Strawberry Cake {From Scratch}

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I am thrilled to share this delicious homemade Strawberry Cake with you! Fresh strawberries are pureed then cooked down to create the most delicious strawberry sauce that is then mixed into a thick cake batter. The cake is topped with a fluffy buttercream frosting leaving you with a tasty, moist and velvety cake from scratch!

Hello to the most beautiful cake there ever was. I am on a cake kick these days. I used to not be a cake person but I’ve become one. Maybe it’s because I drink more coffee now and coffee and cake go together like peas and carrots…ya feel me?

And who doesn’t love a pink cake?

I am so obsessed with this cake batter that I could literally drink it. It’s smooth, creamy and so tasty. It’s infused with fresh strawberry puree and pure vanilla extract to give it that delicious strawberry flavor. A few dabs of pink food coloring are used to give it that baby pink color.

Let’s chat about that strawberry puree I’ve mentioned. This stuff is downright amazing. Any sauce tastes so much better when it’s cooked down. Cooked down? Why, what do you mean? I mean slowly simmering if for a long time (in this case, about 30 minutes) until it reduces down and get’s super thick. When you do this, flavor develops.

Can you replace this with strawberry jam or just pureed strawberries? The answer…no. If you want a fresh strawberry cake, this is the way to do it. I made it without reducing it and it just wasn’t the same. The texture wasn’t right and the strawberry flavor wasn’t as strong. So if you’re in it to win it, reduce the fresh strawberry sauce.

This cake is covered in a simple buttercream that’s not too sweet but definitely packs a sugar punch that all cakes need. I don’t often use as much powdered sugar in my frosting recipes because I hear all the time from friends and family about not liking cake that is too sweet. More often than not, the cake is not all that sweet, it’s the frosting. So there you go…

You can have the world’s best tasting cake but it’s even better when it looks good. I think that’s what did it for me with this cake. It won me over with its beauty. It’s perfectly pink and the whipped frosting is just beautiful. Most importantly, it tastes amazing and the texture is super velvety yet slightly crumbly.

I used the reverse creaming method for this cake (see the instructions below) which creates a velvety finer crumb cake. AKA my favorite type of cake. It’s dense without being dense…I know that doesn’t make sense, but it’s true. It’s dense but also light and melt in your mouth. I guess maybe it’s just a heavy cake? Whatever you want to call it, it’s amazing.

Hello beautiful.

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Yield: 1 cake

Strawberry Cake (From Scratch)

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Homemade Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is such a treat. This cake is velvety rich and bursting with strawberry flavor.

Ingredients

Strawberry Cake

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• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (spooned then leveled)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced or thinly sliced
• 5 egg whites, room temperature
• 3/4 cup milk (2% or whole preferred), room temperature
• 1/2 cup reduced strawberry puree (see below for ingredients and directions)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Pink food coloring

Other Ingredients

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• 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stems removed

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

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• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup reduced strawberry puree

Instructions

1. First, make the reduced strawberry puree. Add fresh strawberries to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour into a medium saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often until reduced by half and thick. Cool completely. I would suggest making this the night before or several hours before so that it’s completely cooled and ready for use!
2. To make the cake, preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans; set aside.
3. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand alone mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix for a few seconds to combine.
4. With mixer on low-speed gradually add the chilled butter one piece at a time. Mix on medium-low speed until pea size crumbs form. This will take about 5 minutes. Turn mixer off.
5. Whisk together all the wet ingredients in a bowl; egg whites, milk, 1/2 cup cooled strawberry puree, vanilla extract and vegetable oil.
6. Turn mixer on low-speed and add half of the wet ingredients then turn mixer to medium speed and mix for 90 seconds until thick, scrape down sides of the bowl. Add food coloring at this time if using. Turn mixer to low speed again and add the rest of the wet ingredients in two additions mixing on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
7. Distribute batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until done. Check with a toothpick if needed. Let cool completely before frosting.
8. To make the buttercream, add the butter and shortening to a stand alone mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high speed for about a minute until smooth. With mixer on low-speed, gradually add sifted powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Lastly, add salt and strawberry puree and mix for 1 minute on high speed, scrape down sides of bowl. Frost cake and garnish as desired. Enjoy!

Notes

Cake will stay for 5 days refrigerated in an airtight cake container.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 754Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 421mgCarbohydrates: 97gFiber: 2gSugar: 71gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated. Use as an approximation only.

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