Strawberry Pretzel Delight Cake – tender yellow cake layers with strawberry buttercream and a strawberry pretzel crunch filling.
Summer Baking Fun
I didn’t bake at ALL last week! I know, devastating and unbelievable. It’s been a long while since I’ve had a dry week like that. With end of the year school activities and cookbook editing, there were no extra hours in the day. (All I need is a few extra!)
By Sunday, I was craving being in my kitchen like you couldn’t believe! I put aside all other work, turned on a movie for Aves (the boys were off at BYU Fathers and Sons Sports Camp), and grabbed my apron as soon as we walked in the door from church. The plan was to start on an entirely new cake, but then I remembered I had yellow cake layers all ready to go and I didn’t want them to go to waste. I thought about what to pair them with and quickly remembered your love of strawberry buttercream with yellow cake.
Sweet and Salty Strawberry Pretzel Delight Cake
Yellow cake is like a neutral – it goes with everything! So when you suggested putting strawberry buttercream with it, I was all-in on that combo. As I started making my buttercream, however, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this cake needed something else. You know how I love a little texture in my cakes!
Pretzel Crunch Filling
Almost as quickly as I had that thought, I remembered the filling I used in my Raspberry Pretzel Crunch Cake. This cake was inspired by my mom’s raspberry Jell-O pretzel salad. I have a feeling you know exactly what I’m talking about. It has a pretzel crust, a whipped cream cheese layer, and a raspberry (or sometimes strawberry) layer on top. It was a tradition at my house every Christmas and it made a fabulous cake flavor! The sweet raspberry cake paired with the salty pretzel crunch filling is a sweet and salty lover’s heaven!
For the filling, make sure you have the following ingredients on hand:
- Milk powder
- White chocolate chips
- Butter
- Freeze-dried strawberries
- Pretzels
The Most Delicious Yellow Cake Layers
These yellow cake layers are so versatile and incredibly tender and moist. I usually pair them with chocolate buttercream, but as I said earlier, they really go with just about every flavor.
With all butter-based cakes, remember to beat the butter, sugar, oil (if called for), and eggs for a while (about 3 to 5 minutes). We want this done at a medium-high speed to ensure the ingredients blend well and we add some volume to the batter (which will help our layers rise beautifully).
Ingredients you’ll need for the yellow cake:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable or canola oil
- Butter extract
- Vanilla extract
- Cake flour (read the importance of cake flour HERE)
- Eggs
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Sour cream
Flavorful Strawberry Buttercream
My love for this strawberry buttercream is REAL! So much so, I’ve used it in three cakes:
The flavor is incredible, thanks to the combination of freeze-dried strawberries and strawberry jam. If you haven’t made this one yet, I think as soon as you do, you’ll quickly understand why it’s part of three cakes already.
To make this buttercream, grab the following ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Freeze-dried strawberries (I often find mine at Target, Trader Joe’s and Walmart)
- Strawberry jam
- Heavy whipping cream
And be sure to follow my tips for making the best buttercream!
TIPS FOR GETTING CAKES TO RISE EVENLY
Don’t forget to follow my go-to tips for getting your cakes to rise and bake well:
- Preheat your oven for 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Use good quality pans like Fat Daddio.
- Spray your pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Don’t overmix your cake batter once you add the dry ingredients.
- Use room temperature wet ingredients.
- Use fresh baking powder.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
Strawberry Pretzel Delight Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
- 2 tsp (8 g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (6 g) salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (72.6) canola oil
- 5 eggs at room temperature
- 2 egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) butter extract
- 1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream at room temperature
FOR THE PRETZEL CRUNCH FILLING
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) cup milk powder
- 1/4 cup (30 g) crushed pretzels you want these finely crushed, I used a food processor
- 2 tbsp (16.9 g) cornstarch
- 2 tbsp (25 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
- 4 tbsp (56.5 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup (31.25 g) milk powder
- 1/4 cup (14 g) crushed freeze dried strawberries
- 3 oz white chocolate chips melted
Strawberry Buttercream
- 2 cups (456 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
- 5 cups (500 g) powdered sguar measured then sifted
- 1/4 cup (14 g) finely ground freeze dried strawberries
- 1/4 cup (59.25 g) strawberry jam
- 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra ½ batch.
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and canola oil on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs and egg yolks, in a few additions, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Add the vanilla and butter extracts. Continue to beat for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream in three additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on low, just until flour is combined.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let cool completely before using.
FOR THE PRETZEL CRUNCH
- Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine ½ cup milk powder, pretzel crumbs, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Toss with your hands to mix. Add the melted butter and toss, using a spatula or spoon, until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.
- Spread the clusters on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes. Cool the crumbs completely.
- Crumble any clusters that are larger than ½ inch in diameter, and put the crumbs back in the medium bowl. Add the ¼ cup milk powder and toss together until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
- Pour the melted white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until your clusters are covered. Add the freeze dried strawberries and toss to distribute. Continue tossing them every five minutes until the white chocolate hardens and the clusters are no longer sticky. The crumbs will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.
Strawberry Buttercream
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 2 minutes. This will soften the butter without it having to be warm.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing a little in between each addition.
- Add the freeze dried strawberries and the strawberry jam, and stir to combine.
- With mixer on medium speed, add heavy whipping cream and vanilla.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. The buttercream will become lighter in color and texture.
Assembly
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or cake plate.
- Evenly spread about 1 cup of buttercream across the cake layer.
- Sprinkle about ½ cup of the pretzel crunch over the buttercream and pat into place with your hand.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 with second cake layer. Place final cake layer, top side down, on second layer of filling.
- Cover the cake with a thin coat of buttercream and then freeze the entire cake for 15 minutes.
- Once the crumb coat is set, continue decorating the cake with the remaining buttercream.
Hi Courtney, I live in Colorado at 9200’ elevation. I have a terrible time baking at this elevation. Can you tell me what I need to do to have good results. I’ve read some suggestions, but I’m interested if you’ve ever tried to bake at high elevations.
Thanks, Sharon
Add a tbsp of flour for every cup called for and remove a tbsp of sugar for every cup called for.
Hi! I am wanting to make this for my daughter’s birthday but i noticed your sour cream ratios don’t match up. So i am wondering if it’s 120g(1/2cup) or 240g(1cup)?
Also, should cake flour be 390g or 345g?
345
Hi. I just wanted to let you know that I think you have the temperature for the pretzel crunch wrong. My crunched burned in the oven, so I looked back at the other recipe and it said to set the temp to 250.
I’m reviewing the frosting. I made this dairy free with half Flora Plant Butter, half Smart Balance buttery spread, and Silk Heavy Cream. Every thing else, I followed to a T. It made the BEST buttercream I’ve ever had!! Light, fluffy, and stiff enough to pipe. For anyone else looking to make a dairy free butter cream, you have to use a STIFF margarine like Flora Plant Butter for half the mixture. Otherwise when it becomes room temp it will be too soft to pipe. A good way to check if it will work is feeling the cold sticks. Does it feel like cold butter does when you press it? Then it should work! Beating it for 4 minutes once all combined made for the fluffiest, lightest butter cream
I usually hate butter cream. It turns out, I just hadn’t tasted what butter cream SHOULD taste like, lol! 🤣 Thanks again for a great recipe, Courtney, and showing me the loveliness of excellent butter cream! 👌
Hmm…Do you think malted milk powder would work? Or is that a totally different thing?
Hmm…Do you think malted milk powder would work for the pretzel filling? Or is that a totally different thing?
What is the purpose of milk powder for the pretzel filling. What did you use and did it work
Thanks Holly
I made this cake a few days ago and multiple people told me it was too sweet. What would be the best way to make the buttercream less sweet? I used the strawberry buttercream recipe on the strawberry Biscoff cake as well and I got the same response.
You can add a little more salt, a little lemon juice or do Swiss meringue buttercream.
What is the purpose of milk powder for the pretzel crunch ? Can it be omitted? If not, cand you post a link of what you use. Thank you
I’m assuming she means dry milk powder. I’ve found Nestle Carnation to be the best brand. I usually buy it at Walmart.
Is there an error on the pretzel crunch? I started to mix this but 1/4 cup pretzel and 1/2 milk powder looks like you’ll just be eating milk powder, and doesn’t match photos.
Yes sorry for that error. Fixing now.