as with most of my cakes for purposeful consistency, I used an 8″ cake tin. A cake like this, due to it’s depth, takes a little while to bake, but I promise you it’s worth it. I bake at 160ºc in a fan oven, for 45-50 minutes.

Any bake, can vary in time. Unfortunately, ovens really do vary in ability and consistency, even if you think it’s accurate. I have had countless issues with ovens in the past, and it’s okay for bakes to vary a little. I wait until my cake is golden, and you ideally want to wait until at least three quarters of the way through the timing before checking the cake, otherwise it may sink.

The strawberries in this bake can bubble up slightly to create almost a jam like consistency around the edge of the cake, but that’s expected, and delicious. Once the cake has been baked, you want to take it out of the oven, and leave it to sit in the tin for about ten minutes.

Once the ten minutes is up I carefully, as it’s still going to be hot, turn the cake onto my serving plate and carefully again remove the tin. The cake can be served immediately whilst still warm, or you can wait for the cake to cool and serve.

Tips & tricks

I used this cake tin in my recipe but any loose bottomed or 8″ solid based tins work (make sure to line solid base ones)
This cake is best served fresh, but it can last for 3+ days – if a warmer day, the fridge may be best
I like to serve this cake with a little cream, custard, ice cream, or even a dollop of clotted cream