Strawberry Layer Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

5 from 3 votes

Layers of luscious strawberry cake made with strawberry reduction puree and frosted with strawberry cream cheese frosting!

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 25

Cooking Time for Strawberry Puree Reduction 20

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (6 oz. or 1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 lg. eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup strawberry puree reduction (recipe above)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 drops pink gel food coloring (5-6 drops, or as many as the color you like requires) We used Sunny Side Up Bakery “Deep Pink” gel coloring, but you can use any pink you love best!

Make this puree ahead of time, so it has time to chill. You can make it several days ahead.
Place berries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. The juices from the berries will create enough liquid to form a sauce. Continue to cook on a low boil for about 10 minutes, or until berries are very soft.
Remove from heat and strain sauce through a strainer, pressing the solids through the strainer to create a thick sauce or puree. Use a spatula on the bottom of the strainer to capture any strawberry puree that is coating the outside of the strainer. Discard any strawberry pulp that doesn’t get through the strainer.
Bring the strained puree to a low boil and cook until reduced to about 1 cup of puree, 10 minutes or so. This sauce will be thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove from heat, and cool to room temperature. Use 1/2 cup in the cake, 1/4 cup in the frosting and the rest for spreading on the cut layers of cake before frosting them.

Butter the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch cake pans and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sift flour, salt and baking powder together into a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix milk, strawberry puree reduction and vanilla extract. Set both aside.
In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of your mixer, place butter and beat on high speed until creamy and light colored. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until well-integrated and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go.
Add dry ingredients and liquids to butter mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with dries.
Divide batter evenly between the two 9-inch cake pans.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Then, turn cakes out of the pans and directly onto a cooling rack. Once cool, refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then slice each layer in half horizontally using a long bread knife or a cake slicing knife. (Chilling the cakes makes slicing them a bit easier.) If the cake layers are significantly domed on top, flatten them out by cutting the rounded part off the top using the same knife.

While the cake is baking, begin the frosting. Place softened butter and cream cheese into the bowl of your mixer. Beat until fluffy. Blend in vanilla extract.
Now alternate adding the powdered sugar (reserve 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar for fine tuning later) and the strawberry reduction puree until both are used up, beating well after each addition.
If you feel the frosting is too soft, add a bit more powdered sugar, and if you feel it’s too stiff, add a splash of milk or a bit more strawberry puree. Frosting consistency will depend upon the softness and moisture content of the butter, so it’s always good to be a bit flexible when making it! Also, you can totally make this frosting with out the cream cheese, if you prefer.

Take the bottom of one of the cake halves and place it on your cake platter. Spread a thin layer (about 3 tablespoons) of the strawberry puree reduction over the cut side of the cake. Allow that to sink in. Then, add a layer of frosting right on top of the puree.
Place the top half of that layer right on top of the frosting. Spread more frosting on top of that half.
Repeat the pattern with the second layer of cake ending with the top of the cake on top!
When all four cake layer halves are in place, frost the entire top and sides of cake with a thin layer (a crumb coat) of frosting using a frosting spatula, to smooth out the cake and to cover up any crumbs. Then, frost the tops and sides with one more coat of frosting before decorating the tops and sides with the pastry bag swirls.
Using a #824 open star cake decorating tip inserted into a pastry bag with the matching coupler, start making your decorating pattern using sort of wave-like patterns to cover the top and bottom edges of the cake.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla or strawberry ice cream. Also, a drizzle of homemade chocolate sauce is delicious on this cake!

Course: Dessert