This probably won’t surprise anyone reading, but one of my favorite parts of hosting book club is deciding what’s for dessert.

Last week, we had a delightful discussion of the total bonkers novel Yesteryear. If you haven’t read it already, you’re in for a treat whether you like it, love it, or loathe it.

This revelation won’t fall into serious spoiler territory, so I will say that biscuits are mentioned quite a bit. But I didn’t want to make plain ol’ biscuits, so I decided to make this strawberry cake with a biscuit-y feel from John Kanell (aka Preppy Kitchen).

This cake uses nearly a pound of fresh strawberries and is so perfect for summer. Unlike, say, a multi-layered affair smothered with chocolate ganache or a sky-high carrot cake adorned with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting, this cake is rather unassuming in comparison.

But with its tender crumb that’s not sickeningly sweet, it’s phenomenal with a dusting of powdered sugar and a plop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. And because I can’t leave well and enough alone, I marinated more strawberries with balsamic vinegar (trust me, it’s so good) to serve on the side.

Normally I’d post a link to the recipe, but it’s a subscription-only Substack situation. Since I subscribe, however, I’m allowed to give five free gift subscriptions. Want access to all of John’s exclusive baking recipes (let’s just say I’ve never had one that turned out less than fantastic)?

Share your all-time favorite dessert below and your email address, and I’ll randomly pick five winners.