Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Packed with real strawberry flavor, this fresh strawberry cake is moist, light, and airy. And, frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream this cake is perfect at any time of the year using fresh or frozen strawberries. Make it for the weekend or to celebrate a special occasion.

Table of Content

• Why make this cake?
• Ingredients and substitutes
• Step by step instructions
• More strawberry flavored cakes
• Frequently asked questions
• You may also like
• Printable Recipe
• Comments

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It's strawberry season here, so apart from enjoying fresh strawberries, we also make a few strawberry treats. Yesterday, we had chocolate-covered strawberries with fresh cream. And the strawberries were so sweet and juicy, I knew they would be perfect for this cake.

Why make this cake?

• This cake is very rich, light and airy. Also, it is quite stable and can be used in a tiered cake, as well as covered with fondant. 
• And, unlike my oil-based strawberry cake, this one is oil and butter-based cake, which keeps the cake moist and stable.
• Today, I am frosting it with Swiss meringue butercream. But, this is a very versatile cake and can be paired with many variations.
• The real secret to intense strabwery flavor is to use strawberry reduction. This evaporates the liquid leaving behind a very concentrated mixture.

Ingredients and substitutes

• Butter - I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the quantity of salt in my recipe. But, if salted butter is all you have, go ahead and use it. Just omit salt in the recipe.
• Cake flour - Gives us a soft moist cake with a tender crumb.
• Sour cream - Also contributes to a soft tender crumb. You can make sour cream at home for baking. And, for a quick fix yogurt is also a good substitute for sour cream.
• Vanilla Extract - Always use a good quality vanilla extract. You can use vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste as well as vanilla sugar.
• Pink food 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 a recipe. Having said that, feel free to omit the color if you want. The color does not affect the taste or texture of this cake.

Step by step instructions

Reduced strawberry puree

• Wash, clean, and hull the strawberries. Place them in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Pass it thru a sieve to remove seeds.
• Pour into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the strawberry puree has reduced to almost ⅓ of its original volume.
  Pro tip - Reducing the puree will concentrate the flavor with less liquid.

Bake cake

• Preheat the oven to 325°F / 165°C / Gas Mark 3.
• Grease and line 2× 6-inch baking pans with parchment paper. You can also double this recipe to make 2 x 8-inch round cakes.
  Pro tip - I am baking in 2 pans, so I can torte in half to make four. But, you can also use 3 x 6-inch round pans to make 3 layers. That way you don't have to torte.
• Dry ingredients - Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is well incorporated.
  Pro tip - Adding eggs one at a time will prevent the batter from curdling.
• Next, add the flour, sour cream, and strawberry puree in three batches making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Then, add the pink color, vanilla and strawberry extract and combine well.
  Pro tip - Do not overmix at this stage as we do not want to activate the gluten in our flour.

• Pour the batter into the two prepared baking pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack or until a center inserted in the center comes out clean.
  Pro tip - It is a great idea to use cake strips around my baking pans to prevent a dome. That way you don't lose much height on your layer cakes.
• Once baked, leave in the pan for no more than 10 minutes. Then, invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
  Pro tip - Always frost cakes only when they are completely cooled. Otherwise, the frosting will melt.

Prepare Swiss meringue buttercream

• Watch my video on how to make Swiss meringue buttercream.
• Place egg whites and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer.
  Pro tip - Make sure the bowl is grease-free. Otherwise, the egg whites will not whip.
• Using a whisk, place the bowl over a double boiler and constantly whip until all the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are fairly warm (about 160 F).
  Pro tip - You don't need a thermometer, as long as all the sugar has completely melted your eggs are ready to use.
• Take the bowl off the heat and whip the egg whites until you have a thick meringue with stiff peaks.
  Pro tip - It is best to start whipping eggs at medium speed then increase speed as you go for the best meringue.
• Let the mixer continue to whip on medium-low until the mixer bowl feels cool to touch. Then, gradually add butter, one cube at a time, with the mixer at medium speed.
  Pro tip - It is VERY important that the meringue is cooled completely before you add the butter. Otherwise, you will have a soupy mess.
• Once all the butter is added, whip on medium-high for 2 minutes. Lastly, add the vanilla and strawberry extract. Combine well until everything is well combined.

Assemble

• Watch this video showing how I level, torte, and fill the cakes.
  Pro tip - Make sure the cakes are completely cold. Otherwise, the frosting will melt. Plus, the cakes are more delicate to handle. Chilling the cakes makes them easier to work with.
• Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers. Then, divide each layer in half horizontally so you have four layers (2 x 2 = 4 layers).
• Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup.
  Pro tip - To enhance the strawberry flavor, you can add a few drops of strawberry extract or strawberry puree to simple syrup to make a strawberry syrup.
• Next, place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand. Top with a big dollop of buttercream - spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula.
• Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
  Pro tip - Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don't move when you frost the outside. Though, if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need.
• Spread the remaining buttercream around and the top of the cake.
  Pro tip - A straight-edge spatula for the top, an off-set spatula, and a bench scraper for the sides work better.
• Divide the remaining buttercream in two. Add pink gel food color to one half. Put both colors of buttercream in a piping bag with a star piping tip nozzle
• Pipe swirls around and top of the cake. These swirls are exactly what you would do on a cupcake just smaller in size. Decorate as desired
• Enjoy!

More strawberry flavored cakes

• Strawberry Bundt Cake
• Strawberry Red Velvet Cake
• and Strawberry Layer Cake Recipe
• Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream
• See all strawberry recipes or see all layer cakes

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Frequently asked questions

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You may also like

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Printable Recipe

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