Moist and tender vanilla cake paired with juicy strawberries and lightweight whipped cream frosting, that is a chic, show-stopping strawberry shortcake cake. It’s excellent for spring and summer time celebrations! Recipe features a how-to video!
Strawberry Shortcake for a Crowd
If you happen to’ve ever had conventional strawberry shortcake earlier than, you recognize it’s a tasty however rustic and humble-looking deal with, manufactured from biscuits, whipped cream, and contemporary, macerated strawberries. I needed to do a barely extra spectacular and chic tackle this springtime deal with and in the end ended up with my model of strawberry shortcake cake that I’m sharing right now.
My recipe combines not-too-sweet vanilla cake with slight variations of the contemporary berries and chantilly cream you recognize and love. It’s gentle, completely candy, and completely superb with spring and summer time strawberries!
What’s to Love:
- The cake layers are moist, tender, and flavorful, thanks to a couple key components like buttermilk and a mix of oil and butter.
- Technically strawberry shortcake cake could be made any time of 12 months, since we shall be macerating our strawberries. This system makes even lackluster December strawberries style nice (although I actually should advocate my peppermint bark cake in the event you’re on the lookout for a December cake!).
- Utilizing stabilized whipped cream frosting means our frosting holds its form with none weeping or melting. And the perfect half is, it tastes unbelievable and is NOT in any respect too candy, like a buttercream could possibly be.
- Much like my latest ding dong cake, this recipe cake takes a smaller, individually-portioned deal with and turns it right into a party-ready dessert for a crowd!
Components
Earlier than we begin our mixers, there are a number of key components on this strawberry shortcake cake recipe that I’d wish to briefly talk about.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk provides taste and moisture to the cake layers. Whereas a few of my recipes want actual buttermilk, this recipe will work simply tremendous with my buttermilk substitute. It’s made with milk and vinegar or lemon juice, so simply accessible components you may have already got readily available.
- Oil + butter. I usually use a mix of oil and butter in my desserts (like my hummingbird cake and coconut cake I simply shared. This ensures moist (from the oil) and flavorful (from the butter) cake layers–the perfect of each worlds. Avocado oil is my alternative right here, however any impartial oil (like canola or vegetable) will work!
- Gelatin. This stabilizes our whipped cream frosting to assist it maintain its form and to maintain the cake sturdy and sliceable as potential.
- Heavy cream. Whipping cream or double cream will even work. This would be the base for our whipped cream frosting.
- Strawberries. I don’t advocate frozen strawberries–they’ll break down far an excessive amount of and make your strawberry shortcake cake soggy. Follow contemporary berries. Since we’ll be macerating the strawberries with sugar, it’s okay in case your berries aren’t the brightest, juiciest berries; nevertheless, if you may get in-season, sun-ripened berries, these are clearly preferable!
SAM’S TIP: Room temperature eggs will incorporate into your batter far more simply than chilly ones (that means a extra uniform, tender cake crumb), so attempt to set yours out forward of time in the event you can keep in mind to. If you happen to neglect, don’t fear! I’ve a straightforward trick that may permit you to shortly convey eggs to room temperature.
That is simply an outline of the components I used and why. For the total recipe please scroll all the way down to the underside of the publish.
Find out how to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Make the Cake Layers
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar collectively till nicely mixed.
- Add the eggs separately, ensuring every is included earlier than including the subsequent. Stir within the vanilla, then set your mixer apart for now. We gained’t want it once more till we make the frosting.
- Alternate including the dry components and buttermilk. I do the dry components in 4 components and the buttermilk in three, beginning and ending with the dry components. Be certain to make use of a spatula for this step so that you don’t over-mix your batter!
- Divide the batter into your pans, unfold into a fair layer and bake. If you happen to can’t match all three pans in your oven, it’s tremendous to let the third cake sit on the counter whereas the primary two bake. Additionally, watch out for hot-spots in your oven and rotate the pans throughout baking if wanted.
- Let the desserts cool fully earlier than frosting.
Prep the Strawberries
- Prep your strawberries. We’ll reserve some for the highest of the cake after which chop the remainder into small items.
- Toss the chopped strawberries with sugar, then set this apart to macerate (which simply means letting them develop into good and juicy).
Make the Frosting
Stabilized whipped cream is a little more concerned than my basic home made whipped cream, but it surely works nicely right here to maintain the layers from sliding and for conserving the cake sturdy, so it’s my most well-liked alternative with this cake.
- Whisk the gelatin and water collectively till absorbed. Set this apart when you begin the whipped cream.
- Beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla till thickened. Don’t let the combination even go to gentle peaks, simply let it get barely thicker. We’ll whip it to stiff peaks in a minute.
- Microwave the gelatin simply till it’s liquid once more, and provides it a whisk. Slowly drizzle the gelatin into the cream combination along with your mixer on low velocity.
- Whip the cream on excessive velocity till it’s thick, fluffy, and has reached stiff peaks.
Take care to concentrate to the cues within the written recipe and comply with the steps rigorously so that you don’t find yourself with little gelatin lumps in your frosting, that’s the worst!
Meeting
- Stage your cooled desserts (really helpful, as any dome on high will make it tough to fill with strawberries and stack correctly), then add a skinny layer of frosting to the primary layer and pipe a frosting dam across the edge. I used the Ateco 848 tip for this, however even only a Ziploc bag with a nook lower off would work tremendous right here. Simply be sure the dam is tall sufficient to carry within the berries!
- Add your macerated strawberries on high, pouring off any juices beforehand. Add one other layer of cake, then repeat this course of.
- Easy a skinny, even layer of frosting across the whole cake for a semi-naked look.
- Adorn with frosting swirls and your remaining strawberries. I used an Ateco 848 for piping the dollops, however any giant star tip will work. Let the cake chill earlier than serving, then take pleasure in!
SAM’S TIP: Pressure the juice out of your berries earlier than including them to the cake, in any other case you’ll have a messy, soggy cake!
Regularly Requested Questions
I like to recommend having fun with inside two days, however you may be capable of stretch it to 3. The issue is the fruit could make the cake layers soggy as they sit, so it actually doesn’t preserve for too lengthy.
Sure, in fact! Whipped cream is conventional with strawberry shortcake, in order that’s why I used a whipped cream frosting right here. Nonetheless, the frosting from my chantilly cake or strawberry cake would additionally style nice on this recipe and mimic the sunshine texture of the whipped cream. I do personally suppose one thing like a basic buttercream is likely to be a bit too wealthy right here, however that’s, in fact, a matter of desire.
Sure! Due to the whipped cream frosting and contemporary fruit, this cake must be refrigerated. Be certain to retailer your cake in a sealed container so it doesn’t dry out within the fridge.
If you happen to’re on the lookout for one other spring/summer time cake, my lemon blueberry cake is all the time an enormous hit!
Get pleasure from!
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Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Servings: 12 servings
Energy: 620kcal
Stop your display from going darkish
Directions
Cake
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Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and put together three 8” spherical cake pans by greasing the edges and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
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In a big mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), use an electrical mixer to cream collectively butter, oil, and sugar till creamy and nicely mixed.
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (120 ml) impartial cooking oil, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
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Add eggs, separately, stirring nicely after every addition.
4 giant eggs
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Add vanilla extract and stir till mixed.
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
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In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk collectively flour, baking powder, and salt.
3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon desk salt
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Add a couple of fourth of the dry components to the butter combination and use a spatula to softly fold into the batter till largely mixed. Add roughly a 3rd of the buttermilk and gently stir in till mixed. Proceed to alternate including the dry components and buttermilk till each have been mixed into the batter. You should still have some small lumps within the batter, that is tremendous. Don’t use an electrical mixer for this step and take care to not over-mix the batter.
1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk
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Evenly divide your batter between ready cake pans and bake on the middle rack of preheated 350F (175C) oven for 24-26 minutes. As soon as desserts are completed baking, the tops ought to spring again if calmly touched and a toothpick inserted within the heart ought to come out clear or with a number of moist crumbs.
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Permit desserts to chill of their pans for 10-Quarter-hour earlier than working a knife across the edges of the desserts to loosen them from the pan then rigorously inverting onto a cooling rack to chill fully earlier than frosting.
Strawberries
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Put aside about ½ pound (226g) of strawberries for adorning the highest of your cake and slice in half lengthwise. These shall be for adorning the highest of your cake.
2 lb (907 g) strawberries
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Chop remaining strawberries into small items (¼ – ½”, about 1cm) and toss in a medium sized mixing bowl with sugar, use a spatula to stir collectively. Put aside when you put together your frosting.
3 Tablespoons (40 g) granulated sugar
Whipped Cream Frosting
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In a small, microwave secure dish, whisk collectively gelatin and chilly water till all gelatin is absorbed. Put aside.
1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin, 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) chilly water
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In a big mixing bowl (ideally a calming steel bowl) use an electrical mixer to mix heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat till combination has thickened, however cease earlier than reaching gentle peaks.
2 ¼ cups (540 ml) heavy whipping cream, ¾ cup (94 g) powdered sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
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Your bowl of gelatin ought to have solidified by this level. Microwave it for 5-10 seconds, simply sufficient to liquify it once more (it shouldn’t be sizzling), and whisk till easy.
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With mixer on low velocity, drizzle liquid gelatin into cream combination till mixed. Slowly enhance mixer velocity to excessive and proceed to beat till you may have reached stiff peaks (combination shall be thick and fluffy and can resemble Cool Whip in consistency).
Meeting
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As soon as desserts are fully cooled, degree them if crucial.
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Switch frosting to a big piping bag fitted with a big spherical tip or closed star tip (I just like the Ateco 848).
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Place one cake layer on cake plate and unfold a skinny even layer of frosting over the floor. Pipe a dam of frosting across the fringe of the cake.
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Use a slotted spoon to layer half of your chopped strawberries into the middle, draining the strawberries of extra juices earlier than layering them into the cake. Prime with the subsequent layer of cake and repeat. Prime with the final layer of cake and unfold a fair layer of frosting on the highest, and a skinny, even, semi-naked layer across the sides.
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Use remaining frosting to pipe swirls across the high fringe of the cake and organize reserved strawberries excessive of the cake.
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Place cake in fridge to sit back for at the very least half-hour earlier than slicing and serving.
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Serving word: the cake could be messy to slice, I like to recommend a serrated knife and utilizing your hand or a bench scraper to assist the aspect of the cake when slicing. If any berries fall out, simply spoon them off the cake platter on high of your slice!
Notes
Storing
This cake is finest served the identical day it’s made, however could also be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 2 or 3 days.
Diet
Serving: 1serving | Energy: 620kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 8g | Fats: 36g | Saturated Fats: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 4g | Monounsaturated Fats: 13g | Trans Fats: 0.4g | Ldl cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 239mg | Potassium: 251mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 1022IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 2mg
Dietary data relies on third-party calculations and must be thought-about an estimate solely. Precise dietary content material will differ primarily based upon manufacturers used, measuring strategies, cooking technique, portion sizes, and extra.
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