Strawberry Skillet Cake

I am back from Italy and have been spoiled for life with the food of the Veneto region.

Veal (who am I?); risotto everyday....and focaccia, twice a day with wines from the region to match.

Cooking school was wonderful with 2 classes per day. I have never eaten such delicious food in my life. I did a cooking tour with STIRRED TRAVEL, a bespoke travel company that specializes in cooking holidays. I highly recommend this trip for a solo traveler, or a trip with girlfriends.

I hope you watched my daily photo journal with videos via instagram.

I arrived home Sunday to my roses in full bloom and strawberry season (and of course to Mr. Snacks!).

I post so many cakes, I can't keep track anymore. I always post a strawberry cake, and this year I chose this one.

I almost stuck to the recipe from The Bake Feed (Bake from Scratch magazine), however, I had to add orange zest to the batter. It's a must.
Lemon zest for blueberry desserts; Orange zest for strawberry cakes.

It's so easy to put together, you will want to make this for your weeknight cake (if weeknight cakes are your thing).

And really, how can a sour cream & butter cake be bad?

My new favorite thing is baking cakes in a cast iron skillet. It's so rustic and simple, and you can serve the cake right out of the pan.

I love my Field cast iron skillet (pricey, but worth it). I use it only for cakes, cause I don't like mixing meats w/ sweets....the cast iron retains the odors of onions and sausage, and I am a freak about that.

Here's how:

Strawberry Skillet Cake: (adapted from Bake from Scratch)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (one stick or 8 tbsp)
1 cup sugar
zest of an orange
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 pound fresh strawberries, halved
turbinado sugar for the top

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch cast-iron skillet.

In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar with zest, with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes (of course I do this by hand).

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.

Fold in strawberries (I prefer to just dot the top with the halved berries, but you do your thing).
Spread batter in prepared skillet. Sprinkle the top with a tbsp of turbinado sugar (you can also use granulated sugar).

Bake 35 minutes.

I ate this 15 minutes after baking, still warm, and I loved it.

A new favorite cake.

SO GOOD!!!!!