This past weekend I had the chance to make the birthday cake
for little Norah’s 1st birthday party, held at Morgan Creek Park in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. Norah is the daughter of
my friend Abby & her husband Justin.
We visited them in Des Moines back in February and planning for Norah’s
party came up - at which point I volunteered to do the cake. As I've mentioned, I love to bake and it’s
not often that I get to bake large cakes - and I also happen to love a good
culinary challenge. Although it would
take a good amount of time & planning, I couldn't wait to create something
for Norah’s party that would be crafted with a whole lotta love, and would be
enjoyed by all at the party. And boy was
it! The cake received rave reviews and
there were smiles all around - I also made a little cupcake for miss Norah to
enjoy. Needless to say she wore a huge smile
on her little frosting-covered face.
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| Birthday girl Norah! |
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| Lovin' on some strawberry cake |
This strawberry cake recipe calls for softening the
strawberries by cooking them down with a little water & sugar, then straining
them through a sieve to collect the juice - which is then put into the batter
for the cake layers. I did it that way
to avoid having strawberry seeds all throughout the cake; however, I also
sliced fresh strawberries and put them between each cake layer with some of the
cream cheese buttercream to make sure you got that hint of vibrant, fresh
strawberry taste - those at the party said that was an unexpected surprise and
one of their favorite things about the cake.
I apologize outright for the lengthiness of this post; it's officially the longest, most detailed post I've ever done, but necessary. This cake was a labor of love & takes a good amount of
time, but I suggest trying it to see just what you’re capable of - the feeling
of completing a cake of this size for those of us who are self-taught is quite
the accomplishment! Seeing the smiles on
everyone’s faces, hearing compliments & handing out seconds makes it all
worth it for sure.
I've included quite a few photos of the various stages in the baking/decorating process below, as this can be a daunting task for someone who's never baked something like this before. Never fear - you can follow along & feel free to comment with questions or shoot me an email. Now - go forward, bake & create happiness!
I've included quite a few photos of the various stages in the baking/decorating process below, as this can be a daunting task for someone who's never baked something like this before. Never fear - you can follow along & feel free to comment with questions or shoot me an email. Now - go forward, bake & create happiness!
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| Finished product | Inside peek into the layers |
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| Hulling the strawberries |
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| Sliced & basking in sugar |
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| Coming to a soft boil with the sugar & water |
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| Strawberries in the sieve |
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| Mash them to get all the juice |
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| Strawberry juice/puree | leftover strawberry skins/seeds (use those in a smoothie!) |
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| Sifting dry ingredients |
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| Getting ready to combine dry ingredients, then strawberry mixture |
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| About to change color |
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| Pretty in pink! |
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| Pre-bake |
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| Post-bake |
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| Frosting the first layer |
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| Add the sliced strawberries |
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| Frost second layer |
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| Then flip onto first layer |
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| Frost top of second layer & line with strawberries |
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| Repeat process with third layer | Cut off excess cake to even the top |
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| Layers of goodness |
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| Crumb coat |
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| Pink cream cheese buttercream! |
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| Frosting |
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| I traced an "N" as a guide for piping flowers |
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| Pipe one color of flower at a time |
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| N is for Norah! |
Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream
***Please Note: This cake was made using large square pans 12x12" and four batches of the cake batter, due to the fact that it was for a large birthday party. Since most people don't have cake pans that size, I have modified the recipe by changing the size of the pan used to 9x9" - therefore eliminating the need for a fourth batch of the cake mix; here you'll only need three batches for three regular-sized layers. Also, I recommend repeating the steps to make three separate batches of cake batter, rather than combining it all into one tripled batch, as there won't be room in your mixer to mix three batches at once (I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and it was nearly full with the ingredients for just one batch at a time). Same goes for the cream cheese buttercream frosting, which I did in three batches.
The recipe below should feed 12-15 people.
∞ Fresh Strawberry Cake ∞
How much of each ingredient you'll need to complete all three layers:
- 3 lbs ripe organic strawberries, hulled & sliced
- 3/4 c sugar
- 3/4 c water
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- 4 1/2 sticks butter, softened
- 3 c sugar
- 18 eggs (whites only)
- 1 1/2 c milk at room temperature (I used original flavor Almond Milk)
- 6 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp almond extract
- 7 1/2 cups cake flour
- 12 tbsp baking powder
- 3 tsp salt
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- about 20 whole ripened strawberries, rinsed and sliced to put in between each cake layer
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Ingredients & Directions to make one cake layer - you will do this three times:
∞ To make the strawberry puree for the cake batter ∞
- 1 lb ripe organic strawberries
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1/4 c water
*Wash, hull & slice strawberries and add them to a medium-large pot on the stove. Add 1/4 c sugar and let sit for about an hour (to allow them to get nice & juicy). Add the water and begin heating over medium temperature. Let strawberry mixture come to a soft boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer for another 20 mins, stirring often. Strawberries will become very soft and lighter in color. Remove from heat after 20 mins and position a sieve over a large bowl or measuring cup. Add strawberries to sieve and smash with the back of a spatula to extract the juices, letting the bowl below the sieve catch all the strawberry liquid.
∞ To make one cake layer ∞
- 1 c sugar
- 6 eggs (whites only)
- 1 c strawberry puree (cooled to room temp)
- 1/2 c milk at room temperature (I used original flavor Almond Milk)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 4 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
*Pre-Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9" square cake pan (you can also line the pan with parchment paper and grease the paper).
Cream together butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer for 1 minute. In a separate medium bowl add the eggs whites and whisk together for 30 seconds. Add the strawberry puree, milk and both extracts. Whisk together until combined; set aside.
In a separate medium bowl sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the bowl of the mixer (with the creamed butter/sugar) in three parts, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl between each addition. Once all of the dry ingredients have been added, add the strawberry liquid mixture in three parts, again mixing and scraping bowl in between each addition. Add cake batter to prepared pan and bake at 350°F for 25 mins. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean when cake is done baking. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 30 mins before attempting to remove cake. Repeat this process two more times to get three separate cake layers.
∞ Cream Cheese Buttercream ∞
How much of each ingredient you'll need to make enough buttercream for the entire cake:
- 3 -8 oz pkgs regular cream cheese, softened
- 6 sticks butter, softened (salted/sweet cream butter)
- 6 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 c powdered sugar, sifted
Ingredients & Directions to make one batch of buttercream - you will do this three times:
- 1 -8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 c powdered sugar
*Cream together butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer for 1 minute; scrape sides, add vanilla and mix again for 30 seconds. Sift powdered sugar into a separate bowl, then add to mixture in mixer in three parts, mixing and scraping bowl in between each addition.
You'll end up doing this three times to finish the entire cake/decorate. Keep in mind you'll any colors of food coloring that you might need to tint the frosting, based on your preference.
∞∞ To Assemble & Decorate Cake ∞∞
Rinse, hull and slice the 20 additional strawberries. Cover the top of one of the cake layers with a thin layer of frosting. Using half of the sliced strawberries, add them to the top of the frosted layer in a single layer.
Frost a second layer of cake and flip it over on top of the other frosted layer with strawberries, so the two frosted sides meet. Frost the top of this second layer, and add the rest of the sliced strawberries in a single layer. Frost the top of the third (& final) cake layer and again flip over and add to the other two layers, so frosted sides meet.
Using a serrated knife, level the top of the cake by shaving off any uneven part of the cake from the top. Now for the crumb coat: Apply a very thin layer of buttercream to the entire cake. Move cake to the refrigerator and allow frosting to harden for 30 mins. This initial coat of frosting secures the crumbs in place so when you go to frost & decorate the rest of the cake, you won't have crumbs visible in the final coat of buttercream.
Mix up a second batch of buttercream (if you haven't already). Remove cake from fridge and frost with a thick layer of buttercream, smoothing along the way. Put cake in the fridge again as you mix up a third batch of buttercream, and divide into small separate bowls for tinting various desired colors. I used yellow, blue and rose to tint my frosting.
Once final batch of buttercream is ready and tinted (if coloring), remove cake from fridge and decorate to your heart's content. I used one medium and one small star-shaped piping tips with piping bags to create the flowers and border on this cake. For the small dots, I simply cut a tiny amount of the tip of the end of a pastry bag and piped out of the small opening.
The cake was then refrigerated for about 45 mins before being transferred to a park for the birthday party!
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