Strawberry Cream Cake

February 14, 2025 Recipes

This is a light, but tasty cake, which is always a crowd pleaser.

This is an actual feedback I received after taking it to a party:

I think the only thing that would have gone quicker than your cake would have been if you’d chopped a line of coke on the table

The original recipe wasn't quite impressive enough, and while tasty, seems like a waste to not go overboard and make it a cake to remember.

I made a bunch of adjustments to the original recipe, both for my high altitude (5100 feet), and other important changes. The use of gelatin in the whipped cream allows for the height of the cake, and the stability of the cake after the first day.

Ingredients

There are a lot of ingredients, but they are laid out for each step/layer.

Cake

2 3/4 cups (308g) cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
2 cups (7oz) (minus 2 tbsp) sugar, divided
10 eggs (4 whole and 6 separated), room temperature
12 tbsp butter , melted and cooled slightly
6 tbsp water
4 tsp vanilla

Strawberry filling

3 pounds fresh strawberries (3 quarts), washed, dried, and stemmed
6-8 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt

Whipped Cream

12oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups heavy cream
1 package unflavored gelatin
3 tbsp water

Baking and mixing

This takes some time, but if you read through the steps, it should be easy to follow.

Cake

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 315°F. Grease, flour, and line with parchment paper, two 9” cake pans.
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, in a large mixing bowl, then add all but 6 tbsp sugar, and mix again. Whisk in 4 whole eggs and 6 yolks (reserving egg whites), butter, water, and vanilla; whisk until smooth.
In a clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat remaining 6 egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes.
With machine running, gradually add reserved 6 tbsp sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form, 2-3 minutes.
Stir one-third of whites into batter to lighten; add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, and the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, approximately 35 minutes.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert cake onto a greased wire rack; peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake again; cool completely, about 2 hours.

Strawberry filling

Look over the strawberries, and pick the best looking half of the strawberries. Cut these best looking strawberries in half and set aside. You may need to cut the strawberries into quarters if you have racquetball-sized strawberries.
Cut the other half of the strawberries into quarters, and toss with 6-8 tbsp of sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries) in a medium bowl and let sit for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 3/4 cup).
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 2 cups).
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices until syrupy and reduced to about 4 tablespoons, 5-6 minutes.
Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine. Set aside until the cake is cooled. You should have approximately 2 ¼ cups.

Whipped cream

Place the 3 tbsp water and gelatin in a small bowl, mix to combine, and let side for 5 minutes, so the gelatin absorbs the water.
When the cake has cooled, place mascarpone cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow, steady stream; when almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds soft peaks, about 2 minutes more.
Take the bowl with the gelatin mixture and microwave for 10 seconds, or until a pourable liquid.
Slowly pour into the whipped cream mixture with the mixer on low, then once added, increase speed to medium-high and mix until stiff peaks for about 1 more minute.

Assemble the cake

Using a large serrated knife, slice the top ¼ inch off the top of each cake. This will both flatten the cake, and remove the gummy top. I’ve made this cake 20+ times, both at sea level and at my current 5100’ elevation, and the top is always gummy..
Once the top 1/4 inch is removed from both cakes, cut the remaining cake in half. Each layer should be about 3/4 of an inch. Use the 2 bottom layers as the bottom 2 layers of the cake.
Place a bottom layer on a cardboard round or cake plate and arrange a ring of one third of the strawberry halves, cut sides down and stem ends facing out, around the perimeter of the cake layer. I recommend leaving about ⅛ of an inch between the edge of the cake and the start of the strawberries, as the strawberries will get pushed out a bit when spreading the whipped cream and adding the additional layers.
Pour one third of pureed berry mixture (about 3/4 cup) in the center, then spread to cover any exposed cake.
Gently spread about one-fourth of whipped cream over the berry layer, leaving a 1/2" border from the edge. Place the second bottom layer on top and press down gently (whipped cream layer should become flush with cake edge).
Repeat with ⅓ of the strawberry halves, half of the remaining berry mixture, and one third of remaining whipped cream. Add the third layer on top and repeat the steps for the second layer.
Gently press the last cake layer on top. Spread remaining whipped cream over top.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight is preferred, to allow the gelatin to set up the whipped cream. If you skip this step, due to the height of this cake, the cake will ooze out and make a mess.
After at least 4 hours, remove from the refrigerator, slice, serve, and enjoy.

Unlike a lot of whipped cream frosted cakes, this one holds up after the first day, due to the use of the gelatin.

References

America's Test Kitchen - Strawberry Cream Cake

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/2983-strawberry-cream-cake