What You Need to Make This Recipe
Leavening agents — this strawberry cake uses both baking soda and baking powder. Make sure they are fresh and replace them if they’ve expired.
Butter — buy unsalted butter to prevent the cake and buttercream from tasting salty as there is salt added to the cake.
Eggs — this recipe uses a lot of egg whites to keep the cake light and fluffy. Save the egg yolks for my crème brûlée recipe.
Milk — to add the maximum richness and creaminess to the cake, make sure you use full-fat milk.
Strawberry reduction — reducing a strawberry puree is the secret to a flavorful strawberry cake and frosting. Adding strawberries directly into the batter or frosting does not incorporate the strawberry flavor throughout the cake, and just pureeing strawberries adds too much liquid to the cake and frosting. A strawberry reduction ensures the most flavor.
Cream cheese — be sure to use full-fat cream cheese and not the spreadable type from a tub. Cold cream cheese won’t mix well, so make sure to bring it to room temperature.
How to Make Strawberry Cake
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed just until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg whites and vanilla. Beat until on medium speed until well combined and very fluffy. Reduce the speed to low.
3. Add the flour mixture in batches to the mixer.
4. Alternate the flour with the milk and the strawberry reduction, mixing just until combined. Stop and scrape down the bowl as needed. If desired, mix in a drop or two of pink food coloring.
5. Divide the batter among the 2 buttered 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and starts to pull away from the sides of the pans. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth and fluffy. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the powdered sugar alternating with a tablespoon of the strawberry puree. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy. Then assemble the strawberry cake by adding the frosting between the cake layers and the exterior of the cake.
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