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The strawberry jello filling sandwiched between the Russian biskvit cake layers is quite memorable and as my sister put it, “this is the stuff my dreams are made of;” that pretty much sums it up!
You can easily make this Strawberry Jello Cake your own by changing up the flavor of the jello and top with different berries. Laura K., one of my friends from church graciously shared this recipe with me. She brought it to a church potluck and it was deeee-licious! I was so surprised how easy the strawberry filling was to make.
Unfortunately for me, I made the first cake on Thursday and went on to eat way too much of it. I made a second Strawberry Jello Cake on Saturday (of the same week) for a family dinner; it was devoured. And out of the corner of my eye; I caught a stand-off for the last slice; my pregnant sister won of course. Anyway, not a crumb left behind.
Laura makes this cake in a 13×9 glass pyrex dish so you can see the jello layers through it; probably a more practical way to make this cake; Thank you Laura for this amazing recipe. My entire family loved it!
Russian Biskvit Cake Ingredients:
6 eggs (cold or room temp)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifting not required) *measured correctly
Whipped Cream Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Filling/Decor:
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
6 oz package of strawberry jello
1 lbs Fresh strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries, or whatever fruit you have on hand.
How To Make Strawberry Jello Cake:
Start with the Jello Filling since it takes some time to set:
1. In a large mixing bowl, make jello according to the instructions on the package, but use 1/2 of the cold water. I.e. for a 6 oz package of jello, add 2 cups boiling water and 1 cup cold water. Let Jello sit at room temperature until it is soft set and jiggles a little (while you work on the rest of the cake), then beat in thawed 8oz cool whip (see step 7 for the cake layers).
How To Make the Cake Layers:
If you’ve never made a European Sponge Cake, watch this video for the basic version and see just how simple it is!
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
1. Line two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans (ideally one should be a springform pan) with parchment paper. (Note: If all you have is a spring form pan, you can bake the batter in the springform and then cut in half when it cools, but you will have better, fluffier results if you divide it between two cake pans; I tested it both ways).
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together 6 eggs and 1 cup sugar on high speed for 12 minutes or until 3 times in volume and thickened.
3. Sprinkle flour over the top and use a spatula to gently fold in 1 cup all-purpose flour until all lumps are gone (the flour tends to congregate on the bottom so make sure you stir from the bottom up and scrape around he edges of the bowl).
4. Divide your batter in half between the 2 lined baking pans and bake at 350˚F for 16-20 min or until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Remove baked cake from the pan being careful not to squish the top (use a plastic knife or a thin spatula to release the edges from the pan) and let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Wash the springform pan.
5. Once your cake has cooled, place the skinnier layer back into the bottom of your springform pan.
6. Slice your strawberries in half (or thirds if they are very large) and place them facing tightly against the walls of the springform pan.
7. At this point, you’ll want to beat 8oz cool whip into your jello which should be starting to thicken. Pour your jello cream over the bottom cake and strawberries being careful not to knock down the strawberries. Smooth over the top.
8. Place the top biskvit layer over the top and Refrigerate for 2 hours or until jello is set then remove from fridge to decorate.
To Decorate the Cake:
- Beat together the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar until whipped and spreadable. I transferred it to a pastry bag and piped roses using a Wilton 2D tip. Start in the center and work your way out in circles; staying close to the surface of the cake. It’s really pretty easy to do, but practice a couple on a plate before you turn your cake into a Picasso ;).
- Pile fruit in the center in whatever design you like; they look good just piled up too. Put back in the fridge a couple more hours or overnight to allow the jello to fully set before serving or the cake will be too dainty and will fall apart easier when sliced. Also, you take it out of the springform mold, fold some plastic wrap and wrap it around the jello part of this cake to keep it in place while it firms up fully.
Notes:
The second time I made this cake, I lined the walls of the spring form mold with plastic wrap for easier release, but even without plastic wrap, it cut away from the springform pan pretty easily. Also, the second time I didn’t put strawberries along the walls and jut made a plain jello layer with strawberry slices on top of the jello; the big strawberries make it hard to slice, but they are pretty; it’s a trade-off).
You’ll love this cake. It’s the good stuff.
Strawberry Jello Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Biskvit Cake Ingredients:
- 6 eggs, cold or room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifting not required
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Filling/Decor:
- 8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
- 6 oz package of strawberry jello
- 1 lbs Fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
Instructions
To Make the Cake and Jello Filling:
- In a large mixing bowl, make jello according to the instructions on the package, but use 1/2 of the cold water. I.e. for a 6 oz package of jello, add 2 cups boiling water and 1 cup cold water. Let Jello sit at room temperature until it is soft set and jiggles a little (while you work on the rest of the cake), then beat in thawed 8oz cool whip (see step for the cake layers).
- Line two 8" or 9" round cake pans (ideally one should be a springform pan) with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together 6 eggs and 1 cup sugar on high speed for 12 minutes or until 3 times in volume and thickened.
- Sprinkle flour over the top and use a spatula to gently fold in 1 cup all-purpose flour until all lumps are gone.
- Divide your batter in half between the 2 lined baking pans and bake at 350˚F for 16-20 min or until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Remove baked cake from the pan being careful not to squish the top and let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Wash the springform pan.
How to Assemble the Cake:
- Once your cake has cooled, place the skinnier layer back into the bottom of your springform pan.
- Slice your strawberries in half (or thirds if they are very large) and place them facing tightly against the walls of the springform pan.
- At this point, you'll want to beat 8oz cool whip into your jello which should be starting to thicken. Pour your jello cream over the bottom cake and strawberries being careful not to knock down the strawberries. Smooth over the top.
- Place the second cake layer over the top of the jello and refrigerate for 2 hours or until jello is set then remove from fridge to decorate.
To Decorate the Cake:
- To decorate, beat together the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar until whipped and spreadable. I transferred it to a pastry bag and piped roses using a Wilton 2D tip. Start in the center and work your way out in circles; staying close to the surface of the cake.
- Pile fruit in the center in whatever design you like; they look good just piled up too. Put back in the fridge a couple more hours or overnight to allow the jello to fully set before serving or the cake will be too dainty and will fall apart easier when sliced. Also, you take it out of the spring form mold, fold some plastic wrap and wrap it around the jello part of this cake to keep it in place while it firms up fully.
Hi Natasha
Followed the video and instructions for the sponge cake. Something went wrong. The cake fell. I wonder if weather played a part. It was about 90 degrees outside
Hi Dianna! This typically happens if the egg/sugar mixture was not beaten to the right consistency. I beat it until it’s increased 3 times in volume and thickened. This is where the cake gets its volume from so it’s very important to achieve these results before continuing. Also- when adding that flour, you’ll want to gently “fold” it in. Be careful to not overmix and deflate the batter. When baking, do not open the oven because the drastic temperature change can cause it to deflate.
Hi! Would this recipe work for a regular cake recipe? Or does it have to be a sponge cake?
Hi Gina, that would depend on what you mean by regular cake? This cake has a sponge base.
Hi Natasha
I love your recipes!
When making this strawberry jello cake can I use whipping cream in place of Cool whip? I never use Cool Whip.
Hello Phyl, I haven’t tried that substitution in this recipe so I’m not sure how it will work – I think it could work but without testing it, I can’t really recommend it. I do have a mousse recipe with real cream but there are other changes needed to make that one work properly.
I think it’s time for you to make a video for this cake 🙂 too many of us would like to see how the mixture of jello and cool whip works. Thank you in advance!
Thanks for the suggestion, Dara!
Update: I made this cake for my daughter’s gender reveal party! The pink filling was wrapped with the baby blue ribbon to fit the theme. 🙂
Everyone, and I mean everyone loved the cake.
That is wonderful, Dara! Would love to see a picture if you have one. You can tag me on Facebook or Instagram, @NatashasKitchen.
I live in England and wondered what i could use as an alternative for Cool Whip as we don’t have it here.
I haven’t tried it with whipped cream, but I would like to test it. I’ll update this recipe with that alternative if it works out. Do you have whipped topping available?
In Australia we have dream whip ,not cool whip is that the same thing? It beats up like whipping cream but is more stable.
Hi Eva, I’m not sure what the ingredients of dream whip are, I recommend a Google search to compare ingredients. If it’s similar it may work!
Hey. I’m making this cake right now and am missing where you whip together the heavy whipping cream with the powdered sugar. I know it’s only 2 ingredients and seems pretty simple but for beginners, I think it should be included. Just a suggestion.
Hi Lexxy, thank you so much. That was a great suggestion and I’m sorry I missed that.
Hi, Natasha, I’m unable to bake the cake so I’m wondering if I can use a bought sponge cake. I realize that they don’t sell round sponge cakes around here. I’m thinking of using two bar sponge cakes, putting them together and cutting a circle. I’d cut the extra pieces bite-sized and put on top then add toppings. The no-sugar sponge cake will seriously cut down on sugar and I’d use Splenda in the frosting. (I’m creating a website of altered recipes using Splenda instead of sugar). Diabetics like me want dessert but not full of added sugar
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Natasha i am in process of making this cake now. Im a bit scared or worried. So i made the jello with 8oz cool whip, mixed it, and followed ur instructions, but my jello mix with cool whip came out watery. Is that normal?
its in fridge now seems like its getting hard or stiffer. But i am still worried it won’t come out like urs on the pic so thick in size. Please advise
Lana
Hi Lana, it might be watery if you combine the two before the jello is partially set but the finished product should still be ok.
If you made this in 13×9 do you bake the biskvit in two layers? Or just one and slice into two?
HI Anya, here is the raspberry version of this cake that I made in a 13×9 pan. I hope that helps!
Hi, I don’t really like cool whip because it’s full of hydrogenated fat which makes it very unhealthy. Could I substiute with heavy whipping cream?
Yes, you can also add one jumble melted marshmallow to stabilize the he cream. Personally I like to whip cream cheese with whipping cream to replace the whipped topping.
Hi Natasha, I don’t have Cool Whip right now, can I just make 8 ounces of whipped cream and add that into the jello mixture? Thanks
Hi Liza, I haven’t tried that substitution in this recipe so I’m not sure how it will work – I think it could work but without testing it, I can’t really recommend it. I do have a mousse recipe with real cream but there are other changes needed to make that one work properly.
Where do you put the other half cup of sugar if its divided?
Hi Anna, great question! That was a typo. It is not divided but the entire 1 cup is used in the cake as in step 2. So sorry for the confusion!!! :-O My mistake!
Hey Nastasha :)) This cake is amazing! It always works out when i make it but my frosting for the top is not thick enough so i cannot decorate it with pretty flowers or whatever. Can you tell me what i did wrong? Thank you :))
Some tips for making the frosting is your to pipe: You want to make sure your bowl and whisk’s are very cold (I freeze mine 10 min before beating my cream). Also keep cream refrigerated until needed. Plus make sure to buy heavy whipping cream which has a higher fat content and beat it until it’s stiff, but not too much or it will be buttery. Hope that helps!
Dear Natasha.
Thank you for this wonderful blog and this recipe in particular!
I made this cake once for my husband’s office people and everyone loved it! Pretty easy to make for a beginner like myself. Now I would like to make it for my son’s Baptism celebration. How many days in advance can I make it? For example, if I need it for Sunday, is it OK to make it on Friday? I just worry that strawberries around the cake will start going bad. What do you think?
Thank you beforehand.
Hi Olia, I’m so happy you like the cake! I would recommend it the day before for that reason alone. I agree that after 2 days, your fruit might start looking a little limp. If you were to leave the fresh fruit out of the center and just decorate and add fruit the same day as the event, it would work fine.
Hi! I have a quick questioned to use this cake since it’s simply and amazing delicious!!!’ I was wondering though if it would be a problem if I covered it with fondant! would it ruin the jello or anything?! please get back to me ASAP!! Thank you!
Hi Ana, to be honest, I don’t really have any experience with fondant but I think it could work to cover it. As long as you aren’t pushing down on the cake, it shouldn’t hurt the jello at all. It will stay firm if refrigerated.
Hi,natasha my jello was in room temperature for 2 hours and it was not like jello it was watery and then I Put with jello when It was done standing for 2 hours I put whip cream that it’s in us ingredients, I see yr turn out like cream mine didn’t what should I do? Please answer me as soon possible
Did you have the same sized tub of cool whip and did you make sure to use a 6 oz container of jello and not the 3 oz? Sorry I couldn’t reply sooner. We are at camp so our wifi access is limited.
Thank u so much for ur help, my family loved that cake!
I’m so happy to hear that!! That’s awesome 🙂
Hi natasha, I have a question about this cake, I saw u have two piece of the cake then after I go down on the picture I saw u cut it I don’t get it, do I use it two of the cakes or I need only one cake? I need u r help please answer as soon as possible?
You need to divide the batter into two layers and make two cake layers. You could bake it as one cake and cut it in half if you wanted to. Hope that helps. Sorry for the late reply. We are at camp with limited wifi access.