Purée the strawberries & lemon juice in a blender or a small food processor. (You should end up with 1 cup.) Transfer the puréed strawberries to a med-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over med. heat. Turn the heat down & simmer until reduced by half, about 10-12 min. Remove from heat & set aside to cool to room temp. Set aside 2 tbs (30ml) of the cooled strawberry reduction for the icing

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line a 9”x 5” loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a med-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda &salt until well blended.

In a large bowl, beat the butter & sugar together, with an electric mixer on med. speed, until pale & fluffy. Add the oil & beat until the mixture is creamy & well blended. Beat in the eggs in 2 separate additions, until emulsified. Add the extracts, then mix in the food coloring (if using) a little at a time until your desired shade is achieved.

On low speed, or by hand, stir in the flour mixture in 3 additions, followed by the strawberry reduction after the first addition, then alternating with half of the buttermilk after the last 2 additions. Mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan. Bake until the top of the loaf is golden brown & a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-40 min. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 min., then remove it from the pan & transfer it to a cooling rack