Strawberry Shortcake Cake – tender and light vanilla cake layers with a whipped cream filling, fresh strawberries and strawberry buttercream.
My Strawberry Shortcake Cake is one of my most popular cakes and is the perfect dessert to make for Mother’s Day next month.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
My Strawberry Shortcake Cake is made up of tender and fluffy vanilla cake layers, filled with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries, and then covered it in a strawberry buttercream. This really is the perfect shortcake for the season!
I went a little untraditional with the addition of the strawberry buttercream, but I think it was a risk well worth it! The flavor is light and awesome!
To start, the cake layers for this one come from my Classic Vanilla Cake. Remember, with a tender, fluffy vanilla cake, it’s easy to over bake the layers and therefore get a dry cake. Here’s what I do in my Strawberry Shortcake recipe to make sure that doesn’t happen:
- First reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Next add sour cream to increase fat in the batter, which helps create and maintain moisture.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Keep your eye on the shortcakes as they bake. Don’t forget to use a toothpick to check when they’re done. When you insert the toothpick in the center of the cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Don’t over mix the cake batter.
Homemade Whipped Cream Filling
After starting the layers, I move on to the filling. The whipped cream filling is simply stabilized whipped cream. I’ve used it in several recipes, and I have a full tutorial on IGTV that you can watch HERE to help you make the recipe below. A few dollops of this cream will send your bake over the top!
Most importantly, I add gelatin to this Strawberry Shortcake recipe because the gelatin is what helps stabilize the whipped cream. You can also use EZ Gel. This helps it hold up better between cake layers. However, it can sometimes be tricky to use. The key to making sure you don’t get clumps in your whipped cream filling is to not let the gelatin mixture cool too long in the fridge. Above all, you don’t want the gelatin to set too much as it cools and you also don’t want it to be too warm. If it is the wrong temperature when you add it to your whipped cream, the whipped cream will soften.
Strawberry Buttercream
To top this shortcake off, I add a delicious strawberry buttercream, made with a little strawberry jam and freeze-dried strawberries.
The flavor is out of this world delish.
Assembling the Strawberry Shortcake
You want to be sure your cake is staked properly, so take a look at the tips below to refresh your memory.
On top of your first cake layer, pipe a rim of buttercream. Fill the center with whipped cream and pat strawberries into place. The rim of buttercream helps to stabilize the cake and hold in the filling. If you see space between your piping and the cake layer, go back around the cake with your piping bag and fill in empty space. Remember to apply a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake for your crumb coat.
Enjoy!
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Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 cups (340 g) cake flour
- 1 tbsp. (10 g) baking powder
- 1 tsp. (6 g) salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 6 egg whites, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. (8 g) clear vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream, at room temperature
FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
- 2 cups (462 g) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3 tbsp. (44.3 g) water, cold
- 1 tbsp. (9.25 g) unflavored gelatin
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
- 1 tsp. (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- Diced fresh strawberries
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 1 1/2 cups (327 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
- ¼ cup (40 g) freeze dried strawberries, pulverized
- 1/3 cup (76 g) heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. strawberry jam
- 4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
- 1 tsp 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 your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and then line with parchment. Spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar for two minutes on medium-high speed.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg whites on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between addition. Once all of the egg whites are added, mix for about 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
- With the mixer on low speed, add ⅓ of the flour mixture, followed by ½ cup of the buttermilk. Repeat the additions, ⅓ cup flour mixture, ½ cup buttermilk and the final ⅓ cup flour mixture. Only mix until the flour mixture is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for another 20 to 30 seconds on low.Fold in the sour cream.
- Pour about 18 ounces of cake batter into each of the three 8-inch cake pans or 13 ounces in each of the 6-inch pans and bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. (Tip: spray your wire cooling racks with nonstick spray).
FOR THE FILLING
- In a small bowl, place the cold water and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring ⅓ cup heavy cream to a simmer and then stir in the gelatin mixture. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, until cool but not set, about 5-7 minutes.
- In a chilled stainless steel bowl with a chilled whisk attachment, beat the remaining whipping cream, icing sugar, and vanilla until it thickens and soft peaks begin to form, about 1 to 2 minutes. Very gradually add the gelatin mixture and continue beating until medium-firm peaks form.
- Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 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 sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing a little in between each addition.
- Add the freeze dried strawberries and the strawberry jam.
- With mixer on medium speed, add whipping cream and vanilla.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. The frosting will become lighter in color and texture.
ASSEMBLY
- Spread a small dollop of frosting on your cake board. This will act like glue to hold your cake in place.
- Place your first cake layer, top side up, on your cake board. Pipe a rim of strawberry buttercream around the edge of the cake.
- Spread about ½ cup of the whipped cream filling over the cake. Placed diced strawberries on the whipped cream and pat into place with your hand. Spread another ½ cup of the whipped cream filling over the strawberries.
- Place the next cake layer on top of the filling and repeat steps 2 and 3.
- Set your final cake layer, top side down, on your second layer of filling. Apply a thin crumb coat over your entire cake. This does not need to look pretty or be even. This coat of frosting is simply to lock in the crumbs. Freeze your cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- After the crumb coat is set, finish frosting your cake with the strawberry buttercream
I only have gelatin sheets. I think I use 4 sheets to be equivalent to 1 TBS powder. Will these work?
This was a fun cake to bake and it stole the show at the dinner party I hosted 😋
My daughter tends to avoid gluten (digestive reasons) but couldn’t resist having two pieces of this cake.
Do you think a gluten free option would be doable? – I find, sometimes, it’s best not to mess with a great thing. Lol.
Thank you for sharing:)
So happy you loved it! You could totally use GF flour. I like Cup4Cup brand the best. When replacing it for cake flour, I use 1/4 cup less GF flour overall.
I would love to try this recipe by making a 9” three layer cake. Will using this recipe be fine? If not, how do I increase it so I have three tall layers of cake? I don’t want to tort them. Thank you for your help! Love your recipes!
1.5x the recipe
Hi,
I dont have sour cream. Is there a good substitute for the cake?
Thank you
You can use greek yogurt!
I’ve made this butter cream and whipped cream many times now for cakes I make for my kids and nieces and nephews (we use a doggerenr cake batter depending on their request). It is a great recipe and really makes such delicious frosting!! Thank you 🙂 really lovely recipe.
This cake was so delicious it make my mouth water everytime i look at it
Can you make it as a sheet cake?
Absolutely. Just use a 9×13 pan and bake it for about 10 minutes longer.
Hello! So I can’t find E-Z gel.
Can I use gelatin instead? How do I substitute it?
I am trying to not mess it up, I have the cookbook and it looks delicious!
Please does anyone know? Thank you!
Yes you can. I have instructions for that in my Strawberry Shortcake Cake recipe.
Hi! Would this be an ok cake to make about a week ahead and freeze?
Yes!
Everyone loved this cake!
I can’t find the freeze dried strawberries at any store!! What can I do? Can I leave it out of the recipe? Help!!
Love this cake
I am Making this for my niece’s graduation cake, and I was wondering if I could assemble this cake 2 days before? Will the whipped cream be ok? I need to travel about 3 hours with the cake.
Yes assemble it and keep it frozen until you travel!
Hi this cake looks great trying to make it today. So far the cake layers are baked they did not rise very much so they are thin. Not sure why this happened.
Did you have your ingredients at room temp?
Hi, I am looking forward to making this cake , can I use 2 -8 inch pans instead of 3 please
How long can this cake sit out at room temperature? I’m making it today to serve tomorrow night, but because of the whipped cream layers, i’m wondering if it will start to kind of melt/drip if I leave it out at room temperature for more than a few hours. I’d rather not freeze it since the event is tomorrow night. Any tips?
It shouldn’t melt but because it has the whipped cream, it does need to be refrigerated after a few hours. Storing it in the fridge is okay as long as you have it in an airtight container and I wouldn’t store it in the fridge more than one night (the fridge can dry cakes out).
Thanks for replying so quickly! Yes I knew that the fridge dried them out so that’s why I was hesitant. It might fit in my cake container thing. Another question– I just baked these (three 8″ layers) and they look about half the height of your layers. My gut told me they were not quite cooked even though the cake tester came out clean…I thought ok maybe bc of sour cream and buttermilk, it’s just a wetter cake? I don’t think I overmixed either—I followed the timing directions for each step and the batter still seemed light and fluffy (egg whites not deflated) when I poured it in…but I suspect overbearing could still be the problem. Any thoughts?