Strawberry Lura Cake

On the eve of strawberry season in the northeast and, in the never-ending quest to find yet another way to showcase this fruit, allow me to introduce Strawberry Lura Cake.  I've never heard of this cake (and apparently either has Google -- not one mention!), but I assure you that this is both a unique and delicious summer dessert.

Strawberry Lura Cake is basically a strawberry upside down cake, albeit an unusual one.  Unlike traditional versions, the fruit here transforms into a jam-like topping -- a delicious buttery topping with a depth of flavor that is greater than the sum of its ingredients.

This would be a lovely addition to a Memorial Day picnic. Start by crushing fresh strawberries. I did this by (gloved) hand, but you can also use a pastry blender or whatever you want to crush them.

Melt some butter in a cake pan, mix in brown sugar and add the crushed berries.  Then, turn your attention to the cake.

This is one of those cakes that call for separating eggs, adding the yolks to the batter and then beating the whites until stiff in a separate bowl before folding them in.

Pour the batter over the strawberry-butter-brown sugar mixture and place in the oven.

Let the cake cool in the pan for at least ten minutes, maybe longer.  Run a butter knife around the edge and turn out onto a cake plate.

The bottom of the cake becomes the top.

Plate it on a perfectly flat cake plate -- not one like I used.

Production notes:  I followed this exactly, except for saving crushed berries for decoration (because I couldn't image crushed berries being very decorative).
The instructions at the very end were typed incorrectly, so here's what you do:
Melt butter in shallow pan (I used a 9-inch cake pan). Add brown sugar and crushed strawberries.  Pour cake batter OVER this mixture and bake.