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This beautiful multi-layer strawberry shortcake cake is a family tradition! Easy to make with a soft vanilla cake, fluffy homemade whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. It's a breath-taking, show stopping centerpiece of a cake that is perfect for birthdays, valentine's day, or any spring and summer occasion!
It's my 28th birthday, y'all! I've been blogging since 2015, that's six years of bringing you recipes, yet this is the first time I've celebrated my birthday with y'all. And for this occasion, I figured I would make one of my favorites.
I've told many a friend about this cake: it's what I call 'Strawberry Engagement Cake'! What is really is, is a layered strawberry chantilly cake made with vanilla whipped cream and bursting with strawberries.
My mama made my dad this cake when they were dating and I made my husband the same one for his 19th birthday when we were dating. Really, it was by coincidence. Brian's favorite food ever is strawberries, so a strawberry cake seemed like the perfect thing to make him, right?
This cake is taking the traditional summer dessert strawberry shortcake into a beautiful layer cake form. It's a great way to use up fresh strawberries by layering them between the cake layers with homemade whipped cream. It also has strawberry jam (I used an easy homemade pectin-free recipe!) between the layers as well.
This cake is a beautiful centerpiece dessert that is perfect for all the strawberry lovers' birthdays, Easter or any spring party, or to show off for a refreshing towering treat in the summer!
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How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cake
The main point of this recipe is that it's easy to make, easy to put together, and doesn't require a lot of fussy, crazy ingredients. No delicate buttercream, no intricate frosting designs, even the cake is a simple vanilla cake. But the beauty of it is in its simplicity!
There are three parts to your strawberry shortcake cake: the vanilla cake, the homemade chantilly cream, and the strawberry filling.
Vanilla Cake
This vanilla cake is soft and fluffy, you'll even see the fluffiness when mixing the cake together. It almost looks like a fluffy texture when you pour it into your pans.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together while your wet ingredients (sans milk) are mixing in a stand mixer. Then add in the dry ingredients, mix, add your milk, mix, and repeat until the dry ingredients are just completely combined. The batter in this cake is thick, almost weirdly, yet oddly satisfyingly, velvety looking.
Pour your oddly satisfying batter into prepared pans (baking spray or shortening is good, but have you ever tried magic cake release? It's amazing!) and bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out dry with a few crumbs on it.
I baked two large cake layers using 6 inch by 3 inch cake pans and cut them in half easily using a serrated bread knife and a turntable cake stand for these photos, baking them for 45-50 minutes but you can also bake this using three 6 inch by 2 inch cake pans or two 8 inch cake pans, baking for about 35 minutes. Make sure to use a toothpick or cake tester, when the cakes are done baking there should only be a few crumbs on your cake tester when they're ready!
- All-Purpose Flour. Pro Tip: Sift your all-purpose with a sifter or push it through a mesh sieve. This ensures you don't have any lumps of flour unincorporated in your cake for perfect cake every time.
- Baking Powder. This is your leavener, meaning the thing that fluffs up your cake. Like yeast makes other baked goods rise, baking powder reacts lifts your cake.
- Kosher Salt.
- Unsalted Butter, at room temperature. Unsalted butter lets you control your salt level (and therefore your flavor!) in the cake.
- Vegetable Oil. Adding vegetable oil instead of only using butter helps make this cake lighter with a tender crumb.
- Granulated Sugar.
- Large Eggs, at room temperature. At room temperature, egg yolks break more easily, allowing them to mix more evenly with the other ingredients. When you beat or whisk an egg, the egg white's protein traps the air bubbles. And while baking, the bubbles expand in the heat of the oven. Cold eggs (and cold ingredients in general) don't tend to mix into the other ingredients well.
- Sour Cream, again at room temperature. Sour cream adds fat and richness without loosening up the texture of the cake batter, thanks to its thick texture. All of this makes your cake more moist. It also helps the aeration in your cake because it's acidity reacts to the baking powder, making more bubbles while the thick texture of the batter traps those bubbles in, making the cake moist and fluffy.
- Vanilla and Almond Extracts. I love adding the almond extract which gives it a sweet slight cherry scent and fruity flavor. It's completely optional, but I promise that when you try it, it'll blow your mind.
- Whole Milk. This loosens up the cake batter so it's the perfect texture while giving richness and fat. Basically like the sour cream's assistant.
Homemade Whipped Cream
You only need three ingredients and a stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric hand mixer to make this. Fun fact: Chantilly cream is another word for sweetened whipped cream.
- Heavy Whipping Cream. Heavy whipping cream is a cream with at least 35% butterfat, meaning that it will whip up from a liquid into fluffy whipped cream after a few minutes of whisking with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer. Be careful though, heavy whipping cream can and will turn into butter if you over mix it. Once it is whipped to stiff peaks (pull the whisk out of the whipped cream and it should have a peak that barely flops over and doesn't settle back into the cream) it's done!
- Confectioner's Sugar. Also called powdered sugar. It blends into the cream easier than granulated sugar and the cornstarch in the powdered sugar helps to stabilize the whipped cream.
- Vanilla Extract.
Strawberry Cake Filling
I used a homemade strawberry jam for the filling, which was more like a strawberry preserve since I had a lot of the strawberries whole or halved. And nope neither the strawberry jam nor the fresh strawberries make the cake soggy!
I loosened it up by warming it up a bit in the microwave. If you're using store-bought jam which tend to be very thick, warming it up for about 15 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until loose will help.
Top each cake layer with fresh strawberries, especially the very top! You can also glaze the strawberries with watered down strawberry jam for a shiny, glistening finish.
Smooth on a layer of whipped cream and repeat until you reach the top!
Cake Making FAQs
Does a cake with fresh strawberries need to be refrigerated?
Yes! Fresh fruit and dairy (the whipped cream) must be refrigerated or else they'll spoil. Slice the cake up and keep them in air-tight containers and keep in the fridge for up to three days.
Can this cake be made ahead?
You can prep everything ahead of serving. The jam can be made up to two weeks ahead and the chantilly cream can be made the night before, while the cake can be made two days ahead.
Keep them all separate until the day of serving your strawberry shortcake cake, then layer the strawberry jam, strawberry slices, whipped cream, and cake layers together. Pile the whipped cream high on top and top the cake with strawberries.
What can I replace sour cream with?
If you don't have or can't find sour cream, you can substitute is easily. The main points of using sour cream is for its thick texture, acidity, and richness. Here are a few substitutes:
- Creme Fraiche. If you found some at the store or whipped up homemade creme fraiche, it's a perfect substitute. It's basically sour cream's fancy french cousin with even more butterfat, so it's got plenty of richness.
- Full-fat Greek or plain yogurt. Thick and acidic, it's another perfect substitute.
- Cottage Cheese. Blend this with a little lemon juice so the cottage cheese smooths out.
How long will Strawberry Shortcake Cake last?
Typically you want to eat your strawberry shortcake cake within 2-3 days, not because of spoilage so much but because the cake's texture will change.
You can also freeze the cake layers, undressed, by wrapping them in two layers of plastic wrap once cooled completely to room temperature. Once frozen they stay fresh in the freezer for up to one month.
Love Strawberries? Check out these Strawberry Recipes:
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Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, optional
- ¾ cup whole milk, room temperature
Chantilly Cream
- 2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, at least 35% butterfat
- ¼ cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Filling
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries, washed and dried
- 8 ounces strawberry jam, warmed to a loose consistency
Instructions
- Cake Layers
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease your cake pans with baking spray or magic cake release and set them aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix together the unsalted butter, vegetable oil, and sugar on medium-high speed for two minutes.
- Add in eggs one at a time on medium speed, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next egg. Then beat in the sour cream, and vanilla and almond extracts until they are just combined.
- Add into the butter mixture about half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until just incorporated, then add in the milk. Once the milk is mixed in, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until all the dry ingredients are just completely incorporated into the batter. The batter should be thick, yet still somewhat pourable.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. If using two 6 inch by 3 inch cake pans, bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
- Once fully baked, let the cakes cool for 30 minutes in their pans, then cool them completely to room temperature on wire racks.
Chantilly Cream (Whipped Cream)- In a clean stand mixer bowl with the whisk attachment, or with a clean electric hand mixer in a large bowl, begin whisking the cream on medium-high speed until it becomes frothy.
- Add in the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract and slowly incorporate it in on low until it's mixed enough to not throw the sugar in your face. Then begin mixing on medium-high speed again until the cream is whipped to stiff peaks. You'll know this by removing the whisk from the bowl and watching the peak. It should remain 'peaky' with the top only drooping a little.
Serving your Cake- Layer your shortcake cake by placing one layer of cake on a platter. Top with a thin layer of strawberry preserves/jam, a layer of sliced strawberries, and a third of the whipped cream.
- Place another layer of cake on top and repeat. For the top of layer of cake, top with remaining whipped cream, then place the remaining whole strawberries in the center.
- The cake can be served immediately but I find it easier to slice after chilling in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Yes! Fresh fruit and dairy (the whipped cream) must be refrigerated or else they'll spoil. Slice the cake up and keep them in air-tight containers and keep in the fridge for up to three days.Can I make it ahead of time?
You can prep everything ahead of serving. The jam can be made up to two weeks ahead and the chantilly cream can be made the night before, while the cake can be made two days ahead. Keep them all separate until the day of serving your strawberry chantilly cake, then layer the strawberry jam, strawberry slices, whipped cream, and cake layers together. Pile the whipped cream high on top and top the cake with strawberries.What can I replace sour cream with?
If you don't have or can't find sour cream, you can substitute is easily. The main points of using sour cream is for its thick texture, acidity, and richness. Here are a few substitutes:- Creme Fraiche. If you found some at the store or whipped up homemade creme fraiche, it's a perfect substitute. It's basically sour cream's fancy french cousin with even more butterfat, so it's got plenty of richness.
- Full-fat Greek or plain yogurt. Thick and acidic, it's another perfect substitute.
- Cottage Cheese. Blend this with a little lemon juice so the cottage cheese smooths out.
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