A strawberry cake that gets its flavour from a mix of fresh and frozen strawberries rather than relying on strawberry flavoured Jello. Using only strawberry juice in the batter prevents it from getting weighed down and keeps the crumb light and tender. The fresh strawberry slices between the layers gives it a nice extra hit of strawberry flavour. The cream cheese icing is pleasantly creamy and a little bit tangy and gives the cake a nice strawberries-and-cream vibe. I also appreciate that it's not overly sweet. I added a bit of red food colouring to make it extra pink for the Kidlet, but it doesn't need it as long as you're okay with a much more subtle pink colour.

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 300g frozen strawberries¹
• 3/4 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 6 large egg whites
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 drops red food colouring (optional)
• 255g soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 Tbsp. pieces and softened

Icing

• 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 255g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 340g cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces and softened
• reserved strawberry solids
• 3 drops red food colouring (optional)

Assembly

• 450g fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions

Cake

1. Microwave the frozen strawberries until softened and very juicy (4-5 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, grease and flour two 23cm (9") round cake pans and preheat oven to 180°C (350°C).
3. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer and press firmly to extract as much juice as possible.
4. Bring the juice to a boil over medium heat and reserve the solids for the icing.
5. Boil strawberry juice until reduced to ~1/4 c. (6-8 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and whisk in milk.
7. Whisk in egg whites, vanilla, and food colouring (if using) and set aside.
8. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
9. Add butter, one piece at a time, and mix until well-combined and no large pieces remain (not unlike making pastry).
10. Add half of the milk mixture and beat until light and fluffy (~1 minute on medium-high with an electric mixer).
11. Reduce speed to medium-low and addremaining milk mixture.
12. Beat for another 30 seconds or so before giving final mix by hand.
13. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.
14. Smooth the tops. (I find it helpful to spin the pan somewhat forcefully to cause a slight well in the centre of the pan.)
15. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-30 minutes.
16. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely on wire rack.

Icing

1. Beat butter and sugar at low speed until combined.
2. Increase speed to medium-high an dbean until pale and fluffy (~2 minutes).
3. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until thoroughly mixed.
4. Add reserved strawberry solids and food colouring (if using) and mix until combined.
5. Refridgerate until ready to use.

Assembly

1. Place first cake layer on a platter or cake stand. (Place a few strips of parchment paper down first if neat edges are important.)
2. Put about 3/4 c. of icing on top of the cake layer and spread to evenly coat the top.
3. Place a layer of fresh strawberry slices on top of the icing.
4. At this point it may be helpful to refrigerate the partially-assembled cake for an hour or so to let the icing firm up a bit².
5. Put another cup or so of icing on top of the strawberry slices and spread it right out to the edges of the cake.
6. Place the second cake layer on top of this assembly.
7. Use the rest of the icing to coat the top and sides.
8. Decorate with remaining strawberry slices.
9. Assembled cake may be refridgerated until ready to serve.

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¹ I would be tempted to try this with 400g frozen strawberries next time. The cake was good, but I feel like a lot of the strawberry flavour ended up coming from the fresh strawberries used to decorate it. I would've appreciated even more strawberry flavour in the batter and icing. ^Back
2 This instruction was not in the recipe and I didn't do it, but I wish I had. The icing was still freshly mixed and at room temperature and it was extremely soft. When I tried to spread more icing on top, the strawberry slices slid all over the place and would not stay put very well. I think chilling the cake to firm up the icing would have helped with this. ^Back