Strawberry Cake

I partnered with Wilton, who sponsored this post, showing you how to make this beautiful strawberry birthday cake! Part of the reason I call my blog Preppy Kitchen is the belief that you can make anything if you’re properly prepared, and that starts with having the right tools for the job. Wilton makes great products so I was happy to eat up with them and share some of my favorite products! 

If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.

Some Tips and Tricks

• If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
• If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
• You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
• To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or even make your own. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
• If American buttercream is a bit sweet for you whip up a batch of Italian meringue buttercream!
• To pipe the two-tone frosting you fill one bag (1/2 way full) with yellow frosting, one bag with pink frosting and then put both bags in a third piping bag. No need for a tip, just snip about an inch off each bag.

Steps to Make This Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. Warm and strain the strawberry preserves. Some will be used for the buttercream. Zest a lemon. Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.
2. In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (including lemon zest). Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. Add a few drops Wilton Color Right Base Pink food coloring until you reach a desired hue.
3. Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake pans. Add damp Wilton Bake Even Strips to pans to get flat layers with fluffy edges.  Bake for about 30 – 38 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean.

4. In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest. Add salt. Separate into 3 batches. Add in 1 tbsp of strained strawberry preserves to one batch. Mix until combined.
5. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring to the strawberry batch. Add lemon juice to the other batch and mix until combined. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring until you reach a desired color. Leave the last batch plain white. Save about a cup of the plain for the roses and set aside. 
6. Transfer the plain buttercream to a Wilton Disposable Decorating Bag and snip off the tip. Transfer the pink and yellow to piping bags fitted with Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle, this will be used to pipe a beautiful two-tone interior swirl. 
7. Add Wilton Color Right Crimson and Wilton Color Right Base Red Food Coloring until you reach a desired saturation for your red roses.
8. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton Master Decorating Tip Set 104 tip. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail. Pipe a swirl around the base.
9. Pipe petals until you reach a desired rose look.  
   4. Pipe the Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle in between each layer. Fill in gaps on the outside of cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper. Transfer to the fridge to chill. Pipe a layer of white buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper and offset spatula. Chill in the fridge.
10. Pipe a layer around the edge of the cake. 
11. Transfer roses and small strawberries to the ring to create a wreathe. 

If you’ve tried this cake out then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!

Print

Strawberry Cake

A moist and fluffy strawberry cake filled with strawberry and lemon buttercream and crowned with strawberries and buttercream roses.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword strawberry buttercream, strawberry cake, strawberry dessert

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 10

Calories 220 kcal

Author John K.

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour 213g
• 1 cup granulated sugar 205g
• 1 tsp baking powder 3g heaping
• ¼ tsp baking soda 1g heaping
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¾ cup butter 176g unsalted, room temperature or melted
• ¼ cup whole milk 60ml warm
• ¼ cup strawberry preserves 46g strained, warmed
• ½ cup sour cream 120ml, room temperature
• 3 tsp vanilla extract 10g
• 3 egg whites large
• 3/5 cup fresh strawberries 70g, chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring

For the American Buttercream:

• 1-2 lb confectioners sugar, depending on taste 462g
• 2 sticks unsalted butter 228g room temperature
• 1 tbsp strawberry preserve strained
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• Lemon juice
• Wilton Color Right Red food coloring
• Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring
• Baby strawberries

Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6-inch cake pans. 

2. Warm and strain the strawberry preserves. Some will be used for the buttercream. Zest a lemon.

3. Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.

4. In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (including lemon zest).

5. Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. Add a few drops Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring until you reach a desired consistency.

6. Add damp Wilton Baking Strips to pans. Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake pans.

7. Bake for about 30 - 38 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Leave the layers to cool in the pans for about 4 minutes, then dump out onto cooling racks.

For the American Buttercream:

1. In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy.

2. Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest. Add salt. 

3. Separate into 3 batches.

4. Add in 1 tbsp of strained strawberry preserves to one batch. Mix until combined.

5. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring.

6. Add lemon juice to another batch until combined. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring until you reach a desired color consistency.

7. Leave the last batch plain white. Save about a cup for the roses and set aside.

8. Transfer the plain buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip. Transfer the pink and yellow to piping bags fitted with Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle.

For the Roses:

1. Add Wilton Color Right Crimson and Base red food coloring until you reach a desired rosy color.

2. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 104 tip.

3. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail.

4. Pipe petals.

For the Assembly:

1. Pipe the Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle in between each layer. Fill in gaps on the outside of cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper. Transfer to the fridge to chill.

2. Pipe a layer of white buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper and offset spatula.

3. Chill in the fridge.

4. Pipe around the edge of the cake.

5. Transfer roses and small strawberries to the ring.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

• If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
• If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
• You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
• To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or even make your own. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
• If American buttercream is a bit sweet for you whip up a batch of Italian meringue buttercream!

Nutrition Facts

Strawberry Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 220 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 21g 32%

Saturated Fat 7g 35%

Cholesterol 30mg 10%

Sodium 110mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 21g 7%

Sugars 8g

Protein 2g 4%

Vitamin A 8%

Calcium 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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