Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake
The one thing that sets this Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake recipe apart from other cakes? The egg whites that keep it light and fluffy! This cake combines the rich flavor of a butter cake with the light, yet sturdy texture of a sponge cake.
This Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake completely blew me away when I first tasted it. After years of mediocre, disappointing from-scratch strawberry cakes, my expectations were pretty low, but my standards remained high. This dessert is absolutely perfect for Easter! My other easter recipes have nothing on this cake.
Sometimes strawberry cakes or strawberry cheesecake I have had in the past have always been pretty lackluster in the flavor and texture department. It was time to taste test my efforts. Biting into the first red and white forkful was the moment of truth. Perfection. I don’t know if my tears of joy were actually tears about the epic mess I made in the kitchen, or happy tears.
I’ve used strawberry jam or other strawberry flavored foods in the past to make a strawberry cake. The jam and other ingredients never really measure up to using ACTUAL strawberries in the recipe. I will always use fresh strawberries from now on. Strawberry jam could work in this cake recipe, but I prefer to start with real, juicy, fresh strawberries.
You may substitute any berry for the strawberries – whatever you’re in the mood for. Blueberries or raspberries would be wonderful. You can even do a combination of blueberries and strawberries for the 4th of July or Memorial Day!
I frosted the cake with homemade sweetened cream cheese frosting. An easy substitution would be Cool Whip brand whipped cream if you’re in a pinch. The texture of this badass cake is soft, buttery, and has a fine crumb. It’s a really tender cake.
This Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake is the perfect, light tasting spring dessert that I was going for. You’ll find this cake the perfect dessert to celebrate any holiday or to just make any day a special occasion, along with my Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp.
The popular combination of strawberries and cream is put together in such a unique way to make an unbelievable pound cake! It makes a light, bright, fresh-tasting and show-stopping dessert! Serve it warm with a scoop of good-quality vanilla ice cream to take this over the top.
Here are some more dessert recipes that are perfect for Spring:
Easter Speckled Egg Snack Cake: this recipe is really easy to make and it’s so cute for Easter dessert!
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars: these easy bars are easier than a cheesecake because they are in bar form! Super fun to eat!
New York Style Blueberry Cheesecake: this delicious recipe is similar to the one I’m sharing today, except it uses a blueberry topping. It is super easy to make!
Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake: a personal favorite of my family if you are a cheesecake lover like myself.
Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 12 TBSP butter softened to room temperature.
- 5 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 TBSP clear vanilla extract can use regular vanilla extract but cake will bea bit darker
- 1 1/4 cup milk at room temperature can use whole or 2%
ICING
- 12 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature.
- 4 oz butter softened to room temperature.
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 TBSP cream or milk
- 1 cup strawberries diced into small pieces.
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease (4) 4 x 10 x¾ inch pans. These are a specialty pan made by Wilton and available from Amazon. Alternatively, a large loaf pan can be used and the cake sliced in four layers horizontally.
- Combine cake flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the egg whites and mix on high until well-combined.
- Add vanilla and milk and mix well.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing well on low until combined.
- Fill pans, stopping about ¼ inch from the top of pan.
- Place pans on center rack of preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (If you choose to use a single pan, the baking time will be longer, more like 40 minutes or so, OR until the toothpick comes out clean. Just note that the baking time will be MUCH LONGER in a loaf pan.)
- Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely Meanwhile, prepare the icing.
ICING
- Mix cream cheese and butter at medium speed until thoroughly combined.
- Slowly add powdered sugar, continuing mixing until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the cream and mix until smooth.
- Gently fold strawberries into batter with a spatula.
- Trim tops of the cake layers to flatten them (for layering purposes).
- Generously ice the top of one layer of cake. Place next layer on top of bottom layer, press down gently and ice top of this one. Do the same with third layer and place top layer on it. Ice top and sides. Using an offset cake spatula makes this much easier.
- Chill for several hours before slicing. Refrigerate any leftovers. Enjoy!
The one thing that sets this Strawberries & Cream Layered Cake recipe apart from the others? The egg whites that keep it light and fluffy! This cake combines the rich flavor of a butter cake with the light, yet sturdy texture of a sponge cake.
There is a discrepancy in the cake recipe directions. It says to mix the granulated sugar into the flour, but it also says to cream the sugar with the butter. I cooked it over 50 minutes in a loaf pan, and it still wasn’t completely set, though the toothpick came out clean. The cake itself had a very eggy flavor. I hope others have better luck. This just didn’t work for me.
The directions had a type-o! I’m so sorry about that. It is now corrected. The sugar gets creamed with the butter, not added to the dry ingredients. The egg flavor is a mystery to me as there are only egg whites in the recipe which don’t provide an egg flavor at all, like yokes would.
Can you clarify the sugar in the cake portion…#2 and 3
The directions had a type-o! I’m so sorry about that. It is now corrected.
It looks wonderful but can you use a round or square 8 in pan and city each layer in half?
Is it possible to bake this in a jelly roll (10” X 15”) and cut the cake into rectangles? It would cook much faster than a loaf pan.
Yes, I’m sure that would work!