White cake with strawberries and cream

I was throwing a friend a baby shower a few weeks ago and asked her what kind of cake she wanted - white cake with some kind of fruit was her request. I made this lovely white layer cake (thanks for helping Stephanie!), whipped up some cream, and served it with sliced strawberries and a strawberries and cream filling. I also made a batch of cupcakes too, though they got a little dark on the bottom - apparently I can burn stuff in other ovens besides my electric one at home!

Use whole milk to keep the cake moist, and make sure you beat the butter and sugar really well, as well as each addition of eggs, to keep the cake nice and light.

This recipe is for one 9" round or square pan, or a dozen cupcakes. Double for a layer cake, or triple if you want to add a dozen cupcakes too!

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1-3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your pan or use muffin liners if making cupcakes.

Beat the butter and sugar together for a while, 5 minutes or more, until it's very well incorporated and fluffy. Add the first egg and beat in well to incorporate, at least a minute or two. Add the second egg and beat in well.

Measure out the milk and vanilla and mix together. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix each addition lightly until everything is incorporated.

Bake for 40 minutes. If it's still a little runny in the middle, turn the heat down to 300 degrees and let it bake on the very top rack for another 10 minutes or so until it has set.

Let the cake/cakes/cupcakes cool before frosting or filling.

For the whipped cream and strawberries:

I used one quart of heavy cream and 1/2 cup of confectioner's (powdered) sugar to have enough whipped cream to make a strawberry and cream filling, frost a two layer cake, and frost a dozen cupcakes. I also had two larger containers of strawberries - enough for the filling, to decorate the top of the cake and cupcakes, and enough to pick on :)  I didn't want my whipped cream to be too sweet but you can certainly add more sugar to suit your own tastes.

If you're using a stand mixer, switch to a whip attachment. Whip up a little heavy cream (make sure it's cold) until it's starting to thicken up and you get soft peaks. Add confectioner's sugar until you've reached your desired level of sweetness. Keep whipping until you have stiff peaks.

Slice up some strawberries fairly small for the filling, and mix together with some of the whipped cream. Put one cake layer onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with the strawberries and cream filling. Gently put the second layer on top of the filling. Frost the tops and sides of the cake, decorate with some sliced strawberries and enjoy!

If you're not serving right away, keep chilled in the fridge.