Like the sailors lured to their doom on a rocky reef by the sweetness of her song, I’ve been known to heed the siren call of Pinterest, the visual social bookmarking site chock full of crafts, recipes, and all manner of creative endeavors from well-intentioned pinners the internet over. I do my fair share of pinning, and while I’ve certainly learned a thing or three, channeling my inner Barefoot Contessa and perfectly executing that glossily photographed salted caramel dulce de leche flan does not come naturally – or at all. To soothe those rankling feelings of inadequacy, I head on over to Pinterest Fail for a little commiseration time-out. Billed as a place where good intentions come to die, it chronicles hopeful pinners’ valiant efforts at replicating those glossily photographed projects, which have met with disastrous results.  Communing with my fallen brethren in creativity gives me the courage to continue my own aspirational pinning, ever hopeful that I will chance upon a recipe I can actually pull off that bears some resemblance to the original.

Such is the case with this Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake recipe I pinned from Julia’s Album, which she adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Armed with my computer, a pound of strawberries I bought on sale, and a sanguine spirit, I tackled this recipe with surprisingly successful results! Light, delicious and bursting with strawberry-chocolatey yumminess, I’ve made this cake three times so far and taken one to a potluck dinner, where it was met with rave reviews. It usually lasts about two days at my house, and I know it’s a recipe I’ll be making for years to come. Oh, and let me share this direct quote from my son:

“It’s like heaven had a baby, and its name is Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake”.

High praise, indeed!

Please note that the abundance of strawberries tends to make this cake extremely moist, so it’s best kept refrigerated (where it should keep well for about a week, if it lasts that long!). My son and husband prefer to eat it cold; I like to microwave it for about 10-15 seconds on high so the chocolate chips get a little melty. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.

Check out the recipe below. My low-tech photos were shot with my iPhone, using the under cabinet lighting in my kitchen. Yeah, I’m no photographer either, but, like the cake, I think they came out pretty good!

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips plus more for sprinkling the top of cake (you can use milk chocolate chips or a combination of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9×3-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the side of the springform pan or square pan with butter or cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine butter, Greek yogurt, and 1 cup sugar and, using electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – no more than 2 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium, mix in the egg, beat until light and fluffy. Then mix in milk, vanilla.
5. Keeping the mixer speed low, mix in the flour mixture, gradually, just until combined. Do not over mix.
6. Fold chocolate chips into the batter. Transfer batter to springform pan. Arrange strawberries on top of the cake, cut sides down and close together. Place chocolate chips in spaces in between.
7. Bake cake for about 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the tester comes out clean. OPTIONAL (I skipped this step): In the last 5-10 minutes of baking, you can take the cake out of the oven and sprinkle some more chocolate chips on top, pressing them lightly into the top of the cake (the top of the cake will already be baked and a bit crusty) – it will make for a nice presentation. Return to the oven for 5-10 more minutes, to allow chocolate to melt a bit.
8. When the cake is done baking, let it cool (still in the baking pan) on a wire rack. After cake has cooled for about 40 minutes, release the cake from the springform pan. At this point, if the cake is cool enough, slide your hand under the cake, between the parchment paper and the bottom portion of the springform pan and move the cake with the parchment paper attached to its bottom onto a cake plate.

 Cake before baking

 Fresh out of the oven. . . smells heavenly!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake –  it’s what’s for dessert! Thanks, Pinterest!

Visit me on Pinterest! What are your favorite Pinterest successes (or fails)? Let me know in the comments!