Lemon Strawberry Pound Cake

This cake will forever have a special place in my heart.  If you read my last post, you can see why.  What was originally intended to be a tasty treat at Easter brunch, turned into a birthday cake for our sweet little Lilly who decided she wanted to be born on Easter.

After realizing we would not be making it to brunch, friends and family snacked on this cake in the waiting room at the hospital. 

I couldn't have picked a better cake for such a special day.  There is no other way to put it... it's the perfect cake.  Fresh and ripe strawberries are complemented by a hint of lemon, and together they give this cake a flavor and texture that tastes like a perfect spring day feels.

This cake is a stand alone star.  A slice of the cake, hot or cold is satisfying all by its lonesome.  However, with my first two attempts, I did not have complete success popping the cake out of the pan.  A big chunk got stuck in the pan.  I quickly scraped the cake out of the pan and sort of packed it back into the cake.  It left part of the top looking less than pretty, so I decided to cover it up with fresh whipped cream.  Not a necessity but delicious and a good tool to have in your back pocket if you need to hide a few imperfections.  See my recipe notes below to avoid the cake coming apart on you.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Lemon Strawberry Pound Cake
Adapted from aspicyperspective.com

Recipe Notes
A note about greek yogurt: It is important to use good quality greek yogurt in this recipe.  I recommend Oikos or Fage brand and you can use 0% fat or 2% fat as well as plain or vanilla. These authentic greek yogurts are thick and will give your cake a great consistency.

A note about cooling time: In my testing, I had only one thing go wrong the first two times around... half the cake got stuck in the pan.  I found that the key is to let the cake cool completely in the pan before turning it out onto a plate. My cake cooled in about an hour, but leave it to cool as long as you possibly can.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted 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 (see recipe note)
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar
Optional
Fresh whipped cream, for serving (click here for recipe)

Step by Step
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a bundt pan with cooking spray or grease with butter and flour.  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. Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely in the bundt pan, at least an hour and then turn out onto a wire rack.  See recipe note for notes on cooling time.  Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Serve cold or reheat individual pieces in the microwave for 15 seconds.