A simple yet perfect strawberry cream cake made of layers of vanilla sponge cake, soft whipped cream, and fresh strawberries.
I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I started this blog. Ok, maybe not a year exactly. I know I missed the actual date, but I guess that’s because it’s hard to believe just how fast the time has gone by. When I started it, it was mostly for fun without thinking much about what it would lead to. Soon, though, I realized that this blog is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I fell in love with baking all over again on a whole new level.
This blog is my space where I can talk about myself, my memories, and my ordinary-yet-sometimes-thrilling life. I can bake whatever I like and then eat all of it by myself. This is what actually happens most of the time. I can spend countless amounts of time on Pinterest and Instagram. After all, it is related to my work, so that’s ok, right?
To celebrate our first year together, I decided to make a cake from my childhood. For a fancy but still easy-to-make sweet, my mom usually makes a strawberry cake roll. I’ve taken this amazing recipe and turned it into a simple layer cake for everyone to enjoy.
The cake has 3 components: tender vanilla sponge cake, stable whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. Not much can go wrong here, really.
This sponge cake is also known as a hot milk cake. While some sponge cakes require separating the eggs, this one doesn’t. Similar to other sponge cakes, this one requires to beat the eggs, which is what gives it its volume. Although light and tender, this hot milk cake is sturdy enough to support the heavy strawberry filling without cracking or collapsing. When I first made a hot milk cake, I thought it tasted unbelievable, and now I actually prefer it over butter cake for making layers.
Since the whipped cream is very delicate, I like to add cream cheese or mascarpone cheese to the heavy cream in order to stabilize it. That way it won’t collapse once the cake is layered on top of it. Using powdered sugar rather than granulated sugar will also help in stabilizing it.
Last but not least are the fresh strawberries. Depending on their size, I like to cut them in half and quarters, while leaving some whole to decorate the top layer.
Strawberry Cream Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ¼ cups (170g/6oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (½ stick/56g) butter
- ½ cup (120ml) whole milk
- 3 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g/7 oz) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream:
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy cream
- ½ cup cream cheese or mascarpone cheese
- ¼ cup granulated or powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pound (450 g) fresh strawberries, cut into halves or quarters
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350℉/180℃. Grease 2 8-inch pans (read note if you have only one pan) and line the bottoms with parchment paper for easy release later on.
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In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
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In a small saucepan, combine butter and milk over medium heat just until butter is melted. Do not let it boil.
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In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk eggs on high speed until combined and starting to foam, about 1 minute. Gradually add sugar and keep whisking until tripled in volume, about 6 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
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Reduce speed to medium-low and add warm milk mixture into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. Add flour mixture in 3 additions and fold by hand using a rubber spatula just until combined.
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Pour batter into prepared cake pans and smooth the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cake springs back when slightly touched and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert the pan onto the rack. Let cool completely.
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Without filling, cakes can be wrapped airtight and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for 2 months.
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For the whipped cream: In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream with cheese, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Avoid overbeating.
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Assembling the cake: Set one cake layer on a plate. Arrange about half of the strawberries in a single layer on top. Evenly spread ⅓ – ½ of the whipped cream over the strawberries, leaving a small border around the edge. Top with the second cake layer, this time spreading the whipped cream first and layering the strawberries on top.
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Cake can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
Recipe Notes
*If you have only one cake pan, scrape all batter into it. It will need more baking time. Once completely cooled, cut in half. If you refrigerate it first, the cake will be firmer and easier to cut.
וויני says
עוגת ילדות שכולםםםםםםם אוהבים, רק שאת שידרגת אותה במרה – חבל על הזמן!!
באמת, לא מכירה מי שלא יאהב עוגה כזאת
ואיזה כייף שהתחילה עונת התותים 🙂
Laila says
Hey hey Shiran! Happy birthday to your baby blog x) I’ve been following for a month or two (or three) now, and I’ve just recently stopped salivating at the screen and started making the stuff you’ve put up. EVERYTHING has been a success so far. I just wanted to say I love you ♥ You’re ahmayzing, and I feel as if you’ve extracted the types of sweets I dream about and made them reality. Is that creepy? Oh well. Thanks x]
Shiran says
Laila, reading your comment completely made my day! That’s super sweet of you, thank you so much! I hope you’ll keep enjoying my recipes! 🙂
Stavroula says
Happy Birthday to your blog Shiran!!! 😀
I have to say that your blog is one of my favorite blogs. No, actually, it is MY FAVORITE BLOG!
It may be a baby blog, but I prefer it more than other blogs with thousands of recipes, because each recipe you have is simple and elegant. Your recipes have never disappointed me!
I also enjoy so much the way you write so I try to never miss a post! Please, keep on giving us sweet things!
(Oh, and excuse me if my english is not very good!)
Shiran says
What a super sweet comment, Stavroula, thank you so much! Every single word you wrote means the world to me! Thank you for being such a loyal reader, and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy this blog! 🙂
Marnely says
Oh how light and lovely does this cake look!
Shiran says
Thank you Marnely!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Happy blogging anniversary.. a year is such an achievement & what a beautiful cake to celebrate with! You can never go wrong with a classic strawberries and cream cake. Pinned!
Shiran says
That’s so sweet of you Thalia, thank you so much! This year has gone by so fast!
Laura says
Oh my! This cake is gorgeous! How tall is each layer approximately?
Shiran says
Hi Laura! If you’re making a 6″ cake, then each layer is about 2″ tall, and for a 8″ cake, about 1.5″. That’s for the cakes only. With the filling and strawberries it will be much taller!
Trou says
I just stumbled upon to your blog but this recipe looks delicious! I’ve always been a big fan of sponge cakes since they are so light but satisfying and this is a great spin-off.
Shiran says
Thank you Trou! This sponge cake is one of my favorites and perfect for layer cakes!
Sayds says
Can I make it as a 6″ cake? Would it make 3 layers for those pans? Also can I put baby’s breath or daisies on the cake? Looks delicious!
Michelle says
I want to make this type of cake but in a larger form… any suggestions. Looks so good!
Thanks
Shiran says
Hi Michelle! You can always increase the amount of the ingredients. Do you know exactly how large you want it to be? What kind and size of pan do you want to use?
Sheryl says
what if I want to bake this using 6″ cake tin?
Melody says
Hi Shiran,
What about making the cake for a larger group in an 13×9 Pan?
Shiran says
Hi Melody! Generally that’s not a problem, but the vanilla sponge cake in this recipe is very delicate and since I haven’t tried baking it in a 9×13 pan, I’m not sure what the result would be. Also, the amount of ingredients and baking time would be different. If you have a recipe for vanilla cake that you like, you can use it, then layer it with whipped cream and strawberries.
Huda says
Hi Shiran,
The recipe looks great! what about backing a two-layer 9″ cake.. Should I double the ingredients?
Shiran says
There’s no need to double the recipe. If you multiply it by 1.5 you’ll get a nice, tall cake. Make sure to fill the cake pans no more than 2/3-3/4 full with cake batter.
Maheen says
Hi – I was wondering if this could be adapted to a 9″ round pan?
Maheen says
Oops! Just saw you had already answered the question!
MIRI says
I overbaked a bit so it was a little dry but even so it was still good!
Guests asked for seconds and there were zero leftovers!
I can’t wait to do it again and bake it perfectly next time haha
Annaliza says
Hello – I was just wondering how long it takes to bake overall? Would it be doable under an hour?
Shiran says
Hi Annaliza, baking time is mentioned in the recipe. If you use two 8-inch cake pans it should take 20-30 minutes.
Tatyana says
Dear Shiran,
I’m in need of your advise ’cause noone else can help me. I face the same problem every time I try to make a sponge (not only this one): by the the end of baking time it soaks in the middle and start to smell eggy. Maybe you you know what the reason can be?
Thank you in advance!
Shiran says
Hi Tatyana. Several things can cause that. From my experience it’s either that the cake wasn’t cooked enough (even if it looked like it did), or that too much air was incorporated into the batter during the mixing process, causing the cake to rise quickly, and then collapse in the center. You can read this guide.
Tatyana says
I believe the second variant is closer to truth, ‘couse it happened right in the oven, not when I took the cake out. Thanks a lot, Shiran, for your guidence! Anyway cake turned out to be moist and delicious!)
KZ says
Your recipies are great!
What is the difference in texture/taste etc between this sponge and the sponge in your geneder reveal cake recipie (minus the food colouring)?
Also in the cream what if i don’t want to add cream cheese- what would i substitute this with?
Thanks!!
Shiran says
Both cakes are delicious. Every recipe is different. You can omit the cream cheese without changing anything else in the recipe. I like to add it to make the frosting more stiff.
Laura says
Hi!
I’d like to make this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. I have two questions:
1. Can I make it in a heart-shaped mould? It holds approximately half of what a standard 8-inch cake tin would hold.
2. I only have one of said heart-shaped moulds, can I bake one half, and then do the other half after? Should I store the batter in the fridge while the first half bakes? Or should I only make half and make the second half afterwards?
Thank you!!
Amy says
Should the butter be room temp?
Sheryl K. says
Hi, can this recipe be used to bake a 6″ instead of the 8″, with or without modification ? If yes, what is the baking temperature and duration?
Gabriela says
Has anyone tried I think this cake on the sides?
Sayds says
What flowers are safe to put on the cake? Is baby’s breath or daisies okay? Or should I buy fake flowers
Talia @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
Hi Sayds, here’s an article that tells you which flowers are edible and safe to put on the cake. Using fresh flowers is a great touch, but you can also purchase fake ones if you like!