Description
This delightful Strawberry Cake features fresh strawberries pureed into the batter and layered with a sweet strawberry jam filling. Topped with a luscious whipped cream cheese frosting, it’s a perfect dessert for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake
- 1 ¼ lbs (570 g) strawberries, remove stems and quarter
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- ½ cup (118 ml) avocado, vegetable or canola oil
- 4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cup (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (330 g) cake flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature preferred
- Food coloring optional (2 chocolate chip-sized drops of americolor gel “electric pink” food coloring)
Filling
- ⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Remaining strawberry pulp from cake preparation
Frosting
- 2 cups (475 ml) cold heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, softened
Instructions
- Prepare Cake Pans: Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with baking spray and line bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make Strawberry Puree and Reduce Juice: Place quartered strawberries in blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve until you have 1 to 1 ¼ cups of juice. Set aside remaining pulp.
- Reduce Strawberry Juice: Pour strawberry juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to ⅓ cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer to measuring cup; if not reduced enough, continue cooking.
- Combine Milk and Juice: Whisk ⅔ cup whole milk into the reduced strawberry juice and add food coloring if using. Set aside.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, beat together oil, softened butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract until completely combined using an electric or stand mixer.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine Batter: On low mixer speed, alternately add flour mixture and strawberry milk mixture to the wet ingredients, starting and ending with the flour, mixing until just combined after each addition.
- Beat Egg Whites: In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Fold Egg Whites: Gently fold the egg whites into the batter using a spatula until fully combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Bake Cake Layers: Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake at 350F for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool Cakes: Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around edges and invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Jam Filling: Combine remaining strawberry pulp, ⅓ cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thick and the whisk leaves a trail—about 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and refrigerate until cool.
- Make Frosting Base: Beat softened cream cheese, ½ cup powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until creamy and smooth.
- Whip Cream: In a chilled metal bowl, beat cold heavy cream with remaining 1 cup powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Combine Frosting: Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture on low mixer speed until fully combined.
- Assemble Cake: Place one cake layer on serving tray. Pipe a dam around the edge using a piping bag with a round tip. Fill with jam filling. Top with second cake layer.
- Frost Cake: Cover entire cake with whipped cream cheese frosting smoothly.
- Refrigerate and Serve: Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You may substitute 2 ⅔ cups (330 g) all-purpose flour for cake flour.
- Use leftover egg yolks for pound cake, chocolate pie, or crème brûlée recipes.
- For red swirls in frosting decoration, paint stripes of icing inside your piping bag with a food-safe brush before filling.
- Using room temperature egg whites helps achieve better volume when whipping.
- Ensure heavy cream is cold before whipping for best stiffness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 32 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
