Makes 8 to 10 servings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup medium grind yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
11/3 cups sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten to combine
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed, patted dry, and hulled
¼ to ½ cup sugar
Sweetened whipped cream, to accompany
Fresh mint leaves, as garnish
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, and salt together in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the 11/3 cups sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes. Add the eggs, a little at a time, to combine. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, a third at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack. Let cool completely. (This cake can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to two months.)
While the cake is baking, toss the strawberries with the ¼ to ½ cup sugar to coat. Arrange in a single layer in a shallow baking dish. When the cake is out of the oven, increase the temperature to 400°F. Roast the strawberries for 15 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through the roasting time. Remove from the oven and let sit at room temperature.
To serve, cut the cake into wedges and spoon roasted berries and some of the syrup that has collected in the baking dish over the top. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf or sweetened whipped cream.
"Fresh strawberries are wonderful. Roasted strawberries? Outstanding! The sweet, warm fruit is the perfect
adornment for this coarse-textured cornmeal pound cake that soaks up the syrupy juice so not a single delicious drop goes to waste"
quick fix for cleaning strawberries!
If the season hands you—or blesses you with—a load of strawberries to clean, here’s a simple way to get the job done. Take a sturdy plastic straw and push it through the bottom of the strawberry. The straw easily tunnels through the fruit, removing the hull as well as the cap. Clean the shaft of the straw after every fifth or sixth strawberry and continue on.
