I do not bake.

Correction I bake one cake. It's my "go-to" cake. It's delicious and refreshing, and one of the greatest things I've ever eaten.

I'd
love to pass this off as a family recipe but I come from a long line of
non bakers, we stick with the pros when it comes to baking. This one just happens
to be the Barefoot Contessa's recipe and it's worth every bite.

I made one over the weekend for our first BBQ ( more on that later). FYI
people are impressed when they see you pull it out off the fridge. It
gets a lot of oohs and ahhs, and you'll smile and act like it was
nothing; yep, no trouble at all!

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the filling for each cake:

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream, chilled
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Butter the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans. Then line them with parchment paper and butter and flour the lined pans.Cream
the butter and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer
fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. On medium
speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then the sour cream, zests, and
vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the
flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, slowly add the
flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine just until smooth.

Pour
the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops, and bake in the
center of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out
clean. Let cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove to wire racks
and let cool to room temperature. If using 1 cake, wrap the second well
and freeze.To
make the filling for one cake, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a
mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until firm. Slice one of the
cakes in half with a long, sharp knife. Place the bottom slice of the
cake on a serving platter, spread with 1/2 the whipped cream and
scatter with sliced strawberries.

Cover with the top slice of the cake
and spread with the remaining cream. Decorate with strawberries.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/strawberry-country-cake-recipe/index.html

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