A slice of strawberry layer cake on a green plate

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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

Strawberry Layer Cake

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

Two photos of mixing bowls with batter for a strawberry layer cake

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.

Two photos of flour being added to the batter for strawberry layer cake

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.

Strawberry Layer Cake-8

(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.

Two photos of sponge for a strawberry layer cake one baked and one unbaked

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

Three photos of strawberries being clean and placed into a food processor

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)

Four photos of the process to make a cream for a strawberry layer cake

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).

Strawberry Layer Cake-9

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)

Three photos of pureed strawberries and cream being spread on a sponge for a strawberry layer cake

Decorate the top with fresh strawberries and chocolate (see chocolate decorating tutorial here

Strawberry Layer Cake_-13

A close up of a slice of a strawberry layer cake

A slice of strawberry layer cake with halved strawberries on top and beside it

Strawberry Layer Cake Recipe

4.90 from 129 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 14 -18

For the Cake:

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)
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Strawberry Layer Cake
Skill Level: Medium
Cost to Make: $$
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

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4.90 from 129 votes (32 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • Inna
    February 28, 2013

    Hi Natasha! My sister’s engagement is coming up and my mom is asking me for some good biskvit recipe. I am making this one for Sunday for a test before the party. I have a question about the cream is it sweet enough? Cream cheese and whipping cream are not sweet and is 3/4 cup of sugar enough? Also you don’t add any sugar to the strawberries isn’t it sour? (strawberries are very sour here in WA because they are not in season right now). I will defiantly make more cream, but I am a little concern if the cake is sweet enough. Also do you think its ok if I skip the parchment paper for the baking sheets? I will grease the bottom of the pan and will use the knife for the sides. I never used parchment paper for biskvit and a little concern about it. Thank you for your great website I am a frequent visitor and lot of my relatives just love your blog!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 28, 2013

      Hi Inna, thanks for writing in, If your strawberries are too sour, you can add a little sugar to them after you’ve processed them. About the cream: it is sweet enough with 3/4 cup of sugar. I’m not bit on overly sweet cakes and this one is just right. If you make more cream, increase the sugar accordingly. I’ve always used parchment paper, but if you have good results without it, than you might not need it (you must have a very good non-stick pan!) I’d definitely butter and flour the pan if not using parchment or it tends to stick quite a bit. Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

      • Inna
        March 3, 2013

        Natasha we loved the cake! My entire family enjoyed it! Thanks for this great recipe.

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          March 3, 2013

          Music to my ears 🙂 Thanks Inna!

          Reply

  • Ashley
    February 25, 2013

    Made this for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day (I’m so behind in posting) and he loved it! I had to double the cream cheese frosting recipe but other than that, it was light and flavorful! Lovely!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 25, 2013

      I’m glad you love the recipe Ashley :).

      Reply

  • Tatyana Cortez
    February 23, 2013

    Natasha! Thank you so much for this recipe! I never knew baking could be so easy! I have a small family, so it took us a week to eat it! Believe me, even on the 7th day, this cake was super delicious! Now, I didn’t try to change the recipe on you, but when I started making it, I realized I only had 1 package of cream cheese & I was just too lazy to go to the store. So, for the inside cream, I mixed two sticks of butter & I can of raw condenced milk. When I put the cake together, it was very giggly due to all the strawberries & the cream. I was a little concerned at first, but when I cut it the next day, it was hard, but moist. The best cake I’ve ever made & my whole family loved it! Thank you again for sharing it with us!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 23, 2013

      Thank you for sharing your cake experiments with me 🙂 I’m so glad it was a success for you!

      Reply

  • TanyaSer
    February 21, 2013

    I made this cake Monday and i think it only got better by Wednesday, thats when i had the last piece. I’m new to your blog and i have a feeling i’ll be back for some new recipes. These cake was amazing, thank you

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 21, 2013

      Welcome to the blog, so happy to have you here. I’m glad you enjoy the cake and hope you find many new favorites :).

      Reply

  • Oksana B.
    February 13, 2013

    Natasha, I made this cake before for youth gathering and it was amazing! However, now I want to remake it again for my family! If I was to cut down the recipe (6 eggs, 1 cup sugar, etc) would I bake it the cake in a 9 inch springform pan and just get 2 layers? Or would I divide the batter into 2 (9 inch forms) and get 4 layers? Are you catching what I am asking? 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 13, 2013

      You can put it in one and slice in two layers.

      Reply

  • Vera Nika
    February 8, 2013

    you mean the korzhii? I should probably not put the middle parts on them until that same day, huh?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 8, 2013

      It’s fluffiest if you assemble it the same day or day before 🙂

      Reply

      • Vera Nika Tinova
        February 8, 2013

        Thank you I was just afraid if I did it too early it may get too soggy ))

        Reply

  • Veta
    February 7, 2013

    Thank you Natash for replying but I decide not to risk to mess up the cake and sent my husband to the store to buy some whipping cream lol. Tomorrow ( Friday the 8th) I invited my brother and his wife for a dinner. For dessert we’ll have this cake. Hope, it will be good 🙂 the only consern is that I put frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones and I hope the cake not will be saggy because of that. 🙁

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 8, 2013

      Great :). Cake should be fine with frozen strawberries, I tried making with frozen before.

      Reply

  • Veta
    February 7, 2013

    Hi, Natasha!
    Can I substitute heavy whipping cream with Cool Wip?? I forgot to buy whipping cream 🙁

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 7, 2013

      You probably could with an 8oz tub of cool whip, but I think the whipping cream is better; it makes the frosting seem very light and airy and the flavor is great.

      Reply

  • Masha
    February 7, 2013

    How many min would you say it takes to fold the flour in?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 7, 2013

      2; maybe 3 minutes; try sprinkling it over the batter rather than dumping in the whole amount. Hope that helps.

      Reply

  • Vera Nika
    February 6, 2013

    Also can I make this a day ahead or is it better the same day?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 6, 2013

      You can make it day ahead, just cover in plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge after they cool down.

      Reply

  • Vera Nika
    February 6, 2013

    Privet Natasha. How many 9×13 biskvits come out from the following
    Cake Ingredients:
    12 eggs (cold or room temp), divided
    2 cups sugar, divided
    2 cups flour (sifting not required), divided

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 6, 2013

      This list of ingredients creates 2 (9 x 13) biskvits.

      Reply

  • Vita
    February 4, 2013

    I made this cake for my little brother’s birthday party and it turned out delicious! It is easy to make and turns out very moist! Everyone in my family loved it. Thank you for your blog, I check everyday for new recipes and everything that I make turns out great!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 4, 2013

      Thank you so much Vita 🙂 I’m so glad it was a success for you!

      Reply

  • Oksana
    February 4, 2013

    No prob 🙂 but if you decide to do the cake in a bundt pan, I recommend you read up how cause there’s a certain way to cool it once its baked.

    Reply

  • Marie
    February 4, 2013

    I made this yesterday and it is very good! Just like American strawberry shortcake. Our son likes the fruit a little sweeter so if we do it again, we might use strawberry jam. We also didn’t have enough frosting to do the sides but with it between the layers and a nice layer on top, that was enough. The only issue we had was that I didn’t sift the flour, since the measurement was for it unsifted, and then just folding it in did not break up the clumps of flour. We let it sit over night and the moisture of the filling and strawberries broke up the flour balls and it is fine today. So moist and good!! It is so tall…how do you store it? Our rectangular cake pan carrier is not tall enough for it! Do you refrigerate the leftovers or is it o.k. at room temperature?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 4, 2013

      I refrigerate leftovers and it’s just as good the next day 🙂

      Reply

  • Oksana
    February 3, 2013

    This cake was soooo good! I made it for my moms 50th and it was delicious! I also used the puréed strawberries idea an made an angel food cake with a strawberry purée filling and same cream as this cake…it was gone within 20 min! So good thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 3, 2013

      Oh Yumm; I bet that was amazing on angel food. Do you have a good recipe for the angel food cake?

      Reply

      • Oksana
        February 3, 2013

        I used this recipe from food network:
        http://www.food.com/recipe/angel-food-cake-homemade-12591
        And I don’t have an angel food cake pan so I used a regular bundt pan and it worked well. It doesn’t come out as clean as from the angel food pan but it still came out in one piece. I sliced it in half and pinched out a couple inches deep of the cake and filled the purée inside. Then put on cream on the top half of the cake and combined them together. It was absolutely amazing! If you ever get the chance, give it a shot 🙂

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          February 3, 2013

          Awesome! Thank you SOOO much Oksana! 🙂

          Reply

  • Masha
    January 31, 2013

    I made this cake twice already and my only concern is that cake layers were very moist so when I would cut them they would kind of fall apart. The only difference is that I used foil pan and i put parchment paper. I just wonder why it comes out so soft that it sticks very much to parchment paper

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 31, 2013

      Maybe because you are using foil pan. Have you tried to use regular metal baking pan?

      Reply

      • Masha
        February 1, 2013

        No not yet.. Maybe that’s the problem? What about adding like a teaspoon of baking soda?

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          February 2, 2013

          I haven’t tested with baking soda, but when I used baking powder, it caused the cake to fall for some reason.

          Reply

  • Nadia
    January 27, 2013

    Hi Natasha!I made this cake for our relatives get together, and the whole crowd loved it. Will make it again and again.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 27, 2013

      I’m glad your family loved the cake :).

      Reply

  • Galina
    January 26, 2013

    .Наташа! Спасибо за рецепт. Торт вкусный. Я сегодня пробовала у своей племянницы. Она мне дала этот адрес. Хочу немножко подсказать. Перед тем как выливать тесто бисквита, нужно застилать только дно дечки, а бока дечки не надо ни застилать, ни мазать. Тогда все бисквиты будуть ровны и одинаковы.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2013

      Thank you Galina, I will try that next time 🙂

      Reply

      • Nelli
        May 11, 2013

        Wouldn’t biskvit stick to the sides if they are not covered?

        Also, Natasha, for some reason I had lumps of flour in the batter and they remained the cake baked. What might have been the reason for it?

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          May 11, 2013

          Try sifting the flour in next time and just make sure to blend all the flour in until there are no clumps.

          Reply

  • Irena
    January 26, 2013

    That cake looks awesome! Also the explanation how to prepare it! Thank you so much! Absolutely worth to try it.

    Reply

  • Laura Dembowski
    January 26, 2013

    I love cakes leavened with eggs like this. So neat! Also light and fluffy, never heavy. It means I can eat more cake 🙂

    Reply

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