Spring is in the air! The dandelion farm in my yard is flourishing, I have totally boycotted long pants, and I have once again begun to leave sunglasses in every room all over my house. Also, the supermarket and corner fruit stands are filled with one of the best parts of spring in the midwest: strawberries. YASSSS. This strawberry lemonade cake was developed for a cake I’m making as a commission later in the summer, but it was way too good not share with all of you. Super soft sponge infused with real strawberries, tangy lemon curd, and smooth creamy strawberry buttercream combine to make the perfect cake for Mother’s Day or any other day that you feel like celebrating!
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I’ve gotten super extra with my food photography. Oops.
Not interested in my life and just looking for the strawberry lemonade cake recipe details? (I get it, that’s what I do when looking at blog recipes.). Just skip this section and scroll to the bottom.
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Yep. That’s me in the Minnie Mouse apron and crazy baking hair being super ridiculous and staging a little outdoor picnic for this cake. Picture courtesy of Matt, who was patiently standing there waiting for me to decide which strawberry was the most photogenic.
Listen, I know, it’s not necessary. The cakes will taste good no matter how the pictures look. But hey, have you SEEN foodgawker? Have you seen the beautiful photography all over pinterest? Don’t even get me started on Instagram, I can’t with that. I’m just a girl with a stand mixer and a big appetite, how can I even compete? Well, I’m trying my best, and that means forcing my husband to help me haul tables all over the yard, borrowing cloth napkins of every color from my mother-in-law, and spending quite a bit of time on the phone with my photographer father discussing whether three lemons is better than two. (It is).
I do think it is paying off though, and learning about photography has been SUPER satisfying for me. I’ve been getting more shots accepted on foodgawker too! My fave from my little pretend picnic:
Who wouldn’t want that as their centerpiece at Mother’s Day?
I still have a lot to learn, but it’s satisfying to see improvements every time I work up a new post. Go visit some of my first posts for comparison if you want a laugh.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake: the elements.
This cake basically has three components: strawberry cake, lemon curd, and strawberry buttercream. All of these elements had their challenges in this recipe development process (except the curd, I’ve made that tons), but I think I worked it all out and created a beautifully balanced taste experience.
Two problems: achieving a truly concentrated fresh strawberry flavor is really tricky. And, strawberries have a lot of moisture, which can really screw around with cake.
I knew I wanted to use actual real FRESH strawberries in this sponge, and I definitely ran into some hurdles in my research process. Most of the recipes that I read included strawberry jello. Like…. I bet that tastes good, I guess? But it’s summer, there’s real strawberries around! Why would I use powdered jello grainy stuff? However, I have to acknowledge that the jello method avoids a big problem: strawberries are filled with moisture. Just chopping them up and dumping them in a full-sized layer cake is going to result in a moisture-laden disaster. Also, fresh strawberry is a pretty subtle flavor…. I mean, what does that REALLY taste like? I know it when I taste it, but it’s hard to nail down.
So, I used some logic, and decided to chop up my berries and cook them down for about thirty minutes into a thick jam before incorporating them into my sponge batter. Voila, concentrated strawberry flavor! And, most of the extra moisture had steamed away! I (obviously) licked my paddle attachment after popping my cakes in the oven, and I swear the batter tasted exactly like strawberry ice cream.
Strawberry Buttercream!
I have used strawberry buttercream before in my strawberry daiquiri cupcakes, and the buttercream for this strawberry lemonade cake is super similar. However, I bumped up the strawberry flavor by using 2 packages of freeze-dried strawberries and a smidge of strawberry extract. I blitzed up the strawberries in my food processor, but if you don’t have one or don’t want to get it dirty, you could also throw them in a big ziplock back and mush them with a rolling pin or a bottle of wine. The powder from these freeze dried strawberries has to be the PINKEST thing I’ve ever seen. It is my new definition of the color pink. I wish this picture could better capture the intensity of the color.
Caution: be careful as you remove the lid of your food processor after blitzing this stuff down. I inhaled a WHOLE BUNCH of gently drifting strawberry dust, oops.
I didn’t want the frosting to be too one-note, so I also threw in a little cream cheese. You know, for that tanginess thing cream cheese has going on.
Last element: lemon curd. I considered putting lemon in the frosting as well, but at the end of the day lemon is a super powerful flavor, and I didn’t want to drown out the strawberry. You definitely don’t need any more lemon than the curd, the flavor is pretty loud.
Be gentle with this cake.
A note about this sponge: it is pretty delicate. I used cake flour to keep it nice and soft and tender, but be gentle. Let it cool for at least fifteen minutes before taking it out of the pan, make sure your pans are well-sprayed, and then be cautious as you are moving them around. That tender crumb is worth the extra care, trust me. If they crack a little bit, no worries. Just plaster it all up with buttercream, no one will ever know.
I’ve been working on a couple ideas, including a vague concept of an apple cinnamon pretzel with homemade caramel dip (doesn’t that sound amazing??), and some vodka-based cocktail cupcakes for my boozy bakes series, so check back later in the week for one of those. (Moscow Mule, perhaps?). In the meantime, if you are looking for something else that would be perfect for Mother’s Day, I highly recommend you check out my Margarita Mini Cheesecakes! Every parent that had a child deal with pandemic-school deserves a drink this year, so you might as well bake your mom a margarita for Mother’s Day!
The Best Strawberry Lemonade Cake!
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Intermediate16
servings45
minutes25
minutes300
kcalThis cake has soft and tender strawberry sponge made from fresh strawberries, tangy lemon curd, and flavorful strawberry buttercream made with freeze-dried strawberries! So easy, and such a nice centerpiece for any spring table!
Ingredients
- For the strawberry sauce:
2 cups fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
2/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
- For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups cake flour
2 t vanilla extract
1 t strawberry extract
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 t salt
2/3 cups strawberry sauce (see directions)
4 t baking powder
- For the lemon curd:
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 T corn starch
1 cup sugar
2 T water
1 stick unsalted butter
zest and juice of two lemons
pinch of salt
- For the strawberry buttercream:
3 cups unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1 oz packages freeze dried strawberry powder, blitzed or pounded to a powder
pinch of salt
1/2 t strawberry extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 T heavy cream
Directions
- Combine the ingredients for the strawberry sauce in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes or until it has reduced down to approximately 2/3 cups. It will be thick. Put it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes to cool.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 9 inch cake tins with parchment paper and cooking spray, spraying thoroughly. This cake will want to stick, be prepared.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, salt, and sugar together for about 4 minutes at medium speed or until nice and fluffy. Add your eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. It is important that your eggs are room temp. Scrape down your bowl occasionally. Slowly add the (room temperature!) buttermilk in a steady stream, not stopping the mixer. If it breaks a little bit, that’s ok. Just add a tablespoon of flour to help it come back together and keep going.Add the vanilla, strawberry extract, baking powder, and half of the flour, mix until just combined. Add the cooled strawberry sauce and remaining flour, mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into your prepared cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and allow to sit for twenty minutes in the pan, and then carefully turn them out of the pan. Careful, they will be pretty delicate.
- In the meantime, make your lemon curd. Combine the corn starch and water in a small bowl to make a slurry. Combine this slurry, the eggs and egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and sugar in a small sauce pan, and whisk to combine. Set over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, and add your butter, cut into four or five chunks. The butter will slowly melt into the curd. Keep whisking and cooking until it thickens. This can take up to twenty minutes. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes. NOTE: this recipe will make a little too much curd, but that’s ok. This stuff is good. Put it on your pancakes, toast, or whatever. It tastes good with everything.
- Make your buttercream. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium for about five minutes. Add half of the powdered sugar, the strawberry extract, and the freeze-dried strawberries, beat for another three or four minutes. Add the remaining powdered sugar, salt, and heavy cream, beat for another three or four minutes. Adjust the consistency as needed by adding a little more sugar or cream.
- Assemble your cake. Level your cakes. Place a cake layer down on your cake stand, followed by a thin layer of buttercream. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge to create a little pool for the curd to sit in. Add about half a cup of the lemon curd, spooning it to the edges. Repeat this process for another layer, and then place the final layer of sponge on top. Crumb coat your cake, and then refrigerate for thirty minutes. Add the rest of the frosting, being generous and using all of the buttercream. No need to make it look perfect, this is a rustic cake! Add fresh strawberries or swirls of frosting to the top if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour before eating. Enjoy!
Getting ready to make this wonderful sounding cake but have one question. Is it really 3 cups of butter in the butter cream or is it 3 sticks? 3 cups of butter and cream cheese sounds like an awful lot.
It’s really three cups…. I know thats a lot, but I like to have plenty for filling and covering. If you want to cut it down, you definitely can!! I mostly made so much so that I could get a clean look on the outside for good pinterest pictures! 2 cups would probably be ok!
Just wanted to be sure, I’ll go with the three! I hope it comes out half as nice as yours. 🙂
Let me know how it goes!! I really liked this one!
The buttercream and lemon curd were wonderful, my cake (not your recipe) not so much. I overcooked the syrup and over beat the cake so it was a bit dense but altogether it still tasted great! I will work on the cake and plan to make for a gathering soon. Thanks!!
[…] Lime was the easiest of these flavor profiles to incorporate, I just whipped up a batch of lime curd and snuggled it in between the layers. Before I really got into baking, I was always intimidated by fruit curds, but now that I feel comfortable making them, it is hard to imagine baking without this tool in my toolbox. This lime curd recipe is made of lime juice, zest, egg yolks, sugar, and a little corn starch, and it is just so delicious and versatile. Lemon curd is equally delicious, check out my recipe for that in my strawberry lemonade cake. […]