Fresh Strawberry Bundt Cake

Strawberries sing to me of summer.  They are refreshing and juicy and colourful.  Recently, I spied a recipe on Instagram from the NY Times for a Fresh Strawberry Bundt Cake, and could not resist making it.  It may be still winter here, but there are fresh strawberries around, and this delightful cake transported me to the warm and carefree summer days which are hopefully just around the corner.

To make this cake, you will need:

170g butter 
3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
finely grated zest from 1 lemon
3 large eggs
300ml natural yoghurt
60ml fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
410g fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped into 1/2" pieces

Glaze

40g hulled strawberries
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Centre a rack in your oven and preheat it to 180 degrees Celsius.  Spray a 16 cup bundt pan with spray oil, and dust it with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar until the sugar is fragrant.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and lemon sugar together until light and creamy. 

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the yoghurt, lemon juice and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and beat the batter on low until the flour is just incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the mixture to ensure that all of the flour is combined. Remove 1/2 cup of the batter and drop tablespoons of  it into the bottom of the bundt pan.

Fold the chopped strawberries through the remaining batter until the strawberries are evenly distributed, then scrape the batter into the bundt pan.  Tap the pan on the counter to release any air bubbles.  

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 70 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through when tested with a skewer.  Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully turn it out of the pan onto the wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, mash the 40g of strawberries with a fork, then whisk in the icing sugar and lemon juice to form a pouring consistency (adjust the icing with icing sugar or lemon juice if too thin or too thick). Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cooled cake.  

Once the glaze has set, slice and serve the cake.