Desserts that showcase fresh strawberries whole are, of course, a great option in the summer when you can find fresh berries everywhere you look. But don’t forget that there are plenty of options besides slicing the berries and piling them on a biscuit, cake or scoop of ice cream. For instance, you can put those berries into the cake to give the cake itself a strawberry flavor – and then pile more berries on top when you’re ready to serve it.

This strawberry chiffon cake is a light, airy cake that is packed with strawberries. The airy texture comes from egg whites that are beaten to stiff peaks before going into the batter. The berries are pureed before going into the cake, so while all that fruit does help keep the cake moist (chiffon cakes tend to stay nicely moist on their own, too), they don’t make the cake wet or heavy in the way that adding chopped up berries might. The cake has a light strawberry flavor to it that taste very natural and not too sweet. It is great on its own and also serves as a fantastic backdrop to whipped cream and more fresh strawberries. It keeps well and is a great cake to have around the house in the summertime.

All of those berries also turn the cake a lovely light pink color. The exact color of your cake will vary with how dark your strawberries are to begin with, so if you want to guarantee that your cake will have a bright pink color to it, add 8-10 drops of red food coloring in with the puree. This cake is most easily made with fresh strawberries, but it is possible to make it in the off season with frozen berries, as well. You need to defrost the berries completely before pureeing them. Frozen berries don’t always have as strong of a strawberry flavor as really fresh berries, so the flavor of the finished cake may be milder, but it will still be very tasty.