Makes: 1 loaf, enough for 8–10 slices

Active time: 20 minutes
Inactive time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Kitchenalia: 21 x 11 cm or thereabouts loaf tin, stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment

Before you begin: Leave your butter and eggs out on the bench overnight to come to room temperature. Alternatively, carefully place your eggs (in the shell) into a glass of lukewarm water, where they will come to temperature in about 10 minutes. To speed up the butter softening, warm a ceramic bowl in a low oven, then place it upside down over the butter and leave for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 225 g (8 oz) spelt flour (see note)

• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 60 ml (2 fl oz) whole milk

• 100 g (3 1⁄2 oz) ricotta

• 3 eggs, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 250 g (9 oz) strawberries (1 punnet)

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

• 175 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature or slightly warmer (but not melted)

• 250 g (9 oz) white (granulated) sugar

• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c (315°F) fan-forced, 175C conventional. Line your loaf tin with baking paper, allowing the sides of the paper to extend past the edges of the tin.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and ricotta. Set both bowls aside.

3. Crack the eggs into a small bowl (do not whisk) and add the vanilla extract. Set aside.

4. Hull and chop half of the strawberries and mix them with the lemon zest in another bowl. Hull and cut the remaining strawberries into rounds. Set both lots of strawberries aside, keeping them separate.

5. Add the butter and white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on a high speed until the mixture is light, fluffy and almost white in colour. This will take about 5–7 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides as needed.

6. With the machine running, add the eggs, letting one slide in at a time, and waiting until each egg is fully incorporated before adding in the next.

7. Stop the machine, add in half the flour mixture and turn the machine on to low speed to just combine. Add in the milk-ricotta mixture and mix until combined. Finally, stop the machine again and add in the remaining flour mixture, along with the chopped strawberries and lemon zest. Return the machine to a low speed and mix until it all just comes together.

8. Pour the batter into the tin and top with the rounds of strawberries. Sprinkle the raw sugar over the strawberries and bake for 70–80 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

9. Let the loaf cool in the tin before tipping it out. Slice and serve.

Note: Spelt flour is worth seeking out – I love the nuttiness it gives to cakes – but if you don’t have it, swap it for wholemeal or plain (all-purpose) flour.

Photo by Alan Benson and styling by Emma Knowles