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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)
Can you give me the baking time for an eight or nine inch cake tin please?
Hi Paula, you should check out this round version of the same cake, which would be a good guide to bake times
Hello Natasha,
I just finished baking 6 layers (9×13. All baked perfectly, only thing I did different is add vanilla extract. Thank you very much, very easy. Tastes just like the Hungarian one my mother makes. Will attempt to put fondant on, on Saturday. Cakes are going in the freezer for now. Definitely didn’t take 15-20 minutes to triple, I have kitchen aid professional 600, took about 7 minutes 😉
Hi Maria! That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing that with me! That mixer sounds amazing!
Can I bake a single recipe in a double sized pan and then make a second to still get 4 layers?
I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hello Natasha, I made this cake a few times now and everyone loves it including myself. Thank you so much for the delicious recipes. Thank you!!!
You’re so welcome! I’m so happy to hear that!!
Definitely a crowd pleaser! Made it for parties and weddings over and over again!!!!! Absolutely gorgeous and amazingly delicious!!!!! Always on my list!!!
That’s Awesome! I’m inspired reading all of your wonderful reviews!
What if my frosting is runny? I used cold heavy whip and the right amount.. should I put it in the fridge then try beating it again?
Hi Oksana, if you beat on high speed with the whisk attachment for a little longer, that can help. Also, be sure it is HEAVY whipping cream which has a higher fat content and beats to stiff peaks easier than plain whipping cream. In the round version of this same cake, we found the frosting is stiffer if you beat the whipping cream separately from the cream cheese and then fold them together.
Made this cake recipe to the T and it worked great! Do be warned though that you really need an egg beater – a regular electric beater took me about an hour for each cake. The chocolate work was very easy and stayed on the cake nicely (did not melt), cake stayed fine at room temp for about 3 hours. For the frosting, I added some craime fraiche instead of cream cheese and cut back a bit on the sugar, it was good.
I’m happy to hear the recipe was a success! Thanks for sharing your helpful review with other readers!
I made this for my husband’s birthday using 9″ cake pans (per your video on sponge cakes) and it was a HUGE hit. My husband said it was the best cake he’s ever eaten!! My IMPOSSIBLE to please father-in-law raved all night – thought it was dulce de leche because it was so moist. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome Lauren! I’m glad to hear the recipe is such a HUGE success. Thanks for sharing your excellent review! 🙂
Why don’t you use butter. What happens if you use some butter?
Hi Priyanka, I have added butter to a similar cake base but it’s more tricky when adding butter since it has to be melted and cooled, added in a steady stream while mixing and baked immediately since it’s at much higher risk of deflating when using butter. This is why I don’t typically use butter in my sponge cakes, and traditionally it is not added to this classic European sponge cake.
Hi. Was just wondering how do you get the cake not so spongy? I know everyone likes it light and airy/spongy but in the Caribbean, we like it denser.
Does adding fewer eggs help? Thanks
Hi Kate, this particular cake is supposed to be airy and spongy. I probably would suggest finding a different recipe that rather than trying to modify this one to be more dense and I am not able to recommend that without testing it myself. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Hi. Awsome recipe. Made it a few times aldready :).
I was wondering if anyone tried using coconut sugar or any other type of sweetner than the processed sugar? I want to make it a bit healthier for the kids :). Thanks
Hi Andreea, I have not experimented with different sweeteners. Maybe someone else has? Thanks in advance, friends! 🙂
Can this cake be frozen?
Hi Denise, I haven’t tried freezing it so I’m not sure how the strawberries would hold up being frozen and then thawed. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. I don’t recall anyone trying that yet.
It freezes beautifully. This is a big hit since I first made it years ago (from Natasha’s recipe) and my friend always freezes it and even enjoys it frozen.
Why is there no baking powder in rectangle version but there is in round version?
Hi Jennifer, I started adding baking powder in the past few years for slightly more consistent results (and because people were concerned the cake wouldn’t work without baking powder, although traditionally this cake relies on the volume of the eggs for leavening). It would be safe to add 1/2 tsp of baking powder to each layer of batter, but the recipe will still work without it.
Hi, I could not find the tutorial referenced
3.Decorate the top with fresh strawberries and chocolate (see chocolate decorating tutorial below)
Sally, the link is little further down in the recipe steps but here is the direct link ?
Is the filling sturdy enough to make a two tiered cake?
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tried that but I do think it could work. My Mother-in-law made an extra tall cake with this (although it wasn’t tiered) and it held up well). Also, I have had a reader share a photo of a 4-tiered cake using this sponge cake so I think it is do-able.
Thank you for the recipe.
How much cheese cream is 1x8oz or 2x 8oz?
Thank you,
Carine
Hi Carine, it is 2x 8oz. Sorry the way I wrote it wasn’t super clear. You need a total of 16 oz cream cheese. I updated the recipe to clarify that. Great question and thanks for asking!! 🙂
Hello! Thank you for your great recipes! I just have a question should I add some sugar to strawberries to me they taste pretty sour specially in winter? And can I make more frosting so I can add more to each layer or this amount of frosting is enough?
Hi Olia, if you want winter strawberries to taste a little sweeter – that would be fine – just add it to taste :). You can make more frosting if you like more. Here is the round version of this strawberry cake and since the cake was smaller, it ended up being more frosting which worked out great 🙂 I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha,
Do you think it’ll still work if I use frozen/thawed strawberries for the filling part?
That would work just fine, but you may need to add just a little bit of sugar if the strawberry purée is very tart.
Hi Natasha,
Can I use glass baking dish?
Tanya, yes that would work, although I prefer metal baking pans for the straighter edges.
Hi Natasha. Lovely recipe. Cake looks even more amazing. So planning to make this for my hubby’s bday day after. I want to do a 4 layer round cake using 2 9 inch cake pans (by slicing each cake into half). Should i stick with the same measurements or cut them in half? If i understand correctly, your recipe is for 2 9×13 pans. Thanks in advance for your early response!
Hi Nitya, for a 9″ round cake, click here for instructions. Enjoy! 🙂