This Strawberry Shortcake Cake boasts incredibly soft cake layers with swirls of sweet cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries. A wonderfully simple cake perfect for the summer!
Oh my gawd, this cake! This strawberry shortcake cake ties for first place with the orange layer cake I made a few weeks ago. It is absolutely divine! There are a total of THREE layers of soft, fluffy, delectable yellow cake layers. I’m pretty sure I could snack on those cake layers plain all day long.
But the frosting. Ohh the frosting. I could definitely eat that all with a spoon. Sweetened cream cheese mixed with heavy cream that is whipped to cloud-like perfection. Ahh, it’s divine. Then of course, we can’t forget the strawberries. This is an imitation strawberry shortcake after all.
The strawberries are simply their plain ol’ beautiful selves. I know that they are typically macerated before spooning over the shortcake biscuits to soften and sweeten them. But, I didn’t do that here. I allowed the strawberries to shine through on their own. Plus, this way they won’t make the cake soggy with the extra liquid.
This cake is waayy easier to make than it may look. It’s perfect for a summer treat. This would also be fabulous for the 4th of July! A show stopping cake that everyone will love.
Gather your ingredients for the strawberry shortcake cake
- cake flour
- large eggs
- baking powder
- whole milk
- unsalted butter
- vanilla extract
- salt
- granulated sugar
- full-fat cream cheese
- heavy cream
- strawberry jam
- fresh strawberries
The Process
Start with making the cake layers. Preheat the oven and grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans really well.
Grab your stand mixer or a handheld mixer and beat the eggs until they are light lemon colored. Mix in the sugar and beat the mixture until it’s thick and a pale yellow, just a few minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Pour into the egg mixture and mix just until combined.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk. Pour into the cake batter and mix with the vanilla extract just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Place in the oven and bake until a beautiful golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few clinging crumbs. It’s important here to not over bake! Let the cake rounds cool in the pans for a few minutes then turn out on to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Let’s make the frosting
After you’ve cleaned up and all that jazz, place the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer again. Beat until thick and creamy and smooth. Pour in the heavy cream and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy. Gently fold in a little strawberry jam. See? Simple and totally fabulous!
Assemble the cake
Place one cooled cake round on a serving plate or cardboard cake round. Slather one third of the frosting over the top. Dot the frosting with sliced strawberries. Repeat process twice more, piling the strawberries high on the top layer. Serve!
Wonderfully simple, absolutely beautiful and delectable.
Notes & tidbits
Fresh strawberries are essential here. You cannot substitute frozen because it will make a soggy cake.
You can substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour, but the cake won’t be quite as fluffy.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
This Strawberry Shortcake Cake boasts incredibly soft cake layers with slathers of sweet cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries. A wonderfully simple cake perfect for the summer!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 5 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup strawberry jam
For finishing
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
Instructions
- To make the cake preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease and flour three 8-inch baking pans. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until lemon colored, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in the sugar and beat until the the mixture is thick and a pale yellow, about 3-4 minutes on medium-high speed. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the mixture into the eggs and mix just until combined.
- In a small saucepan, stir together the milk and butter over medium-low heat until the butter has melted. With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in the milk mixture, then the vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and place in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few clinging crumbs. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cooling on a wire rack completely.
- To make the frosting, place the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Pour in the heavy cream and mix again on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes. Fold in the jam with a rubber spatula.
- To assemble the cake, place one cake round on a serving plate or 8-inch cardboard cake round. Slather one third of the frosting over the top of the cake round then dot with sliced strawberries. Place another cake round on top of the strawberry later and repeat process twice more, heaping the strawberries on the top of the cake. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 587
Nutritional information is only an estimate.
