Simple & Sweet

I know that this recipe may seem long, but trust me, this cake comes together so easily and is the perfect addition to your next Spring picnic. I personally love the touch of saving the strawberry topping in a mason jar in the fridge. That way, you don’t have to worry about the cake getting soggy before you’re ready to serve it to your guests.

Make Ahead

If you’re like me, you might want to make the cake layers a day in advance just so that you don’t have to do it all the day of your event. If you do that, simply let your cake layers completely cool on a cooling rack after they have baked, wrap each layer two times in plastic wrap, and place the layers flat in the freezer overnight (just like the strawberries!). When you’re ready to decorate your cake the next day, pull the layers out of the freezer, let them soften up a little bit, and then you’re ready to assemble!

The Easiest Topping Ever

When it comes to fruit fillings & toppings, there are usually added sugar, corn syrup, flavoring extracts, and a whole bunch of other stuff that may not be necessary. For this strawberry topping, we’re only using one ingredient: fresh strawberries! For some reason, placing fresh strawberries in the freezer overnight, then pulling them out to thaw the next day creates the sweetest flavor and the juiciest texture you could possibly get with hardly any work. No added sugar, no simmering on the stove, just freeze and thaw and you’re ready to go!

Maggie Banko

Sweet Strawberry Cake

This cake comes together so easily and is the perfect addition to your next Spring picnic! I personally love the touch of saving the strawberry topping in a mason jar in the fridge. That way, you don't have to worry about the cake getting soggy before you're ready to serve it to your guests.

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 16 slices

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the Cake

• 4 cups cake flour 560g
• 4 ½ tsp baking powder 18g
• 1.5 tsp fine salt 12g
• 3 cups granulated sugar 665g
• 1 ½ cup butter 340g
• 6 room temperature large eggs
• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 ½ tsp strawberry extract
• 2 cups room temperature whole milk 480mL
• OPTIONAL: 2 drops pink gel food coloring

For the Topping

• 2 lbs fresh strawberries

For the Buttercream

• 3 cups unsalted room temperature butter 680g
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp strawberry extract (add 1 more tsp if you would like!)
• pinch of fine salt
• 2.6 lbs powdered sugar (about 7.5 cups. Measuring with a food scale is the best way to avoid too much powdered sugar in your buttercream)
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream 64mL
• 1 drop pink gel food coloring

Method

 

The Night Before

1. Prep the Filling: Wash your strawberries and cut the tops off to prep them. Place them in a freezer bag and freeze them until they're solid (I usually do this overnight for the best results). Technically, you can use pre-frozen strawberries from the store, but you won't get the same flavor as when you use fresh strawberries!

The Day Of

1. Cake Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉. Prep 3 eight-inch round cake pans with butter, parchment paper, and flour. I like to coat the bottom and sides of each pan with butter. Then I add a parchment paper circle to the bottom (they make pre-cut parchment paper circles or you can cut your own). Next, I finish it with a dusting of flour around the edges of the pan to avoid any cake sticking!
2. Thaw the Strawberries: Take your frozen strawberries out of the freezer and set them on the counter to thaw (keep them in the freezer bag).
3. Create the Cake Batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use an electric hand mixer if you would prefer), cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that everything is mixing together well and continue mixing on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the room temperature eggs, vanilla extract, and strawberry extract to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until it's well incorporated (you will need to scrape the bowl down again with a rubber spatula to ensure it's all combined).
5. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer along with the room temperature milk. I recommend covering your bowl with some plastic wrap or a kitchen towel before mixing in the dry ingredients in order to avoid a big mess. You can also add the dry ingredients and the milk in small increments, slowly mixing in between until everything is combined.
7. Once the dry ingredients and the milk are just combined, scrape down the bowl one more time with a rubber spatula, add 1 drop of pink gel food coloring if you would like (I personally skip this step), and mix until combined.
8. Pour the Batter: Now that your strawberry cake batter is ready, evenly pour the batter into your pre-prepped cake pans. Bake the cake layers at 350℉ for 30 – 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of each layer comes out clean (a couple of crumbs on the toothpick is okay! You just don't want it to be wet.)
9. Let the Layers Cool: Once your cake layers are baked, pull them out of the oven and let them rest in their pans for about 20-25 minutes. After that, very carefully run a knife along the outer edge of each cake layer to ensure that the sides aren't stuck to the pan. Then, carefully flip each pan upside down onto a cooling rack. The cake layers should fall out very easily if you properly prepped your pans! If they're having trouble coming out, tap on top of the pan until it falls out. Let the cake layers completely cool before stacking and decorating.
10. Buttercream Time: While your cake layers are cooling, you can make the buttercream! Add the room temperature unsalted butter to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the butter on medium speed (setting #4 on the KitchenAid) for 10-12 minutes until its silky smooth and pale in color.
11. Add the vanilla extract, strawberry extract, and fine salt to the bowl and mix to combine.
12. Add the powdered sugar and heavy cream to the bowl, cover your bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel in order to avoid a mess, and mix until incorporated.
13. Once the ingredients are incorporated, scrape the down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
14. Add 1 drop of pink gel food coloring.
15. Set the mixer to medium speed and mix for about 10 minutes.
16. Topping Time: You can either make this strawberry filling and save it in a jar in the fridge to scoop on top of each individual cake slice (my personal favorite way to do it), or you can add it in between the cake layers as you assemble the cake. If you go ahead and add it in between the cake layers, it will make your cake soggy!
17. Once your strawberries are thawed, slice them up and add the chopped strawberries as well as all of the juice to a mason jar with a lid (don't forget the juice that's left in the bag!). Refrigerate this jar until you're ready to serve it on top of each cake slice (perfect for throwing in a cooler or picnic basket to take on-the-go!)
18. Assemble the Cake: Now that your cake layers are cooled and your buttercream is ready, it's time to assemble.
19. Simply place one cake layer on a cake board or a cake stand and secure it with a little bit of buttercream on the bottom so that it doesn’t slide around.
20. Add a layer of strawberry buttercream on top of your first cake layer (you can add as much or as little as you would like).
21. Add the second cake layer, another layer of buttercream, and then the final cake layer on top.
22. Cover the outside of the cake (the edges as well as the top) in buttercream so that your cake layers don't dry out.
23. If you would like to pre-slice your cake layers so that they're ready to serve at your convenience, just slice away and store each slice in an air-tight container (this cake makes 8 very large slices or 16 average slices). If you would like to serve the cake as a whole, refrigerate the full cake until about 4 hours before serving. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
24. Store for Later: Because we did not put the strawberry topping in between the cake layers for this recipe, you can leave the cake slices stored in their air-tight containers at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. Just make sure to keep that strawberry topping in the fridge!
25. Take To-Go: If you are packing up these cake slices for a picnic or a party (like me), simply place your packaged cake slices as well as your cold jar of strawberry filling into a picnic basket or a cooler and you're ready to go!

Notes

1. When making the cake batter, cream the butter & sugar together on medium speed for ~10 minutes before adding anything else! This will give you the perfect base for very smooth cake batter. 
2. Using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour gives you the perfect texture that is incredibly light & soft which is a wonderful combo with the fresh strawberries.
3. Always use room temperature eggs in your cake batter! This will give you a very smooth batter without any annoying clumps. 
4. I was left with ~1 cup of buttercream after decorating my 8″ cake. You can add extra dollops of frosting on top of your cake, save it for cupcakes, or store it in an air-tight container and refrigerate the leftover buttercream for up to 1 week!