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Hey everyone! Here is the original strawberry cake post (before any edits were made to the frosting and cake) from back in early summer 2014! Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you continue enjoying this cake as much as we do around here! 🙂 Please note that both the cake and the frosting recipes have been updated. The frosting recipe is a work in progress, but I do think the new cake recipe is much better than the original. (I’ve also updated the cake recipe to yield 3 layers instead of the 2 layers in this version.) Check out the new version here.
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This Fresh Strawberry Cake features loads of ripe berries and a light whipped cream frosting…making it the perfect summer dessert!
Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten was cooked in a parking lot. I kid you not. After college, I moved down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and holy cow do they know how to cook down there on the bayou! I was born in Texas and grew up in the Carolinas, so I’ve tasted my fair share of delicious Southern food. But I was in for a surprise when I moved to southern Louisiana. I was in Cajun food heaven! To this day, the best fried fish I’ve ever eaten was cooked in the parking lot outside of LSU’s Tiger Stadium. That same parking lot was also where I first tried alligator. LSU was playing the Florida Gators, so it was entirely appropriate that we fried up some alligator bites that day. It was pretty good actually. It tasted like chicken.
One of the coolest things about living in the deep South is how well everything grew. I planted some pepper seeds outside of my apartment during my first year there. That plant grew to about 4 feet tall and was loaded with hundreds of tiny, red peppers. I have no idea what the pepper was, but I know that just touching a sliced edge of the pepper to your tongue would make your tongue go numb for at least 10 minutes. But on the other end of the spicy scale, Louisiana is known for its’ strawberries. Thanks to the warm weather, strawberry season starts early down there…and this Fresh Strawberry Cake is one of my favorite uses for fresh strawberries!
What do I miss the most about southern Louisiana? I’m tempted to say it’s the weather since I now live in upstate New York where the winter seems like it lasts longer and longer every year. I remember wearing shorts on New Year’s Day in Baton Rouge. Shorts! But I’d have to say that the food is hands down the thing I miss the most. I developed a serious love for Cajun food, and I’ve posted some of favorites here in the past. (Shrimp Etouffee, Creole Red Beans & Rice, Mardi Gras Cinnamon King Cake…the list goes on…a classic New Orleans Muffaletta Sandwich…and on…)
But one of my favorite treats from Louisiana that I miss the most was actually not Cajun at all. A local bakery in Baton Rouge made a famous strawberry cake that folks would go crazy about every Spring! This cake was every bit as good as advertised, too. It featured layers upon layers of white cake topped with a light strawberry frosting made with chopped, fresh strawberries. It was basically the best strawberry shortcake I’ve ever eaten! Not surprisingly, the bakery kept the recipe for this cake closely guarded, so this is my attempt at recreating this delicious dessert. To be honest, it’s not far off. I should know. I ate a few of those strawberry cakes during my years in Louisiana.
Baker’s Note: The cake pictured in this post actually has 3 layers. I normally make this original strawberry 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.
Original Strawberry Cake (from May 2014)
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups cake flour see note
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk
For the Strawberry Frosting
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 pints strawberries, stems and hulls removed ~2 pounds
Instructions
For the Cake
- Grease and flour 2 9” round cake pans; set aside. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined; set aside.
- 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.
- Add about ½ of the flour mixture to the bowl; mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add the sour cream, vanilla, and approximately half of the milk to the bowl. Mix on low until well combined.
- Add the remaining flour mixture; mix on low until well combined.
- 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.)
- 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
- In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. (Make sure to beat until whipped cream is very stiff, but take care not to overbeat.)
- 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.)
- Add the sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until fully combined.
- Meanwhile, chop about 3/4 of the strawberries into 1/3"-1/2" cubes.
- 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.)
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the whipped cream. Stir until well combined.
To Assemble the Cake
- 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.
- 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.)
- Slice the remaining strawberries and garnish the top of the cake with the slices.