2.02.2012

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream


I am considering this Lucy's very first birthday cake.

Okay, okay.. right now, it's more for Mama than it is for little Lucy, but I will certainly make it for her again some day. Lucille Naomi joined the world a week ago today; at home, in the water, and much quicker than I expected. But that's a story for another day.

Another thing I didn't expect: to be baking a cake just days after she was born. I am feeling blessed to have bounced back quickly (and to have a few extra hands around the house).


Little Luce and I have had a great first week. We have some extra help from Daddy and Nana right now; which is the real reason that I was able to get back to baking so quickly. I actually put the strawberries for this cake into the freezer to thaw the night before she was born, so they were staring at me for a few days and I just had to use them up. We have a lot to celebrate, after all- a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
 

There aren't too many from-scratch strawberry cake recipes out there that don't include strawberry gelatin as one of the ingredients. This cake is made with strawberry puree- the only added ingredient is a little bit of pink food coloring. That's mostly just because I wanted it to look beautifully pink for the photos instead of  pinky-grey. If you want to go all-natural with it, be my guest!


I decided to give Whisk Kid's Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream a try on this cake instead of my own tried-and-true cream cheese frosting recipe. I am so glad I did. I love the subtle tang of the cream cheese, and the fact that it's not heavy or sickly sweet like many cream cheese frostings. For the filling, I just mixed some of the frosting with the leftover strawberry puree that's used in the batter. Strawberry jam or a layer of the plain frosting (or both!) could be used as filling, too.


This would make a great Valentine's Day treat for your sweetheart or for a crowd. If you want to get really crazy, pair it with some homemade strawberry ice cream.

I hope you enjoyed Kristina's guest post this week. You have two more to look forward to in the coming weeks, as well as Fridays with Julie. I hope you're hungry!

Fresh Strawberry Cake
adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride
  • 24 oz frozen or very ripe fresh strawberries, hulled (if frozen, thawed)
  • 1-2 tsp sugar (for fresh berries only)
  • 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
  • 6 large egg whites, room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened (not melted)
  • pink or red food coloring, preferably the gel type (optional)
  1. Thaw frozen strawberries in whatever form (sliced, whole, etc) and in whatever container/bag you have them in. Pour into a fine strainer placed over a bowl and let sit. Lightly toss the strawberries occasionally to remove any pockets of excess liquid. Reserve the liquid for another use or discard.
  2. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree. (You can use fresh strawberries if you don't have a stash of frozen strawberries in your freezer. Just hull, slice and toss with a teaspoon or two of sugar and cover. Let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, until nice and juicy. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.)
  3. Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake. Use leftover puree to fill the cake or fold into the frosting, if desired.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8 or 9 inch pans: spray inside with baking spray with flour (or use some sort of grease/flour combination).
  5. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
  6. Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to add food coloring if using and  to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat to combine. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth tops.
  7. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary). Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely (about 2 hours).


Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream
via Whisk Kid
  • 3 (100g) egg whites
  • 2/3 c (130g) sugar
  • 10 Tbsp (142g) butter, cubed and at room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 oz (113g) cream cheese, cubed and at room temp
In the base of a double boiler, bring water to a simmer. In the top bowl (or just a bowl to place over a pan of simmering water) combine the egg whites and sugar and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot to the touch (160F on a candy thermometer if you want to be completely accurate), about five minutes depending on the original temperature of the eggs. When the mixture has warmed sufficiently, pour it into the bowl of your stand mixer and whip on high speed until the bottom of the bowl is room temperature, ten to fifteen minutes. When the bowl is no longer warm, turn the mixer to medium-low and begin adding the butter piece by piece. Let each chunk incorporate completely before adding the next and don't rush the process!

After all of the butter has been added, add the vanilla and turn the speed back to high. Whip for about 3 minutes or until the buttercream comes together. Turn the speed down to low and add the cream cheese, then mix on medium to fully incorporate.

12 comments:

  1. This cake is absolutely stunning, Natalie! Strawberry cake is my hubby's favorite (and, in fact, that's what our wedding cake was!)... I think I might have to make this for him for Valentine's Day. He'd love it!

    And, so glad to hear that you and Lucy are both doing well! :)

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  2. I'm so glad your strawberry cake doesn't have gelatin in it!!! It looks beautiful. And wow, congratulations on the baby girl!!!!!! You didn't waste anytime getting back in the kitchen, wait to go!

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  3. Hi there--I just found this recipe via Pinterest, and this cake looks AMAZING!My friends and I go to a pick-your-own berry farm in May when strawberries are in season, and I'm excited to have a new recipe to try this year. Looking forward to reading thru some of your other recipes.

    And congratulations on your baby girl!

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  4. Hi! Found this gorgeous cake on Pinterest. How pretty and perfect is that pink cake? I've tried making strawberry cake with fresh strawberries, and it definitely needs a tiny bit of food coloring to boost the color. I used red, which was all I had and the color isn't as pretty as your cake. Just beautiful.

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  5. I've been in search of the perfect strawberry cake for my daughter's upcoming birthday party. Gave this a trial run last night by making cupcakes instead. (Baked at 350 for 15 mins; yielded 27 cupcakes.) They are to die for! So moist and flavorful - especially with the cream cheese/meringue buttercream!

    Needless to say, I will be making this again. Thanks!!!

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  6. This cake looks amazing, I am a restaurant manager and a customer I am doing a party for just asked me to get them a strawberry cake and NO ONE makes them anymore!
    I am going to try to make it myself...wish me luck! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. is there anything i can do if the icing curdles? :(

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  8. I just made this, and used frozen strawberries. I used the type that doesn't come in syrup and didn't put sugar on them, was I supposed to put sugar on these? I'm saving it for a birthday, so don't know how it came out yet. :)

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  9. This cake looks ...incredibly yummy! I think I will try it on my hubby's birthday ♥. Thank you for charing!

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  10. Made this cake yesterday with my mom. It took the afternoon and was an enjoyable joint effort. The cake is delicious! Even my son who doesnt like strawberries, was a total fan. Only recommendation I have is do not mix the strawberry puree with the icing as it just curdles.. The icing while very, very good was not worth the extra work to us. Will definitely make the cake again, but will use possibly a simple cream cheese icing.

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  11. Is cake v. all-purpose flour necessary?

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  12. I made this cake yesterday for my mother in law to give to her friend for her birthday... and they loved it! Too bad i didnt get a piece :( but thanks for recipe :)

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