Description
A luscious Strawberry Cake featuring a moist strawberry-infused cake layered with homemade strawberry jam filling and topped with a fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting. Perfectly sweet and visually stunning with a vibrant pink hue, this cake is ideal for celebrations or special occasions.
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 flour¹
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg whites², room temperature preferred
- Food coloring (optional, two chocolate chip-sized drops americolor gel “electric pink”)
Filling
- ⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
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
- Preheat and prepare 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: Place quartered strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to obtain 1 to 1 ¼ cups of juice. Pour juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to ⅓ cup, about 10 minutes.
- Mix strawberry milk mixture: Add ⅔ cup whole milk and food coloring (if using) to the reduced strawberry juice, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Prepare batter base: In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Alternate mixing: With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients and strawberry milk mixture alternately to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour. Mix just until 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 cake batter using a spatula until fully incorporated without overmixing.
- Bake the cake: Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake at 350F for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cakes: Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then loosen edges with a knife and invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Prepare jam filling: Combine remaining strawberry pulp, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until boiling and thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator.
- Make frosting: Beat cream cheese, ½ cup powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. In a chilled bowl, beat remaining powdered sugar with cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until fully combined.
- Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer on serving tray. Pipe a dam around the edge using a piping bag. Fill with jam filling. Top with second layer and cover entire cake with frosting.
- Chill and serve: Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cake keeps up to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Notes
- ¹You may substitute 2 ⅔ cups (330 g) all-purpose flour if cake flour is unavailable.
- ²Save leftover egg yolks for recipes such as Pound Cake, Chocolate Pie, or Creme Brulee.
- For decorative red swirls on frosting, paint stripes of tinted icing inside the piping bag before filling.
- Ensure egg whites bowl and beaters are completely clean and dry to achieve stiff peaks.
- Use a fine mesh sieve when pureeing strawberries to remove seeds for a smooth texture.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 380 kcal
- Sugar: 36 g
- Sodium: 190 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 75 mg
