Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Name: Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 170 grams unsalted Butter; 190 grams All-Purpose Flour; 200 grams White Sugar ((divided)); 1 tsp Baking Powder; 1/2 tsp Baking Soda; 1/4 tsp Salt; 3 large Eggs; 1/8 tsp cream of tartar; 250 ml fresh strawberry puree ((just pulsed in the food processor)); 1 tbsp lemon juice; 60 ml Sour Cream; 1/2 tsp Strawberry extract; 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 2 drops Pink Gel food color; 4 cups Swiss Meringue Buttercream; 60 ml Simple Syrup; 1/4 tsp strawberry extract; 1/4 cup strawberry puree (optional)

June 6, 2012 *Updated* March 25, 2019 By Veena Azmanov 28 Comments

Recipe Print

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A fresh strawberry cake is the most refreshing summer cake you can make when strawberries are in season. This butter-based cake is very simple and easy to make, takes 10 minutes to mix and 25 minutes to bake. Light and airy with a soft delicate crumb can be eaten on its own, served with strawberries and fresh cream or layered with my ultimate strawberry filling and Swiss meringue buttercream for an indulgent affair.

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It’s the strawberry season and that means all my cake orders will now start being the fresh strawberry cake. Amazing how popular this cake has become with my customers and my kids. My Aadi loves this cake so much and it eats it without any frosting. No matter how many times I make this cake, I have to make a small one just so he can enjoy it. He loves it warm fresh out of the oven. I love the warm cake too.

Do you like warm cakes? Not many people like warm cakes but I grew up with mom making cakes and so one of my absolute treats when a cake was baked use to be the mini test cakes that mom used to bake first to check for quality control. Absolute heaven.

Well, like I said last week, I had a wedding cake order and this one had three cakes. My orange cake with orange curd filling, lemon cake with lemon curd filling, and this fresh strawberry cake. Frosted with Orange Swiss meringue buttercream, French buttercream, and Lemon buttercream.

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About this cake

This cake is very rich, light and yet still firm. It is quite stable and can be used in a tiered cake, as well as covered with fondant.
Unlike my other strawberry cake which is oil-based, this one is a butter-based cake which works perfectly for wedding cakes and summer humidity.

It can be used to carve as well; however, the strawberries in the recipe make the cake more delicate and crumbly. Freezing the cake in the fridge for an hour or two will make carving easy and create fewer crumbs.

In terms of flavor – This is a very versatile cake and can be paired with many variations. The light texture of this cake is especially delicious with soft meringues buttercreams filled with strawberry jam or mousse.
If you like the combination of strawberry and chocolate you may like to try it with strawberry flavored chocolate ganache.

For the color – Ideally, it is not necessary to use pink food color in this cake. However, fresh strawberries do not give that intense pink color we associate with strawberry cakes, so you may not get a pink cake with just the strawberries in this recipe. I like to use a tiny dab of pink color, so when the customer cuts the cake there is no confusion about the flavor. It is a personal choice and while I highly recommend you use a drop of pink; feel free to omit the color. The color does not affect the taste or texture of this cake.

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Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the quantity of sugar in my recipe but if salted butter is all you gave go ahead and use it. Just omit salt in the recipe.
Eggs – Always use large size eggs when baking unless specified. The size of eggs varies significantly these days so as a guide on large eggs weighs between 50 to 60 grams
All-purpose flour – yes, regular plain flour (maida) is all you need for this cake. Do not use any self-raising as those contain more leavening.
Lemon juice – unlike other fruits lemon can be strong so a little goes a long way. Unless you like a strong lemon taste do not add more than the recommended amount mentioned in the recipe.
Sour Cream – gives the cake a soft crumb. If you don’t get sour cream where you are you can make sour cream at home. Here’s how to make sour cream at home for baking. If you must you can also use milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk can also be made at home in just 5 minutes – here’s my tutorial for homemade buttermilk.
Vanilla Extract – always use a good quality vanilla extract. I know it’s expensive which is why I make my own vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste as well as vanilla sugar.
Zest – works best to add a particular flavor because it has the essence of the fruit itself. However, you must be careful when zesting fruit and take only the colored part of the peel not the white. The white can be bitter and if added to the cake can make the cake bitter.

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Recipe – Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream (Save/Pin)

Useful Tips and Tools

If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go ahead and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet.You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
Having said that, a simple Bowl, whisk and Spatula with a little extra effort will do the trick too.
Personally, I believe in weighing ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scaleone of the most valuable items when baking.
The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. Personally, I like to bake three layers rather than torte my cakes and it bakes faster too. For most of my layer cake recipes on this blog I use 3 x 6-inch round pans or 2 x 8-inch round pans.
Once baked always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This encourages air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If the cake bakes too quick or too slow compared to the time given it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration. An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly

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Ingredients

For the Cake

170 grams unsalted Butter (3/4 cup)
190 grams All-Purpose Flour (1 1/2 cup)
200 grams White Sugar (divided) (1 cup)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3 large Eggs
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
250 ml fresh strawberry puree (1 cup) (just pulsed in the food processor)
1 tbsp lemon juice
60 ml Sour Cream (1/4 cup)
1/2 tsp Strawberry extract
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 drops Pink Gel food color

For the Filling and Frosting

4 cups Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6o ml Simple Syrup
1/4 tsp strawberry extract
1/4 cup strawberry puree (optional)

Method

Prepare

Preheat the oven at 160 °C / 320 °F.
Grease and line two 6-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Sift together – flour, baking powder, baking soda, zest, and salt.

Whip eggs

Break eggs in a mixer, add cream of tartar – start whipping on medium-low speed
Gradually add about ½ cup sugar (use approx. measure for sugar).
Once all sugar is in – whip until light and foamy – ribbon stage.
Remove egg and Set aside.

Cream the batter

Working quickly – using the same mixer bowl (no need to wash)
Cream butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy.
Add sour cream, vanilla, strawberry puree, lemon juice, and strawberry extract
Next, add the flour. The mixture will be dense at this stage.
Combine 1/3 of the whipped egg mixture vigorously so it loosens the batter.
FOLD the rest of the egg mixture with a spatula by hand.
Add pink food gel color

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Bake

Divide batter equally into the baking pans.
I prefer to use baking strips to avoid a dome.
Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes clean
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes invert onto a cooling rack.

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Decorate

Prepare Swiss meringue buttercream as shown in this recipe and video
Add strawberry extract to the buttercream – combine well
Once cooled – cut off any dome on the cake to level them
Torte/cut each layer of cake into two horizontally so you have four layers.

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Spread buttercream and sandwich the three layers
Stack the layers

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Crumb coats or spread a little buttercream around the cake. (this helps seal the crumbs)
Chill the cake if necessary for 10 to 15 minutes so the layers won’t move.
Add pink gel food color to the half of the remaining buttercream
Put both colors of buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip nozzle
Pipe swirls around the cake. These swirls are exactly what you would do on a cupcake just smaller and on the side and top of the cake.

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Storage

The cake will stay fresh for up to four days at cool room temperature, longer if kept in the fridge.
It can be frozen for a month or more.

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Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.

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Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Author: Veena Azmanov

4.8 from 15 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Calories: 572kcal

Adjust Servings Here: 12 servings

Description

Ingredients

For the Cake

170 grams unsalted Butter
190 grams All-Purpose Flour
200 grams White Sugar (divided)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3 large Eggs
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
250 ml fresh strawberry puree (just pulsed in the food processor)
1 tbsp lemon juice
60 ml Sour Cream
1/2 tsp Strawberry extract
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 drops Pink Gel food color

For the Filling and Frosting

4 cups Swiss Meringue Buttercream
60 ml Simple Syrup
1/4 tsp strawberry extract
1/4 cup strawberry puree optional

Metric - US customary

ADJUST SERVINGS HERE - 12 servings

Conversions - Switch between Metric & US for other measurement options

Instructions

Prepare

Preheat the oven at 160 °C / 320 °F.
Grease and line two 6-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Sift together - flour, baking powder, baking soda, zest, and salt.

Whip eggs

Break eggs in a mixer, add cream of tartar - start whipping on medium-low speed
Gradually add about ½ cup sugar (use approx. measure for sugar).
Once all sugar is in - whip until light and foamy - ribbon stage.
Remove egg and Set aside.

Cream the batter

Working quickly - using the same mixer bowl (no need to wash)
Cream butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy.
Add sour cream, vanilla, strawberry puree, lemon juice, and strawberry extract
Next, add the flour. The mixture will be dense at this stage.
Combine 1/3 of the whipped egg mixture vigorously so it loosens the batter.
FOLD the rest of the egg mixture with a spatula by hand.
Add pink food gel color

Bake

Divide batter equally into the baking pans.
I prefer to use baking strips to avoid a dome.
Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes clean
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes invert onto a cooling rack.

Decorate

Prepare Swiss meringue buttercream as shown in this recipe and video
Add strawberry extract to the buttercream - combine well
Once cooled - cut off any dome on the cake to level them
Torte/cut each layer of cake into two horizontally so you have four layers.
Spread buttercream and sandwich the three layers
Crumb coats or spread a little buttercream around the cake. (this helps seal the crumbs)
Chill the cake if necessary for 10 to 15 minutes so the layers won't move.
Add pink gel food color to the half of the remaining buttercream
Put both colors of buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip nozzle
Pipe swirls around the cake. These swirls are exactly what you would do on a cupcake just smaller and on the side and top of the cake.

Recipe Notes

Storage

The cake will stay fresh for up to four days at cool room temperature, longer if kept in the fridge.
It can be frozen for a month or more.

About Videos - most recipes has two videos - a quick version in the post & longer detailed version on this recipe card. Sometimes a similar recipe video may be used. Please do subscribe to my channel if you like my videos

Nutrition Information

The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you

Keywords - cake, Layer cake, strawberry, summer

Did you make this recipe? I'd love to hear how it was.Mention @veenaazmanov or tag me on Instagram #veenaazmanov

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Comments

Vyshnavi
March 26, 2019 at 2:52 am

Thnq for the recipe Veena. I’m not a fan of artificial flavor. Can I skip strawberry extract… will it give the same flavor?? And I had a bad experience using fresh puree. Cake is underbaked and when I baked it longer the sides and top formed a hard crust. I generally bake at 350 degrees. Can u help me out??. Thanks in advance
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  March 26, 2019 at 7:50 am
  Hey Vyshnavi, Yes, you can leave out the strawberry extract. The flavor will be of fresh strawberries only which is mild and wonderful. Not sure what you are suggesting in place of fresh puree – you can use frozen puree. Store bought puree may be sweetened so you will have to reduce sugar accordingly.
  Reply
Arshdeep
March 26, 2019 at 12:05 am
Hi Veena
How are you?
I want to know which flavour will be best for a wedding cake. I am looking for 110 people. Amy tips or suggestion on the cake while stacking and travelling. I am in Australia and the weather is hot over here till April
Thanks
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  March 26, 2019 at 7:59 am
  Hey Arshdeep. I prefer to use a butter-based cake during summer. I chill the cake before I travel. I have listed some fondant tips including summer (14) that you may find useful and some doweling tips here
  Reply
Holly
December 31, 2018 at 7:38 pm

Oh my goodness – what a gorgeous cake!! It looks so moist and delicious with all that strawberry puree! I think I would just eat it warm straight from the oven like Aadi!
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 31, 2018 at 11:19 pm
  Thank you, Holly. I am with you about the warm straight out of the oven. I love it too.
  Reply
Jyothi (Jo)
December 31, 2018 at 8:29 am

That Swiss meringue butter cream looks perfect. I can’t tell you how much I love all your cakes and buttercream recipes
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 31, 2018 at 8:43 am
  Thank you, Jo.
  Reply
Sam
December 31, 2018 at 8:10 am

This cake is so pretty!! I love that it is made with fresh strawberries, and that swirl icing is gorgeous! Pinned.
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 31, 2018 at 8:42 am
  Thank you Sam. I hope you enjoy it.
  Reply
Jessica (Swanky Recipes)
December 31, 2018 at 5:57 am

This cake looks amazing and perfect! I’ve always wanted to make my own SMBC and I can’t wait to try this out next. My mom and I always make layer cakes together and this one will be perfect to try with her in town next month.
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 31, 2018 at 8:35 am
  Thanks, Jessica. So happy to hear you gonna try this next.
  Reply
Sri Mallya
December 31, 2018 at 3:02 am

Love the color of the cake. Lools so delicious and gorgeous. I will soon try your recipe.
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 31, 2018 at 8:41 am
  Thanks Kushi.
  Reply
Tatiana
December 30, 2018 at 3:57 pm

I love all things pink and absolutely love the color of this cake. Will wait for strawberry season to try it!
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 30, 2018 at 10:12 pm
  Me too. Love pink color and this cake sure is pretty in pink in and out.
  Reply
Amanda Mason
December 30, 2018 at 12:05 am

This looks delish and I love a good warm cake! I grew up that way, too! The ingredients in this look amazing! I cant wait to try making this myself!
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 30, 2018 at 12:22 am
  Thank you, Amanda. Yes, love warm cakes myself.
  Reply
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli
December 28, 2018 at 1:56 am

What a beautiful cake! I agree, that drop of pink gives the cake that dreamy look and you know right away it’s a strawberry cake. I would eat it without frosting, too, it is so delicious!
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 29, 2018 at 1:18 am
  Thank you, Nicoletta. I love a pink cake.
  Reply
Aleta
December 27, 2018 at 6:57 am

Wow this is one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen! I love that you add strawberry puree, I bet it tastes like heaven! My daughter looooves strawberries, I am going to make this for her birthday 😉
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 27, 2018 at 7:32 am
  Thanks, Aleta. So happy to hear you going to try this. I think she will love it.
  Reply
Marisa Franca
December 26, 2018 at 10:50 pm

I am speechless. The cake is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t think of anything better in the spring when you find strawberries everywhere. And your frosting is a work of art. The shading is so pretty with the different swirls of pink. I wish I could order one of your cakes and have you deliver it.
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 27, 2018 at 7:35 am
  Thanks, Marisa. We have strawberries here in winter too. December also brings strawberries for us.
  Reply
Gloria
December 26, 2018 at 9:47 pm

This is such a pretty cake. The flavours would be amazing. This would make a great celebration cake, and dessert for any entertainment venue.
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 27, 2018 at 7:36 am
  Thanks, Gloria. Definitely a perfect celebration cake.
  Reply
Elaine Benoit
December 26, 2018 at 4:07 am

This looks like another winning cake Veena. I love strawberries and the Swiss meringue buttercream looks absolutely perfect and beautiful!
Reply
- Veena Azmanov
  December 26, 2018 at 4:29 pm
  Thank you Elaine.
  Reply

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream