More Strawberries! Strawberry Honey Cornmeal Cake

So last week I got another 2.5 quarts of strawberries at the CSA. I had seen a recipe come through the google reader for a blueberry cornmeal cake and I figured I could adapt it a bit and use up some of these strawberries. Per usual, I decided to try it without the refined sugar it called for and used honey instead. This made the batter a bit more liquidy and I think required a bit of extra cooking time (well I needed to bake it longer and I assume this was part of the reason). The honey also caused it to have a much darker color than its cousin the blueberry cornmeal cake. The results were terrific tasting though. The ricotta and yogurt in the recipe ensures such moistness and the flavor combination with the honey and berries is just wonderful. I think this would be the perfect breakfast cake or wonderful at a luncheon with just a tiny bit of extra cream on top for contrast. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Strawberry Honey Cornmeal Cake
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cuphoney
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 3 cups fresh strawberries, quartered

Special Equipment

• 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with vegetable oil. Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl until creamy. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add egg mixture; beat to blend. Beat in flour mixture just to blend. Add ricotta and yogurt; beat on low speed just to blend. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Scatter 1 1/2 cups strawberries over. Spoon remaining batter over in dollops, then spread to cover blueberries. Scatter remaining strawberries over.

Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

Serves 12