Do you ever buy a bunch of fruit and use what you needed and then wonder, “What am I going to do with the rest of these _(insert fruit here)__?”   Or maybe you just forget about them and they sit there in the produce drawer, quietly waiting for you to take them out and eat them……but you forget and a few days later you find your forgotten fuzzy berries.  Let’s not let that happen this time! 

For this recipe, you will need two lemons and a pint of strawberries.  Go dig around in the fridge; you just might find them in there, waiting for you.  🙂

I dug mine out, and made a simple single layer cake, almost like a small pound cake, only more moist due to the sour cream, and more flavorful due to the lemon zest and juice.  I was very happy with the great flavor the cake had!  The minced lemon zest gives the cake much of its flavor, so don’t omit it. If someone you’ll be serving doesn’t enjoy zest, just mince is super-finely so they don’t feel it, which is what some people don’t like about citrus zest.  Also, always be careful not to dig into the white pith when zesting any citrus; the white is bitter, which is another reason many people claim not to like zest.  You only want to get the bright-colored part of the fruit into the bowl as you’re using your zester.

Next, I made a simple strawberry sauce to drizzle over the cake.  This sauce is seriously easy, friends. It took only seven mintues to make and was beautiful, with lots of flavor.

Because I’m getting in the Easter/springtime mood, this dessert was exactly what I’d been wanting.  The very first bite reminded me of sunny days and pastel Easter dresses.  🙂  I hope you like it, too.  Here’s the simple, quick recipe:

Lemon Single-Layer Cake

(a Martha Stewart recipe)

Ingredients 

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (see tips, below.)  Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
2. Combine sour cream, vanilla, zest, and juice. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream mixture. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to pan, and smooth top.
4. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out cake onto rack to cool completely. (Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature overnight.)