Strawberry Pie Cake

Is it a pie? Or, is it a cake?

Ingredients

Cooking spray, for the pan
1 18.25-ounce box vanilla cake mix, plus required ingredients
3 cups quartered fresh strawberries (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
2 12-inch rolls refrigerated pie dough
All-purpose flour, for dusting
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray. Make the batter; pour into the pie plate until three-quarters full. Bake until set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the strawberry filling: Toss the strawberries, granulated sugar and salt in a bowl. Let sit 20 minutes.

Unroll 1 piece of pie dough on a lightly floured cutting board. Cut into 1- to 1 1/4-inch-wide strips with a knife. Set aside.

Unroll the remaining piece of pie dough. Cut three 1-inch-wide strips from the middle of the round and press the strips together, end to end, to form one long strip. (This will be used for the piecrust rim.)

Transfer the partially baked cake to a rack; cool slightly. Drain the strawberry mixture and spoon it onto the cake, pressing the berries into the top to hold them in place. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

Arrange half of the pie dough strips in parallel rows over the strawberries, about 1 inch apart, using the shorter strips on the ends.

Fold back every other strip halfway. Lay one of the remaining strips across the center of the pie, perpendicular to the others. Unfold the strips over the perpendicular one. Repeat, alternating the strips you fold back, to create a lattice top. Trim the overhang.

Drape the long pie dough strip around the edge of the plate, on top of the lattice ends. Trim as needed and press the ends together. Tuck the edge of the dough under itself, then crimp decoratively with your fingers.

Sprinkle the lattice crust with coarse sugar and return the cake to the oven. Bake until the crust is golden, 10 to 15 more minutes. (Cover the pie rim with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.) Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.