Solstice is here! Summer is so so close. The strawberries have shown up in the fields, and the fog has started rolling in.
Our summer weather entails thick white rolling fog in great wispy layers across the sky during the evening and into the wee hours of the morning.

Growing up, I used to literally run home, up our hill, from my friends house at 10pm, past the eucalyptus grove and the trees, shadowy, tall and terrifying at night. Running breathless past them, I'd get home and stand in the driveway, marveling at the fog. It's so mystical and beautiful.

Summer solstice means longer days, at last. Our winter has been rainy, which I am grateful for because the reservoirs always can use more water. But there's something so sweet and wonderful about the sun just going down at 9pm over the ocean.

I love this time of year in my heart of hearts. Part of me is so joyful and excited when the last of spring rolls out and summer finally rolls in. Glorious long summer with sand and water and fireworks, and watermelon and BBQ, bonfires at the beach, and punch and memories of playing outside so long that we could tell the time by where the sun was in the sky.

Welcome Summer.

Strawberry Yummer Cake

Okay pardon the horrible play on words for the title of this blog.

I was trolling around on Smitten Kitchen, after looking at the recipe for their chocolate roll cake, that looks absolutely amazing btw, when I spotted another recipe that looked equally amazing.
Actually, it looked more so to me because it's much more my skill level.
The Strawberry Summer Cake.
It's adapted (slighty, she says) from a Martha Stuart Recipe. I like the pictures and the layout of the Smitten Kitchen one better though so that's the one I'm linking to.

The chocolate roll cake is more of a special occasion cake to me, while the Strawberry Summer Cake is more of a "hey, lets hang out" kinda cake.

We had a pint of berries that were on their last legs, so I cut them up and used them in the first run of the cake recipe.
It turned out pretty good, but the strawberries did not remotely turn to jam as the recipe stated they would, and ended up being these kind of weird mushy things in the otherwise very enjoyable cake.
This week, I bought a pint of blueberries and a pint of strawberries at the organic farm, with intentions of using the blueberries in the recipe instead.

I ended up putting the blueberries in a bowl with some granulated sugar, after gently rinsing them off. I let the bowl of berries sit while I prepared the batter. Guys, this cake is SO so freaking easy to make. It's insanely easy. and it turns out so amazing. Definitely worth it to make.

We did have some last little poor strawberries that needed to be used up, so I threw them into the cake batter too. First, I folded the blueberries gently into the batter, and then I put the strawberries in the bowl to get some of the sugar on them that the blueberries had left behind. Then I put them into the batter too, but more on the top.

Once again, not super impressed with the strawberries in this cake. While they did a nice tart component, color and smelled amazing; I have come to the conclusion that I would rather bake the cake plain with some sugar sprinkled on top, and then serve it strawberry shortcake style, with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I just really am not a fan of cooked strawberries, and it's no fault of this recipe.

The blueberries however, I LOVED in this. They turned to lovely blueberry jam in the cake, and it was like eating a blueberry muffin cake only better. So from now on, I'll probably only make this cake with blueberries instead. But if you get a chance, this cake is a great one. It would be perfect for a potluck, a BBQ, or just because it's summer and you want a yummy cake.

Here's a photo of mine.


I baked it in a 9.5" pyrex since the first pan I used was my grandmas and we gave it back to her. The pyrex gave the whole thing a great crispy crust, so it was like you got the topping in every bite.