Strawberry Cream Cake

I love a beautiful layer cake for any occasion. Bonus points if it also comes together quickly and easily. My Lemon Raspberry Cake, Easy Carrot Cake, Nutella Cake, Strawberry Crunch Cake and Matildas Chocolate Cake are all easy and stunning layer cakes. I am so excited to add this layered strawberry cream cake recipe to the blog.  

• Layers of flavors and textures: From the soft, moist and buttery vanilla cake, to the pop of tart flavor from the fresh strawberries and the creamy, light and fluffy whipped cream frosting, this strawberry whipped cream cake is packed with the flavors of spring and summer. 
• Made with simple ingredients: This strawberry cream and vanilla cake is made from simple pantry ingredients and utilizes seasonally available ingredients when available.

Before I show you how to make this fresh whipped cream and strawberry cake, make sure you have these ingredients ready to go.

Vanilla Cake

• Dry Ingredients:  Gather purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
• Wet Ingredients: Gather oil, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and buttermilk.

Whipped Cream Frosting

Gather freeze dried strawberries, heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and fresh strawberries.

Here are my recommended substitutions to make this strawberry and cream cake as easy as possible. 

• All purpose flour: To make this vanilla and strawberry cake gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill. Measure based off weight (360 g) flour versus cup for cup. 
• Baking Powder: Make sure the baking powder is fresh and in date. 
• Unsalted Butter: Use salted butter if needed. Just make sure to omit the added salt listed in the recipe. Vegan or dairy free butter can also be used if needed. 
• Canola Oil: Any neutral tasting oil can be used as a substitute. An equal amount of softened butter (½ cup, 113 g) can also be used in place of the oil (for a total of 1 cup, 226 g).  Just note that the cake may not stay moist for as long. 
• Granulated Sugar: I love using maple sugar as a refined sugar free option. Maple sugar bakes very similarly to light brown sugar.  
• Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs. 
• Vanilla Extracts: This gives a lovely background flavor to this moist strawberry and cream vanilla cake. 
• Buttermilk: This ingredient creates a lovely moist crumb. Use an equivalent amount of sour cream or greek yogurt as a substitute.  
• Strawberry Whipped Cream: Feel free to omit the freeze dried strawberries from the whipped cream to make regular whipped cream frosting. For a more stabilized whipped cream frosting, I suggest using my Mascarpone Frosting. 
• Strawberries: Make sure to use fresh, in season strawberries. If the strawberries aren’t as sweet as you would like, you can add a bit of strawberry jam or macerate the strawberries.

Variations

• Strawberry Cream Cake Sheet Cake: Make this cake as a 9x13. Follow the recipe as written through the ingredient steps. Pour the batter into a lightly greased and lined 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake the cake for 25 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove the cake to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack. Top with the whipped cream and fresh berries.
• 3 Layer 8-inch Cake: Prepare the recipe as written. Pour the batter into the prepared 8 inch pans. The baking time will be a bit shorter. Bake the 3 layers for 25 - 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. 
• 4 Layer 8-inch Cake: Prepare the recipe as written. Pour the batter into the prepared 8 inch pans. Bake as directed in the recipe. Fully cool and chill the 2 cake layers for 1 hour. Slice each cake layer in half to make 2 thin, fully circular cake layers. Follow the rest of the recipe as written. You may need to double the whipped cream recipe to account for the extra layers.

Make the Vanilla Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Lightly grease and line the bottom of (2) 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the all purpose flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.
2. In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the oil and softened butter on medium speed until smooth and well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly steam in the sugar. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium speed for 1 minute. On low, cream in the the eggs and vanilla extract one at a time until fully combined. On the lowest setting or by hand, mix the dry ingredients into the wet, alternating with the buttermilk in this order: dry, buttermilk, dry, buttermilk, dry.

Make the Strawberry Whipped Cream

3. Evenly pour the vanilla cake batter into the prepared pans (the weight of cake batter per pan is about 650 g). Bake the cake for 32 - 38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 -20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack. Loosely wrap the cakes in plastic wrap to chill in the fridge for an hour. The cakes must be completely cooled before applying the whipped cream frosting. 
4. While the cakes cool, make the strawberry cream frosting. Place the freeze dried strawberries into a food processor or blender. Pulse the strawberries until they form a strawberry powder. This whipped cream recipe needs ¼ cup strawberry powder. Transfer the strawberry powder into a mixing bowl. Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment. Combine the ingredients on low for 1 minute. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium speed. Mix for about 1 - 3 more minutes or until the cream has whipped to medium - medium stiff peaks.

Assemble the Strawberry Cream Cake

5. Place the first vanilla cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Apply a thin layer of frosting (about ¼ cup, 59 ml) across the cake. Pipe a “frosting dam” around the edge of cake. Evenly spread the fresh sliced strawberries or strawberry jam or preserves on top of the thin layer of whipped cream. Top with the second layer of vanilla cake. Apply ¾ cup of strawberry cream frosting to the top of the cake, smoothing it out to the edge of the cake. If needed apply a small amount of frosting to the outer edges of the cake. This is the crumb coat. Chill in the fridge for 30 - 60 minutes. Apply the rest of the whipped cream frosting to the strawberry and vanilla cake. Place the cake in the fridge to set for about 20 - 30 minutes if the frosting is very soft. When you are ready to serve, top the cake with fresh strawberries if you like, slice, serve and enjoy.

Other Vanilla Cake Recipes To Try

• Vanilla Mug Cake
• Vanilla Pound Cake
• Hot Milk Cake
• Donut Cake

If you try this Strawberry Cream Cake recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M