Strawberry Cream Cake

Spring green. Dogwoods and redbuds and the world waking up. Made a big Sunday dinner — fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits — because Sunday dinner is the meal that holds the week together the way a belt holds pants together, functional and necessary and nobody notices it until it's gone.

Clay and Sarah are coming up on a year. He mentioned it casual, the way Clay mentions everything — over coffee on the back porch Saturday morning, looking at the yard, not at me, because Clay delivers important information to the horizon. He said Dad, it's been almost a year with Sarah. I said I know. He said she's the best thing that's happened to me since — and he stopped. Since. The word hung there. Since the rifle. Since the garage. Since the bottom. He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. Since is enough. Since is the dividing line between the life that almost ended and the life that is happening, and Sarah is on the happening side, and happening is another word for alive.

A meal like that — fried chicken, biscuits, the whole Sunday spread — deserves an ending that matches what it means. Clay’s since is still sitting with me, the good weight of it, the gratitude underneath the word he didn’t finish. Strawberries are the first real fruit of spring, and spring is exactly what’s happening on that back porch, in that yard, in my son’s life — so this Strawberry Cream Cake felt like the only honest way to close the meal.

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min (includes cooling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
1 cup whole milk
2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced, divided
2 tbsp granulated sugar (for macerating strawberries)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Macerate the strawberries. Combine sliced strawberries with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a bowl, stir, and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes until juicy. Reserve about 1 cup of the nicest slices for the top.
Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add 1 tsp vanilla and mix to combine.
Combine wet and dry. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until the batter is smooth — do not overmix.
Bake the layers. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake 28—32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly golden. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely, at least 1 hour.
Whip the cream. Beat cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and remaining 1 tsp vanilla on high speed until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat.
Assemble the cake. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a generous layer of whipped cream over the top, then cover with half the macerated strawberries and their juices. Set the second layer on top, press gently, and frost the top and sides with the remaining whipped cream.
Finish and serve. Arrange the reserved fresh strawberry slices over the top of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Best served the day it’s assembled.

Nutrition (per serving)

Strawberry Cream Cake — The Happening Side of Since