May 21, 2010

Farm Stand Fresh

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake...


Every time I take the kids berry picking, I think to myself, "I could totally do this. I could farm...yeah it's hard work, but peaceful and gratifying." Then I imagine us buying a large piece of land and reinventing our life. I envision myself in overalls and work boots, driving a tractor. That thought always makes me chuckle! Of course, I know nothing of farming. I've never even had my own garden! This year is the first year we are going to give it a whirl--that is, be involved in a communal garden. I'm hoping to learn a thing or two. I'll let you know how it goes!


I still like to pretend, as we're picking berries, that I somehow had a part in cultivating them. I also like to believe that I'm honoring the berries by putting them in such lovely treats! (If that makes me slightly crazy, I can live with that.)

This super moist cake is the perfect way to CELEBRATE juicy berries! It's thick, soft, and packed full of fresh strawberries that weep pink tears down each tender slice. The yogurt and lemon create a wonderful tangy balance to it's sweetness. This cake slices well, and doesn't dry out quickly. It is wonderfully delicious on it's own--but is also marvelous with a scoop of homemade ice cream! A perfect dessert to take to picnics and BBQs this spring and summer!


Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 Tb. lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla, greek yogurt
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.


With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.


Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.


Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.


Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.


Serves 12+.


Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake on Foodista

34 comments:

  1. So pretty! And I bet it tastes just like summer. :)

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  2. I make this EXACT cake with rasberries! Once summer hits, it is my go-to recipe, and I think I have made it more than a dozen times. Such a delicious, moist, satisfying cake. Plus bundt cakes are awesome. :)

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  3. yummy Strawberries, and happy to see a yogurt cake featured ! In France yougurt cakes are one of the all time comfort foods and many kids have them at their 4pm snack. Making a strawberry shortcake this weekend can't wait !!

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  4. OMG! Sommer, that cake is giving me the shakes! I love all those strawberry chunks peeking through and the texture is to die for. You really make good cake!

    I was just wondering if you have a problem getting cakes out of bundt tins? I always have to wrestle with mine, and they usually come out with at least a small chunk or two still stuck in the tin. Even the nonstick one. Even with copious greasing.

    Anyway - my 11 year old boy is leaning towards baking and we've been making cakes almost every other day the last week. I think this one will be next on our list :)

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  5. OMG OMG I am so making this. Wow. And your pics! I lovey your site---am RSS and adding Twitter now;))).

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  6. Gorgeous cake, looks so moist and yummy!

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  7. Ah! This is so pretty! I even have all the ingredients I need to make this, I just need to pop out and get a new bundt pan (mine stayed behind when I moved.

    As for growing your own, good luck! There's nothing more exciting and rewarding than harvesting ruit and veggies that you've grown yourself!

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  8. what a beautiful cake....I have been wondering what else to do with those strawberries!! I love the picture of the strawberries in the basket, they look like huge berries in a laundry basket!
    Cheers
    Dennis

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  9. This looks fantastic and I think I'm going to make it TODAY.

    However, quick question what is the difference between greek yogurt and using just a plain yogurt?

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  10. Denise~

    Sometime I have a little trouble with bundt cakes, but not so much with this one. When you take it out of the oven, it shrinks a little and pulls away from the sides. I think heavy greasing and flouring are the key to any bundt cake releasing from the pan--also a good glaze to cover up any cracks never hurts!

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  11. I just saw this on F.B.-looks so awesome! I made a similar blackberry cake this week, so I know this is good! Great...

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  12. This cake is truly beautiful! I can see how moist the yogurt made it and the lemon glaze is the perfect touch to complement the strawberries.

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  13. I found your site this morning and I really like your cake recipe, it looks yummy. Thought you might want to jump over and see mine.
    www.marysbites.com

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  14. OH My...this cake looks wonderfully yummy=} You can tell by your pictures how moist it is, it looks so good!

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  15. Beautiful Sommer! I love yogurt cakes and we are also enjoying berries from a farm down the street - will have to try this!

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  16. What a lovely cake! If I didn't start my crust for my strawberry tart for my party tonight, I would have made this one! too gorgeous!

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  17. I can't wait to hear more about your communal garden. This cake looks so delicious. I like the use of Greek yogurt in this recipe.

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  18. Dear Sommer - What a great idea to be part of a communal garden. Your cake is wonderful tribute to the season! I couldn't believe how wonderfully moist it looked. What a great list of ingredients too...

    I plan to make it for the summer so I'll keep you posted. THANKS for the inspiration :)

    Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

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  19. that looks so refreshing and delicious !! i want some now!

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  20. I just made strawberry tea bread a couple of days ago, but it's all gone, so will bake this cake tomorrow. Also, LOVE your Fiesta. :-)

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  21. You can see how moist it is from your pictures. It looks so good! Great summer breakfast treat.

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  22. Very, VERY tempting. Kids are out of school next week for half-term and I think perhaps a trip our local pick-your-own berry farm is in our future...

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  23. I was going t make a strawberry layer cake but this one looks so good I may use this!

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  24. yum, yum, and yum :D
    can't wait to try it :)

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  25. What a cake! It is mouthwatering. I love that strawberry season finally is here.. Ahh.

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  26. beautiful cake, love all the strawberry bits peeking out...yum, I always think I can farm also, then hubby it like "ya whatever"..

    sweetlife

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  27. This would be lovely to bring to a pot luck--so beautifyl!

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  28. Those berries are gorgeous! What a great way to use them.

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  29. I had to stop back here and thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made this cake over the weekend, and everyone absolutely RAVED about it! It was so moist and tender - just perfect.

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  30. Just made this cake (2 actually, my hubs had a meeting), it's awesome :) When I tried the batter (yep, I'm a bowl-licker) it seemed like it would be too sweet, but surprisingly not (I think I'm also getting used to German cake, which isn't sweetened as much as back home). Wasn't able to properly cream the eggs (no mixer, just elbow grease), and made it in a 10" cake pan, so after 1 1/2 hours it wasn't QUITE cooked enough (I think it was the oven), but plenty of people still came back for seconds!

    Made one small adjustment that worked beautifully - replace 1/3 of the strawberries with fresh rhubarb - aweomse!

    Thanks for the great recipe!!

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  31. Oh, I'm so happy to hear some of you have actually made this cake and enjoyed it as much as I do!!! Thanks Amy and Shea for giving it a try!

    Shea- I'm sure the pan did have an effect on the cook time, but I'm glad it turned out in the end!

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  32. That looks divine, I just recently discovered using yogurt in things. I will try this recipe soon.

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  33. wow a yummy cake.
    I made long time ago a strawberry cake,but this looks great.
    Regards
    olga.

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  34. Yogurt is such a surprise ingredient when it comes to cooking. Yesterday I added some to my regular pancake mix and ate the most drop-dead fabulous pancakes ever. Next on the list? This delectable cake. x

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I love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for taking the time. If you have a question, I'll get back to you ASAP!