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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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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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

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.  

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 170 grams (0.75 cups) unsalted Butter
• 190 grams (1.52 cups) All-Purpose Flour
• 200 grams (1 cups) White Sugar (divided)
• 1 tsp (1 tsp) Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) Salt
• 3 (3 ) large Eggs
• 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) cream of tartar
• 250 ml  (1.08 cups) fresh strawberry puree (just pulsed in the food processor)
• 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) lemon juice
• 60 ml  (0.26 cups) Sour Cream
• 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) Strawberry extract
• 1 tsp (1 tsp) Vanilla extract
• 2 (2 ) drops Pink Gel food color

For the Filling and Frosting

• 4 cups (4 cups) Swiss Meringue Buttercream
• 60 ml (60 ml) Simple Syrup
• 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) strawberry extract
• 1/4 cup (0.25 cup) strawberry puree optional

ADJUST SERVINGS HERE - 12 servings

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

Nutrition Facts

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Amount Per Serving

Calories 572 Calories from Fat 225

% Daily Value*

Fat 25g38%

Saturated Fat 10g50%

Cholesterol 73mg24%

Sodium 261mg11%

Potassium 147mg4%

Carbohydrates 82g27%

Fiber 0g0%

Sugar 65g72%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 445IU9%

Vitamin C 12.7mg15%

Calcium 41mg4%

Iron 1.2mg7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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 about itMention @veenaazmanov or #tag on Instagram #veenaazmanov

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