Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting
Hayley makes this to celebrate Sam and her mother's engagement and upcoming wedding. It's a sheet cake, so it serves a crowd. But it's stunning, especially if you make it during strawberry season.
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2½ cups flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 TBSP cider vinegar added, let sit for 10 minutes)
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh strawberries
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup chopped strawberries
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
For Cake Batter
- Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan, and heat the oven to 350°F.
- Using an electric mixer or food processor, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat the eggs in one at a time.
- Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with adding the buttermilk. (I used a cup of milk with one tablespoon of cider vinegar instead of buttermilk.)
- Pulse in the chopped strawberries until they are small pieces and the batter begins to look pink.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out dry.
- Cool the cake on a wire rack.
For the Frosting
- Beat the cream cheese with the strawberries until mostly smooth.
- Add the vanilla and half the sugar; beat those in.
- Whip the cream with the remaining sugar until thick.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese/strawberry mixture.
- Spread the icing on the cooled cake and refrigerate until serving.
- Decorate with strawberries if desired.