Strawberry Sauce:

1️⃣ Place strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 🍲

2️⃣ Cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until the mixture starts to boil. Reduce the heat slightly to medium-low and continue cooking for about 15-16 minutes, until the strawberries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened. 🍓

3️⃣ Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. It will continue to thicken as it cools. 🌡️

Note: You will use only 1/3 cup of the sauce for the cake and about 1-2 Tbsp for the glaze. You may still have a couple of Tbsp of sauce leftover.

Strawberry Bundt:

4️⃣ Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). 🔥

5️⃣ Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in sugar and lemon zest; cream the mixture until well combined. 🍋

6️⃣ Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 🥚

7️⃣ In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder, flour, and cornstarch. 🧁

8️⃣ Alternately add the dry ingredients (the flour mixture) and the milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. 🌾

9️⃣ Add in 1/3 cup of strawberry sauce, sour cream, vanilla extract, and crushed freeze-dried strawberries. Mix until just combined. 🍓

🔟 If using red or pink gel food coloring, add in 2-3 drops and gently stir until combined. 🎨

1️⃣1️⃣ Grease a bundt pan very well and pour the batter into the pan evenly. 🧈

1️⃣2️⃣ Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. (Mine took exactly 48 minutes.) ⏲️

1️⃣3️⃣ Allow the bundt cake to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it finish cooling on a wire rack. 🌬️

Strawberry Glaze:

1️⃣4️⃣ Whisk 2 Tbsp of strawberry sauce with 1 cup powdered sugar and 3 tsp of lemon juice. If the glaze is too thin, add in more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add in more strawberry sauce. 🍓

1️⃣5️⃣ Drizzle the glaze over the cake and allow it to set before serving. If desired, top with fresh strawberries. 🍓

Enjoy! 🍰