Elsie’s Old-Fashioned Strawberry Cake

Make the strawberry puree. Rinse the strawberries, remove the stems and roughly chop them. Puree the strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Once pureed, there should be about 2-1/2 cups of liquid. Transfer the strawberry puree into a small saucepan. Turn the heat on the stovetop to low and allow the puree to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes until reduced. Transfer the reduction to a bowl and chill it in the fridge until completely cool.

Prep the cake pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray or butter. Cut out a circular piece of parchment paper to place in the bottom of each pan to prevent sticking.

Make the strawberry cake batter. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until smooth and set aside. Cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the two whole eggs and one egg white, along with the vanilla extract. Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then add half of the milk. Add in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining milk and then the remaining flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup of strawberry puree, leaving the remaining puree for the frosting. Mix in red gel food coloring, if a stronger pink color is desired.