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This strawberry layer cake is the first dessert of the year; oh and it’s a good one! Tonya (one of the ladies in our church), made this cake for her son’s birthday. While chomping down my second slice; I asked her for the recipe. It was delicious and I’m sharing this goodness with you.
Also, I’ve finally tried the alternate way of making the biskvit cake layers and they turned out perfect (I believe this to be the a more “fool-proof” recipe. Oh and the strawberry/chocolate decorations were ridiculously easy (plenty of oohs and ahhs over the 3D chocolate); see the tutorial here.
Oh oh and one more thing; the beauty of this strawberry layer cake is that you can really easily cut everything in half (6 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour….blah blah) to make a smaller cake and it will turn out just as dang good.
Strawberry Layer Cake Ingredients:
12 large eggs, room temp, divided
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided *measured correctly
Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
16 oz cream cheese, softened at room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Filling/Decor:
2 lbs Fresh strawberries (1 1/2 lbs to blend and put inside the cake and 1/2 lb to decorate)
Chocolate chips to melt and decorate the top; optional
Baking strawberry layer 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. Grease and line only the bottom of a 9×13″ cake pan with parchment paper (line 2 pans if you have 2). I have found that it’s best not to line or grease the sides of the pan or the cake becomes somewhat miss-shaped.
You will bake your cake layers separately so for each biskvit layer:
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together 6 eggs and 1 cup sugar on high speed for 10 minutes and it will be 3-4 times in volume
3. Sift in 1 cup all-purpose flour and use a spatula to gently fold it in just until well incorporated and no more clumps of flour remain. Scrape from the bottom of the bowl to make sure there aren’t any trapped pockets of flour, but don’t overwork the batter or it will deflate.
4. Transfer your batter to the lined baking pan and bake at 350˚F for 17-20 min or until top is golden and toothpick comes out clean.
(While the first layer is baking, start working on your second cake layer repeating steps 1-3 above). Remove baked cake from the pan by running a thin edged spatula around the sides to loosen it, then let it cool to room temperature before removing the parchment paper.
Strawberry Filling:
Cut strawberries into halves or quarters and place them in the bowl of a food processor; pulse 15 times or until the consistency of a chunky applesauce; set aside
Frosting:
Beat together cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth (1 min). Add 1 cup heavy whipping cream and beat on high speed until fluffy (3 minutes)
Assembly:
1. Cut each cooled cake layer in half. Place the first layer on your serving dish (this cake is too big and heavy to transfer so put it on the dish you’re serving it on).
2. Spread the first layer with 1/3 of the strawberry puree. Spread just a thin layer of frosting (just a thin layer or you won’t have enough to frost the sides in the end) on the second half and place it over the first layer so the strawberries and cream are hugging. Repeat with the next layers.
So the order from the bottom up is: cake; strawberry; cream; cake; strawberry; cream;cake; strawberries; cream; cake; cream (frost the top and sides with remaining frosting)
Decorate the top with fresh strawberries and chocolate (see chocolate decorating tutorial here
Strawberry Layer Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 12 large eggs, room temp, divided
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
Frosting:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened at room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Filling/Decor:
- 2 lbs Fresh strawberries, 1 1/2 lbs to blend and put inside the cake and 1/2 lb to decorate the top
- Chocolate chips to melt and decorate the top; optional
Instructions
Baking the Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Grease and line only the bottom of a 9x13" cake pan with parchment paper (line 2 pans if you have 2). I have found that it's best not to line or grease the sides of the pan or the cake becomes somewhat miss-shaped.
- You will bake your cake layers separately so for each biskvit layer: in the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together 6 eggs and 1 cup sugar on high speed for 10 min. it will be 3-4 times in volume.
- Sift in 1 cup all-purpose flour and use a spatula to gently fold it in just until well incorporated and no more clumps of flour remain. Scrape from the bottom of the bowl to make sure there aren't any trapped pockets of flour, but don't overwork the batter or it will deflate.
- Transfer to lined baking pan and bake until top is golden and toothpick comes out clean 17-20 min.
- (While the first layer is baking, start making your second cake layer repeating steps 1-3 above)
- Remove baked cake from the pan by running a thin edged spatula around the sides to loosen it, then let it cool to room temperature before removing the parchment paper.
Strawberry Filling:
- Cut strawberries into halves or quarters and place them in the bowl of a food processor; pulse 15 times or until the consistency of a chunky applesauce; set aside.
Frosting:
- Beat together cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth (1 min). Add 1 cup heavy whipping cream and beat on high speed until fluffy (2-3 minutes).
Assembly:
- Cut each cooled cake layer in half. Place the first layer on your serving dish (this cake is too big and heavy to transfer so put it on the dish you're serving it on)
- Spread the first layer with 1/3 of the strawberry puree. Spread a very thin layer of frosting on the second half and place it over the first layer so the strawberries and cream are hugging. Repeat with the next layers. So the order from the bottom up is: cake; strawberry; cream; cake; strawberry; cream;cake; strawberries; cream; cake; cream (frost the top and sides with remaining frosting).
- Decorate the top with fresh strawberries and chocolate (see chocolate decorating tutorial below)
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Just a note, you forgot to mention the baking powder. Key ingredient.
Hi Donne, we used to make this sponge cake without baking powder since a traditional sponge cake does not call for it but relies on the volume of the eggs and sugar to rise. In our more recent recipes we have been adding it as a safeguard for people who are new to making sponge cakes. There are always lot of questions about that.
do you think this would work in round pans? would you adjust the cooking time?
Hi Kathy, I imagine it will work but I have not tested it to advise of the exact cooking time.
For the Frosting can I use confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar) instead of granulated sugar? Is there a difference in taste or texture? Thanks.
Hi Ruth, I haven’t tried it that way, but one of my readers mentioned trying it with powdered sugar, here’s what she said: “This is my new “go-to” for spring! Love love LOVE this cake! I will say, we found the cream cheese icing a bit heavy, so I have adapted the recipe slightly. Same icing in the layers per recipe, but a whipped cream icing on the outside. Make standard whipped cream, then whisk in powdered sugar until the correct consistency. It is much lighter, lush, and even more lovely! Thanks for the great recipe!” I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for sharing that information. I have used whipping cream and vanilla pudding together to create a great frosting. 1 cup whipping cream and 2TBSP of instant vanilla pudding mix.
I will try the cream cheese in the middle and a lighter frosting for the outside.
Thanks again.
Love all your recipes.
Ruth
You’re welcome!