Strawberry Pound Cake

There is something about baking in a cast iron skillet that just makes baked goods taste that much better!  This Strawberry Pound Cake is no exception.  Fresh strawberries baked into a dense vanilla flavored pound cake, the perfect summer dessert.

I love cooking in my cast iron skillet, I mean really LOVE!  Typically, it is used for more savory dishes but every now and then some wonderful baked deliciousness can come from that skillet.  Probably due to the fact that it is well seasoned.   If you have not tried baking in a cast iron skillet yet I highly recommend it.

Pound cake is such a versatile dessert, you can pair it with just about anything from ice cream, caramel sauce, fresh berries or make Pound Cake S’mores like I made last summer!  Pound cake has a rich smooth texture with a classic vanilla flavor.  I wanted to incorporate some fresh berry flavors into the pound cake rather than as a topping.  One big question though was would the cake consistency be altered and become to soggy with the moisture from the berries?  My first attempt at making this confirmed my fear, I have to admit it was an epic baking fail.  Not a pretty sight, a soggy bottomed pound cake.  Then I remembered an old trick of coating the berries in a bit of flour before adding to the batter and voila!  Not only did the berries incorporate well into the batter, the cake consistency was perfect!

The smell of this Strawberry Pound Cake as it baked was simply amazing, I swear my father in law has a 6^th sense when it comes to food.  He always seems to pop by the house when I have been baking and almost like clockwork within 30 min of this pound cake coming out of the oven he stopped by for an impromptu visit.  There is something gratifying as friends and family savor the foods that you bake so the impromptu visits are welcome.

Serve this pound cake slightly warm with some fresh whipped cream or a natural vanilla ice cream and you will be in summer dessert heaven!  Of course it tastes great at room temperature too, heck I will take this Strawberry Pound Cake any way I can get it!!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• ¾ Cup plus 1 Tb butter, softened and divided
• 2 Cups plus 2 Tb all purpose flour, divided
• 1 Pound Fresh Strawberries, chopped and sliced
• 1 ½ Cups plus 3 Tb sugar, divided
• 3 Eggs
• ¾ teaspoon  Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 ¾ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ Cup Sour Cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using 1 Tb of butter, grease the inside of a 10 inch cast iron skillet.  Sprinkle with 2 Tb of flour to coat, shaking out excess.

Dice half of the strawberries and toss with 1 Tb of the flour mixture, slice the rest in half lengthwise.

In a large mixing bowl, beat remaining ¾ Cup butter and 1 ½ Cups sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.  About 3-4 minutes.

Reduce speed of mixer to medium and add eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt.  Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with sour cream, beating until just combined after each addition.

Gently fold in chopped strawberries.  Pour batter into the prepared skillet spreading out evenly.  Arrange strawberry halves on top in desired pattern pressing slightly into batter.  Sprinkle with 2 Tb sugar.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  If the edges are starting to brown you can cover the edges with foil to prevent further browning or burning.

Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tb of Sugar and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve with fresh whipped cream and enjoy!