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Pulling a slice of cake out of the strawberry vanilla cake.
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5 from 36 reviews

Strawberry Vanilla Cake

This strawberry vanilla cake is a three layered fluffy vanilla cake. It is full of a strawberry filling and decorated with strawberry cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time24 minutes
Decorating Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 24 minutes
Servings: 16 slices
Calories: 547kcal
Author: Stephanie Rutherford

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake

  • 3 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3/4 cup Unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1/4 cup Oil canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups White granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup Sour cream room temperature
  • 1 TBSP Pure vanilla extract
  • 4 Large eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup Buttermilk room temperature

Strawberry Filling

  • 1 1/2 cups Strawberries washed and quartered (measure the quarters not the whole berry)
  • 1 TBSP Strawberry jam store bought is fine
  • 1 tsp White granulated sugar

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 oz Cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups Unsalted butter slightly cold
  • 6 cups Powdered sugar sifted
  • 2 oz Freeze-dried strawberries grounded to a fine crumb
  • 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 TBSP Strawberry jam
  • 1/4 cup Heavy cream
  • Fresh strawberries for decoration
US - Metric

Instructions

Vanilla Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottoms of the pan with 8-inch parchment paper circles. Spray again.
  • In a mixing bowl, sift the flour. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
    3 1/2 cups All-purpose flour, 2 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp Baking soda, 1 tsp Salt
  • Using a mixer, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high speed for 3 minutes. It will be light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix on medium until combined. Scrape the bowl.
    3/4 cup Unsalted butter, 1/4 cup Oil, 1 1/2 cups White granulated sugar, 1/2 cup Sour cream, 1 TBSP Pure vanilla extract
  • Add the eggs one at a time on medium speed. Switch to high speed and beat for 1 minute.
    4 Large eggs
  • Add 1/3rd of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk and mix on low speed. Add another 1/3rd of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Finish with the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Don't over mix. Scrape the bowl
    1 cup Buttermilk
  • Pour the cake batter evenly throughout the three cake pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes sit in the hot pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack. Cool the cake layers completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Pull the butter out and sit on the counter for 30 minutes. This will get the butter slightly cold. Then, sift the powdered sugar while you wait. Also, ground the freeze-dried strawberries using a food processor and add that to the powdered sugar.
    1 1/2 cups Unsalted butter, 6 cups Powdered sugar, 2 oz Freeze-dried strawberries
  • Using a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl and slowly add in the powdered sugar/ freeze-dried strawberries. It will be very thick.
    8 oz Cream cheese
  • Add the strawberry jam, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix this on low speed until just combined. Switch to high speed and beat for 1-3 minutes until fluffy.
    1 tsp Pure vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1 TBSP Strawberry jam, 1/4 cup Heavy cream

Strawberry Filling

  • Make this right before using.
  • In a large bowl, add the quartered strawberries. Add the sugar and strawberry jam and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding to the cake.
    1 1/2 cups Strawberries, 1 TBSP Strawberry jam, 1 tsp White granulated sugar

Assembly

  • Place a small amount of frosting on the board you are decorating on to lock the cake in place.
  • Place the first cake layer down. Spread 3/4 cup of frosting on top of the cake layer. Pipe a layer of frosting around the border of the cake. use half of the strawberry filling and spread evenly.
  • Repeat with the second layer. The last layer of cake should be placed with the bottom of the cake facing up.
  • Frost the cake in a very light layer of frosting. Freeze for 15 minutes to lock the crumbs in place.
  • Frost the rest of the cake. Top the cake with fresh strawberries.
    Fresh strawberries

Notes

Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the cake.
High altitude baking- Add an extra 3 TBSP of flour.
Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 547kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 408mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 1114IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg