Fresh Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake
• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup milk
For the Strawberry Frosting (See note below!)
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 pints (~2 pounds) strawberries, stems and hulls removed

Instructions

For the Cake
1. Grease and flour 2 9” round cake pans; set aside. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined; set aside.
3. Using a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add about ½ of the flour mixture to the bowl; mix on low speed until well combined.
5. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and approximately half of the milk to the bowl. Mix on low until well combined.
6. Add the remaining flour mixture; mix on low until well combined.
7. Add the remaining milk; mix on low until well combined. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are fully mixed.)
8. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans. Bake at 325°F for 34-36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
For the Strawberry Frosting
9. In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. (Make sure to beat until whipped cream is very stiff--stiffer than "normal"--but take care not to overbeat.)
10. In the bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese on high speed until light and fluffy. (Tip: Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice during this step.)
11. Add the sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until fully combined.
12. Meanwhile, chop about 3/4 of the strawberries into 1/3"-1/2" cubes.
13. Add the chopped strawberries to the bowl and mix until fully combined. (Note: The frosting will turn pink; mix until frosting is uniform in color.)
14. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the whipped cream. Stir until well combined.
To Assemble the Cake
15. Place one layer of cake on a large plate. Frost the top of the layer with Strawberry Frosting. Place the second layer of cake on top and frost the top of the cake.
16. Using an offset spatula, frost the sides of the cake. (Note: It is helpful to refrigerate the frosting for about 20-30 minutes before frosting the sides of the cake.)
17. Slice the remaining strawberries and garnish the top of the cake with the slices.

Notes

Baker's Note #1: Update based on readers' comments In order for the whipped cream frosting to be stiff enough for the cake, the cream should be whipped longer than normal. You don't want to create butter, but the cream should be whipped past the stiff peaks stage. Alternatively, you can either increase the amount of cream cheese by 4 oz. or reduce the amount of heavy cream by 1 cup. This will produce a frosting that is a bit more stable...making it easier to frost the cake. I hope this helps!

Baker's Note #2: The cake pictured in this post actually has 3 layers. I normally make this cake in 2 layers, and the recipe below is for the 2-layer version. If you'd like to make the 3-layer version, just make 1.5x the recipe.

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