In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients: all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, a pinch of salt. Cut butter in nail-size cubes, add to the mix. Butter should be solid and cold.
Zest 1 lemon using a microplane zester or a fine grater. Be sure just to grate the yellow skin, avoiding the white pith.
Cut everything well with a spatula or dough cutter. Try to break the butter cubes into smaller pieces.
Add the egg. Mix again until the dough has an even crumble texture. Give the last gentle toss to the dough with your hands, getting any flour and sugar from the bottom of the bowl.
IMPORTANT: Don’t try to knead the dough as you would for pasta, bread etc. Instead gently rub it with your hands.The dough should NOT come together, instead it should remain crumbly.For this reason, pay attention not to rub it for too long, as the butter will start to melt and the dough will loose its crumble texture.
Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and put in the fridge for the time you’ll be preparing the filling. Again, we’re doing this to not let the butter melt and ruin the dough crumbs.
Wash and pat-dry fresh strawberries with a paper towel. Cut off the top, and cut into quarters. If you happen to have a giant strawberry in the mix, cut it in 8 parts :) The idea is to have more or less even pieces. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoon of sugar. If the strawberries are less sweet, feel free to add another spoon.
Drain off the excess liquid from ricotta cheese. In a separate bowl mix ricotta cheese with a half of strawberries.
Grease and flour your baking pan. You can also cover it with a parchment paper instead.
Assemble the cake: Spread ⅔ of the crumble dough over the bottom of the baking pan. Make sure there are no empty space. Form approx ½ inch high borders. Slighty press the dough with the palm of your hand. Spread strawberry ricotta mix over the cake. Top with the remaining fresh strawberries. Sprinkle over the top ⅓ of the remaining dough.
It’s totally fine if you have strawberries showing off here and there. If needed, gently fold in the borders of the cake inside.
Bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes.
Let the cake cool. Dust it with powdered sugar.
Notes
The cake will be a bit crunchy on the outside if served in the first 2 hours after baking. But if you let it stay for 6-8 or overnight it’ll be soft, smoothy and will just melt in the mouth with the first spoon