Savour strawberry season with a quick and easy stovetop cake

Celebrate strawberry season in Aotearoa with a simple, delicious strawberry cake made on the stovetop that brings out the best of summer’s first berries. Made right on your gas stovetop, this cake will melt in your mouth, bursting with strawberries in every bite. 

Why a cake on the stovetop? 

Cooking this cake in a pan on your gas stovetop creates deliciously golden, slightly caramelised edges that contrast the soft, strawberry-studded centre. Plus, cooking with gas gives you precision heat control, producing a easy, brilliantly cooked cake. 

Strawberry stovetop cake recipe 

This recipe makes one 20cm cake, perfect for sharing. Gather your ingredients and let’s get cooking! 

Ingredients 

Cake Batter 

• 1 egg 
• 50g white sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 50ml light oil (canola or vegetable oil work best) 
• 100ml milk 
• 1 cup (150g) plain flour 
• 7g baking powder 

Strawberries 

• 1 punnet strawberries (250g) 
• 20g butter 
• 1 Tbsp white sugar 

For Serving 

• Icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

Prepare the strawberries 

Wash the strawberries and slice each berry into four to six pieces, depending on their size. Set aside. 

Mix the wet ingredients 

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg with 50g of sugar until well combined. Add the vanilla essence and oil, whisking to incorporate, followed by the milk. Whisk until combined. 

Combine with dry ingredients 

Sift the flour and baking powder into the wet mixture. Whisk until the batter is smooth and no lumps remain. Set aside. 

Prepare the pan 

Heat a 20cm pan over medium-low heat. Add the butter, allowing it to melt while stirring with a spatula. 

Caramelise the strawberries 

Once the butter has melted, add 1 Tbsp white sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the strawberries to the pan, stirring gently to coat them in the buttery sugar mixture. Let them cook on low heat for about five minutes, allowing the strawberries to soften and release their juices. 

Add the batter 

Pour the batter over the strawberries, using a spatula to spread it out to the edges of the pan. 

Cook the cake 

Cover the pan with a plate (or if you have one, a lid) and cook on low for approximately 15 minutes. Watch for the surface to bubble, similar to pancake batter, as a sign that it’s partially cooked. 

Flip and finish cooking 

Once the batter looks set, place the plate on top again and, holding both pan handle and plate firmly, flip the cake onto the plate. Slide the cake back into the pan, batter side down, and cook for an additional few minutes on low. Use a skewer to check it’s cooked. 

Serve 

When ready, slide the cake onto a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar, and it’s ready to enjoy! 

This strawberry stovetop cake is simple yet impressive, perfect for enjoying the flavours of strawberry season right from your stovetop. 

Note: If you, your whānau or friends love strawberries, add another half or full punnet! More strawberries never hurt anyone right?