{recipe} Strawberry Crumb Cake

I don’t know why more folks don’t use wine in cake batter. It makes for a very tender crumb and adds richness and acidity that’s especially welcome in a berry-laden cake like this one. And keeping the strawberries in big chunks lets them sink into the batter and transform each bite into jammy, gooey goodness.

I brought this cake to a lunch event last weekend, and when I left around 4 o’clock about half of the cake had been eaten. At about seven that evening, I got an email from the host with the subject line: “Guess what we had for dinner?” The cake! She asked for the recipe, so I post it here to oblige.

I’ll be making this again soon, and maybe even trying it with some different wine and fruit combinations. For now, though, I think it would be hard to beat strawberries and red wine.

RECIPE: Strawberry Crumb Cake

makes one 9 or 10 inch cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved (if they are huge strawberries, quarter them)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, divided
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• salt

METHOD:

• Prepare a 9 or 10 inch springform pan with cooking spray. If you want to be able to remove the cake from the pan bottom, put a parchment cake circle on the bottom and spray again. 
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer, cream 6 Tblsp butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix again to combine. Add milk, wine, and vanilla and mix well. Batter may look lumpy but don’t worry.
• Add flour, baking powder, and a large pinch of salt. Mix just to combine.
• Pour batter into prepared springform pan. Arrange strawberries cut side down on top of the cake, trying not to overlap. Push down gently into the batter.
• Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the cake and dot all over with small pieces of the remaining 2 Tblsp butter.
• Bake 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (of batter; it may have strawberry on it.)
• Serve warm or room temperature. It goes very well with ice cream or whipped cream. It will keep for 2 days, wrapped well in plastic wrap.