More strawberries! Can you blame me? If there’s any time of the year to enjoy them, it’s right now. Maybe I’m especially craving them because of my lack of success with strawberry in the garden. I was so excited about the prospect of fresh strawberries that I bought not one, but two plants! I believe that so far they have yielded me 4-5 berries total. And I must say, they were some damn fine strawberries. But I want more! Luckily, I live close to several farmer’s markets. They might not be straight from my backyard, but they’re close enough.
This moist, delicious layer cake is full of flavor. I adapted a recipe from Sweetapolita (one of my many blog crushes) and couldn’t have been happier with the results. I did make a few changes, however. Since I’ve never used Jello-O or gelatin in a cake, I decided to omit it. Rosie says that strawberry gelatin adds great color and flavor, so I decided to ramp up the other ingredients, adding orange juice, zest and fresh strawberries in between the layers. I also added a bit potato starch, a trick I learned from Warren Brown’s CakeLove. For the frosting, I decided to use Italian meringue buttercream because, well, buttercream is awesome.
Adapted from Sweetapolita. Check out the original recipe for some great tips on perfectly sliced cake!
Strawberry Layer Cake
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 3 x 8″ or 9″ cakes
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup strawberry puree, room temperature (made from fresh or frozen strawberries)
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 10 ounces all purpose flour
- 3 ounces potato starch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
- 12 ounces sugar
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- Thinly sliced strawberries for layering
- To make strawberry puree, simply place a handful of fresh or frozen strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth. Divide into 1/4 cup for the cake and 1/2 cup for the buttercream.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 3 cake pans. My method is to spray them with a baking spray that contains flour (I like Spectrum), then line them with a parchment round, and then lightly spray the parchment. You can use butter/shortening and flour if you prefer. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the puree, milk, vanilla, and orange juice.
- Sift together the flour, potato starch, baking powder, salt and zest.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. Slow down the speed and add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl after each egg.
- Alternate between adding the wet and dry ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry. Scrape down the bowl as needed and don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Use a kitchen scale if possible to ensure even layers. Spread the batter evenly with a small offset spatula. The original recipe was scaled for 8″ pans so if you’re using 9″ (like I did), the batter won’t reach the top of the pans. This is fine.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow them to cool for several minutes in the pan. Carefully invert onto a cooling rack or onto cardboard cake rounds lined with parchment (this is my preferred method). Allow to cool completely. Once cool, you can wrap the cakes well in plastic wrap and store them at room temperature for two days, the refrigerator for five days, or the freezer for several months.
Strawberry Buttercream
Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
Yield: slightly more than you’ll need for this cake. Freeze the leftover buttercream in a plastic baggie.
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon Karo corn syrup
- 6 ounces egg whites
- 20 ounces (5 sticks) butter, cubed at at room temperature
- 1/2 cup strawberry puree
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
- optional: 1-2 drops red food coloring
Method:
- Add sugar and water to a medium sauce pot; stir briefly to combine. Use a wet thumb or paper towel to clean any excess sugar on the sides of the pot. Add the corn syrup, cover, and turn the heat to high.
- While the sugar is coming to a simmer, whisk the eggs on high in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
- Remove the cover from the sauce pot after some steam has formed. This prevents sugar crystallization. Cook the sugar to the soft boil stage, 235-240 degrees F (use a candy thermometer).
- Turn the mixer speed down to medium and slowly (very slowly) pour the syrup down the side of the bowl into the meringue. Don’t pour the syrup directly into the meringue or you’ll wind up with an egg white omelette.
- Once the syrup is incorporated, turn the speed up to high and allow the meringue to continue to form a stiff peak. Continue mixing on high until the mixture has reached room temperature. I place ice packs along the outside of the bowl to speed up the process, but this can still take 10-15 minutes.
- Once the meringue is room temperature, slowly begin incorporating the soft butter. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, add the strawberry puree, orange juice and food coloring.
Cake Assembly:
- Place the first layer of cake on a revolving cake stand. I prefer to leave the bottom cake round in place so it’s easy to transfer the finished cake to a display stand (but remember to remove the parchment paper!).
- Spread approximately one cup of buttercream on top and spread it around evenly with an offset spatula. Layer thin strawberry slices on top of the buttercream. Top the strawberries with a bit more buttercream.
- Repeat with the second layer (remove the cake round this time).
- Place the 3rd layer on top. Frost with a thin layer of buttercream. Use an offset spatula to apply a thin layer of frosting to the sides, taking care to make sure the top and sides are even. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set this first layer of buttercream.
- Cover the entire cake with a final layer of frosting. For decoration, I used some fresh cream whipped with sugar and vanilla, topped with strawberries.
That looks perfect! What a gorgeous color!
Neat trick with the potato starch too.
Gorgeous, this is a beautiful cake and I love the strawberries on top!
Delicious and beautiful. You’ve mad me realise that I haven’t eaten a single strawberry this year, something that I must correct swiftly.
Il est généreux et donne envie de plonger la cuillère
Je te souhaite un bon mardi
Valérie.
That looks beautiful!! Want some cake now!
Oh my! That looks heavenly! I’m mad about strawberries too, it’s definitely one of my favourite things about summer! :-)
This looks so delicious, and really elegant! Lovely :)
Looks truly artistic!
Great looking cake!
Such a pretty cake!
This looks just fabulous! A beautiful way to use fresh strawberries!
Who doesnt love fresh strawberries,the more the better :) looks delish!
What a simply gorgeous cake!
I’m not big on cakes, but the texture on that buttercream plus the strawberries on top makes it look very tempting ;-)
That’s a stunner of a cake and I really appreciate the adaptations you made!!
What a beautiful cake! I can’t get enough strawberries this time of year either, I don’t blame you at all for buying multiple plants!
I am in a little bit of love with strawberries right now too. This recipe may just be the perfect thing for a dessert this weekend. On a non-berry note: I just love your photos, you have such an eye for the composition and lighting. I aspire to one day take pics like yours…
Such a perfect summertime cake and SO pretty too! I love your photos :)
Wow, this looks perfect for a summer party or after a BBQ. Great post!
Savory, that is such a beautiful cake – as usual, I haven’t much else to say on the matter. It’s wonderful. I’m on such a strawberry kick at the moment – You’ll be seeing a strawberry cake from me too in a couple of days :D
It looks so pretty! And yummy.. Love the pink!
GORGEOUS! yumm!
What a lovely cake. I love a well made buttercream.
This cake looks fantastic! Maybe it’s because it’s pink, but I bet it tastes great too!
That’s a new recipe for buttercream for me. I can’t wait to try it!
looks delicious! I’m always excited to find new strawberry recipes this time of year ~ can’t wait to try yours!
I was just thinking I wanted a slice of cake!! This isn’t helping my craving ;)
Oooh, that looks soooo goooood! Will you show us a slice of the inside sometime? I want to see all the lovely layers!
I took it to a Father’s Day party and didn’t want to cut it in advance. I should have brought my camera! It looked purdy. The strawberry slices add a lot of color.
So beautiful!!
Beautiful decoration and photos, and delicious recipe :) Now I’m craving fresh strawberries!
this is a gorgeous cake! and it sounds simply divine!
This cake is absolute perfection! How incredibly lovely. Thanks for sharing one of my favorite spring/summer desserts!
What a beautiful cake…I absolutely love that shade of pink :)
Gorge! Love the colors, obviously, and I bet it tastes awesome!
I’m salivating! Strawberry cake of any kind seems to be a hit in my family, and this one, (excuse me here), “takes the cake!” It’s really gorgeous and I appreciate your inclusion of the methodology! It is superior! I will carve out some time to see how I do…I am not the best when it comes to making the end result look pretty! :-) Debra
I don’t like using jello in recipes too and I think I would have done what you did and upped the other ingredients. Thanks for the potato starch tip too! I must give that a go, especially since I have a bag of it leftover from another recipe :)
WOW – that is gorgeous!! I hardly ever make layer cakes but for this one it would be worth it.
Wowzer!! That is some cake!! I knew it was Sweetapolita-based by the look of it. Her cakes are so pretty and yours turned out just gorgeous! I know her recipes aren’t always the easiest to adapt, but you seem well into your comfort zone here! xo Smidge
Stunning looking cake ! Almost too good to cut the first slice but my goodness it would be worth it.
What an absolutely beautiful looking cake – the color is awesome! I’m sure tasty, too, especially with the strawberry layers and buttercream. Yummy!
daisy
this looks pretty awesome! its pretty in pink too! I love the idea of the Italian meringue buttercream on this cake…light enough but with the strawberry puree, I’m sure the buttercream packed a punch!
those strawberries look absolutely fresh and sweet! wish i could find such beautiful ones near me!
it looks utterly delicious, look forward to trying your recipe, thank you!
so pretty! I am going to have to try my hand at this
Ah! What a lovely blog…and a lovely recipe. This cake looks too good for words! Thank you for sharing it with me. As a fellow baker, I love seeing such beautiful creations!
You did such a great job with this cake. And no…there is never such thing as too many strawberries.
This is exquisite…way beyond my developing baking talents at the moment, but definitely something to shoot for for next strawberry season? Pinning!
What a gorgeous cake! Love the addition of orange in the cake and the strawberry puree in the buttercream.
Reblogged this on Beautifully Random Life.
Beautiful! I’ve been on a raspberry kick but I think I’m ready to move on to strawberries! Berries are so good from the farmers market this time of year;-)
what does the potato starch do? I love strawberry cakes, will definitely try this recipe! :)
Your strawberry cake is beautiful and looks like summer. Your strawberry and cream pie looked delicious as well…don’t know which to make first.
Wow, what a gorgeous cake! I’m so impressed with your steady hand for decorating. :) Love the idea of adding flavor in ways other than Jello – sounds great!
gorgeous cake and my strawberry plant isn’t doing well :-(
My family had strawberry bushes when I was growing up and they were pretty hit or miss, depending on the season. Here’s to better luck next year! And in the meantime…this strawberry cake is gorgeous!
Such a gorgeous strawberry layer cake! I bet it was very popular… :-)
The cake looks really beautiful and delicious! Yum, how I wish I can have a slice…!
Oh my goodness! I must try this out!! I was looking for a recipe to use up some of my strawberries!!
This is absolutely gorgeous.
This cake is sooooo gorgeous.
but even more gorgeous is your food photography.
love it!
This cake is absolute heaven on a plate, stunning :D
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I love layer cake almost as much as Italian meringue buttercream. It’s the best! I wish I could see the inside of the cake, as I bet it is as pretty as the outside. Your site is also gorgeous :)
meringue buttercream is the best!!!! especially with strawberry … lovely cake ^_^
I can’t tell you how long I looked for a recipe for a fresh strawberry cake! I love that you added orange juice. It’s just gorgeous & I look forward to trying it soon!
Let me know what you think!
Superb frosting skills!
very pretty!! love the colour
So pretty. Perfect girly cake. Love strawberries
This cake looks so darn good! I want some. Now, please!
oh yum yum yum!
Beautiful cake. And thanks for stopping by my blog.
Oh Jen, this is divine! Fabulous summer cake. Well heck I am sure anytime it would be amazing.