I thought I would bake a strawberry cake, this time infusing the cake with fresh pureed strawberries in addition to adding fresh strawberries in between the layers. I have a thing for strawberry cake frosted with cream cheese whipped cream frosting. This type of frosting is so quick and easy to make and so delicious.
I suppose it would have been fine to stop right here at four layers, and leave it as is for that casual, rustic, I-just-whipped-this-up-at-the-last-minute, unfinished look. The thing is, I had all that frosting so I thought I might as well use it up.
Three layers would have been fine too. That would have left me with two layers to spare for another cake for some other project. But, well, I decided to use all five layers. I divided the batter evenly among five 8-inch pans and baked them two at a time.
To finish off the frosting, I chose the easy way out and used an icing comb. I thickly slathered frosting all over the cake and ran the icing comb along the sides for that textured look. I have a few icing combs, most of which I haven’t actually used. For this cake, I used the icing comb in the right photo that looks like a long ruler.
I garnished the sides and top of the cake with sliced strawberries.
This fresh strawberry cake is very similar to this earlier Strawberry Cream Cake and the Strawberry Hearts Cake. The difference is that the cake batter this time had fresh, pureed strawberries in it.
I used a few drops of vegetable based pink food color I got from Whole Foods to tint the batter. The color is very subdued. I probably should have used Americolor for a more distinct shade of pink.
The fresh, pureed strawberries in the cake imparted a very subtle flavor. The hubby loved it. I thought it was okay. Actually, it was pretty good.
Baking the batter in three layers instead of five would have worked as well. I would have ended with fewer, but taller layers.
- 1 ¼ cups pureed strawberries
- 3 cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Few drops of pink food color
- 2 packages (8 ounces each) reduced fat cream cheese
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups heavy whipping cream
- Chopped fresh strawberries for the filling
- Fresh strawberries for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray three or five 8-inch pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Puree fresh strawberries in food processor until very smooth and free of lumps, enough to make 1 ¼ cups in its pureed form.
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder.
- On medium speed, with a flat beater attachment, beat the butter until smooth.
- Still on medium speed, gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy.
- Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
- Still on low speed, add one third of the dry ingredients and alternate with half of the pureed strawberries. Beat just until blended.
- Add half of the remaining dry ingredients and the rest of the pureed strawberries, continue beating just until blended; and then add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat well just until incorporated. Do not overbeat.
- Add vanilla extract and beat just until blended.
- Add a few drops of pink food color and beat until color is evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Divide batter evenly among pans. If using 5 pans, bake for about 20 minutes. Adjust baking time if using 3 pans, about 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cake will slightly shrink from the sides when done and will spring back when slightly touched in the center.
- Remove from oven and place on cooling racks to cool completely.
- When completely cool, run a knife along the sides of the pan and invert the cake layers onto plastic wrap , wrap each layer separately, place in a food container and store in freezer until ready to frost. Tip: If cake layer does not easily slide out of the pan, insert an offset spatula or knife along the sides of the pan all the way to the bottom of the pan, and then very gently and just slightly, lift the bottom of the cake to separate it from the pan. Continue all around the sides of the cake. The cake should easily slide off once inverted.
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth using the flat beater attachment of a stand mixer.
- Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix well blended.
- Change flat beater and switch to wire whip attachment. Mix on medium speed for a few seconds.
- Switch speed to low, slowly add the whipping cream.
- Switch to high and whip until frosting reaches stiff peaks.
- Tip: Cream will whip better when kept cold. Keep in fridge until ready to add. A cold bowl and wire whip will also help in whipping the cream.
- Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread frosting evenly on cake. Evenly spread chopped strawberries, leaving about a ½” gap from all around the cake edges. This is to prevent strawberries from spilling out of the sides of the cake once the cake is fully frosted.
- Spread another layer of frosting over the strawberries. Place next layer on top and repeat filling with frosting, chopped strawberries and more frosting over the strawberries.
- Cover entire cake with the rest of the frosting. Decorate as desired and garnish with fresh strawberries.
- To store, keep in a covered container in the fridge.
Fresh Strawberry Cake
How do i make the strawberry stick to side of cake? Everytime i try they fall off..
Hi Leticia,
Try pressing the strawberries firmly against the frosting. It would also help if you place the sliced strawberries first on a paper towel to absorb any extra moisture.
How did you get those berries to not leak all over the cake, did u cut immediately?
Hi Tonya,
I sandwiched the sliced strawberries in between sheets of paper towels to absorb the moisture.
I would like to make this as a two tier cake 8″ & 6″ for a small wedding. would I need to use dowels for support? The topper is kind of on the heavy side.
Hi Tiffany,
Dowels are always recommended anytime you stack cakes. Please note that since the frosting is made of cream cheese and whipped cream, the cake will have to be stored in the fridge.
I have big family and if I make the cake bigger do I have to doubble the ingredient???
Hi Sandra,
It depends on how big you want your cake to be. This, in itself, is already pretty generous.
Thank you if for example I wanted 8
layersthen do I doubble it?????!!!!!
Hi Sandra,
You can multiply the recipe by 1.5 if you really want more layers. But I think 8 layers might be too tall for this type of cake. To store the cake, it would have to be chilled because of the whipped cream and cream cheese. So with that height it might be a challenge finding a cover to fit over the cake. Once you start stacking, stop if it looks too high. You can always freeze unused layers. Another option would be to make a double layer sheet cake and bake the batter instead in two 9 x 13 baking pans, so that the height wouldn’t be an issue.
Will this cake work as a sheet cake? I want to make a double layer 13×9 sheet cake, with the frosting cover this or should I double the recipe?
Hi LaDana,
Yes, you can make it as a sheet cake. The frosting is already pretty generous so you shouldn’t have to double it.
Thank you
Just wanted to let you know I made this as a double layer sheet cake and it came out beautiful! The only thing I would do different, now that I know, is to make 1 1/2 recipe of the frosting because the sides of the cake were kinda slim, I doctored it with strawberry’s so you couldn’t tell, but I knew, sooo. But other than that, it was perfect and everyone loved it.
Thanks again for a great cake!
Hi LaDana,
Thank you for the feedback.
Thanks for the great recipe! I halved it, used AP flour + TBS cornstarch and baked for 26 min in a 9-in square cake pan. Turned out brilliantly. Used left over puree to make a frosting with a dab of cream cheese, butter, and enough powdered sugar to get the right consistency. Soooo good. My 3yr old requested a strawberry cake for his birthday, and this worked great.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for the input– sounds good!
Can you use regular cream cheese instead of reduced fat
Hi Brenda,
Yes, it would be ok.
I just made this cake for tomorrow and it is gorgeous! However, my sliced strawberries are starting to leak…how do I stop this from happening? Also, should the entire cake go in the fridge until tomorrow morning or should it be left out? Thank you!
Hi Priya,
You should store the cake in the fridge.
How long the cake can last if it’s stored in refridge?
Hi Ann,
If you mean storing what’s leftover, I would give it maybe two days in the fridge. Hard to tell because I usually give my cakes away.
I made this cake today for my daughter’s 30th birthday and it was fabulous. I did 3 layers and it was tall, looked great and tasted even better! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Hi Connie,
Glad to hear. Thanks for the feedback!
thanks for sharing this i will try to make it
my oven does not have enough space for more than 1 cake to bake at one time? can i make the whole batter at the same time and bake one cake after another is done baking? if i wait, won’t the bubbles from baking powder vanish ,resulting in a cake disaster?
did u make the whole batter and made the cake in 2 baking sessions?
Hi Farhana,
I bake two cake pans at a time, so while the two pans are in the oven baking, the rest are just sitting on the counter and this method has always worked for me. Yes, I made the entire batter, divided it among the pans and just baked them two at a time.
Thank you very much for the recipe! I tried the frosting and it was awesome. I’m actually making my 3rd strawberry cake with your frosting recipe, my family loves it.
Thanks for the feedback, Vanessa.
Such a lovely cake! I made a strawberry banana cake for my 12 year old friend’s birthday in July and she loved it, this may be her 13th birthday cake next year ;), though, whipped cream frosting and southern Florida do not mix very well in July make make it in the spring before it gets to hot! Our strawberries aren’t at peak right now. So will be waiting until they are in season again. I pinned this as soon as I saw it!
Thanks, Pamela. Right, cooler climates do tend to favor whipped cream.
I made the frosting from this recipe for a birthday cake and cupcakes for a friend, but I found that the consistency is a tad too runny to hold its shape when piped. Should I chill the icing or add confectioners sugar to stiffen it?
Hi Elizabeth, the frosting should have been firm enough to pipe straight on. It helps to start with very cold heavy whipping cream so that it will whip well. Or you can try using regular cream cheese instead of reduced fat cream cheese. Also, make sure you use a wire whip attachment. Yes, you can thoroughly try chilling the frosting and then whipping it again with a wire whip on high. I’m not sure adding confectioners sugar would work as I have never encountered the frosting being too runny, so I’ve never tried doing that.
gonna try this. looks so yummy! for the frosting is it regular sugar or powdered? just wanna make sure. thanks
Hi Joann,
It’s just regular granulated sugar for the frosting.
thanks so much
Delicious and beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Sherrie.
WOW! BRAVA!! I pinned this immediately.
Thank you.