Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Despite what the advertisements say, your mom doesn’t need a mug to be reminded that she’s No. 1. Instead, show her how much you love her with a pretty pink cake, dropped on her doorstep, made from the freshest strawberries the season has to offer.
What makes this the best strawberry cake?
It starts with fresh strawberries, not gelatin. Most strawberry cake recipes use strawberry-flavored gelatin to give the cake its fruit flavor, but this cake has fresh strawberries baked right in. You’ll simmer the fresh berries with salt and sugar to make a ruby-red sauce, mashing the berries as they cook until they’re thick and jammy. A splash of balsamic vinegar intensifies the fruit’s sweet and floral flavors.
What gives this cake its naturally pink hue?
I hate to break it to you, but the color of most strawberry cakes probably comes from a bottle. But the rosy hue of this cake is created naturally, thanks to freeze-dried strawberries. Once a specialty item, freeze-dried fruits are now widely available — look for them at Target and Trader Joe’s and most grocery stores. You’ll use a food processor to grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a very fine powder that incorporates seamlessly into the dry ingredients.
You may also be surprised to learn that in addition to reacting with baking soda to help the cake rise, buttermilk and lemon juice also play a role in maintaining the cake’s pink color. In the same way that cooking red cabbage with acid keeps the cabbage red (and not a drab blue-gray), adding acid to the cake batter helps stabilize the berries’ color pigment.
How do I make sure my cake is tender, not dry?
Most cake batters are made by creaming together butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy — a mixing method called the creaming method. This strawberry cake is assembled with the reverse creaming method, in which the sugar is mixed with the dry ingredients first, then creamed with the butter. This coats the flour in fat, resulting in less gluten formation when the wet ingredients are added — and giving you a tender cake with a fine, velvety texture.
What’s the best frosting for strawberry cake?
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Classic American buttercream — a simple mix of whipped butter and powdered sugar — is the perfect finishing touch for this cake. For extra strawberry flavor and a pretty pink color, mix in some of the same fresh strawberry sauce used in the cake. Buttercream, no matter the style, can be cloyingly sweet, so you’ll also add freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt to balance the sugar and amplify the strawberry flavor.
Strawberry Cake
Serves 10 to 12
For the strawberry sauce:
1 pound fresh strawberries, stems removed and chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
For the cake:
Cooking spray
3 cups freeze-dried strawberries (2.4 ounces), such as Trader Joe’s
3 cups cake flour, such as Swans Down
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 large egg whites
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
For the strawberry buttercream and decoration:
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced, plus more for the top of the cake
Make strawberry sauce:
1. Place the strawberries, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often and mashing the berries with a spoon until the strawberries break down, the foam subsides, and the sauce is reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes.
2. Pour into a shallow bowl or pie pan, stir in the balsamic vinegar, and refrigerate to cool completely, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Make the cake:
1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 325 F. Coat 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottom of each with a parchment paper round; set aside.
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2. Process the freeze-dried strawberries to a fine powder in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Wait 30 seconds to let the strawberry powder settle, then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer and large bowl.)
3. Combine the dry ingredients. Add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, salt and baking soda to the stand mixer. Mix on low speed just until combined; set aside.
4. Whisk together the wet ingredients. Place the egg whites, buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla and 3/4 of the cooled strawberry sauce in a large bowl and whisk to combine; set aside.
5. Cream together the butter and dry ingredients. Add the butter to the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated and the mixture looks like coarse sand, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
6. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture. Once it is completely incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the batter is light and thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans, about 1 3/4 pounds batter per pan.
8. Bake until the cakes pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 40 minutes.
9. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and cool completely on the wire racks.
Make the strawberry buttercream:
1. Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer and large bowl.) Add the sugar and beat on low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat until lightened in color and texture, about 1 minute.
2. Add the lemon juice, salt and remaining cooled strawberry sauce and beat on medium speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Frost the cake and decorate:
1. Scoop a tablespoon of the buttercream onto the center of a cake plate. Invert one cake layer onto the plate. Spread 1 cup of the buttercream on the cake in an even layer. Arrange the sliced strawberries in a single layer on the buttercream.
2. Invert the second layer of cake over the strawberries. Scoop the remaining frosting on the cake and spread evenly over the top of the cake and down the sides. Decorate with more fresh strawberries.
3. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before slicing.
Recipe notes: The cake is best eaten the day it is made. Store cake in the refrigerator for up to two days; bring to room temperature before serving
(Patty Catalano is a contributor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to [email protected].)
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