Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake

This Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake is a classic and nostalgic cake that is perfect for any occasion! Soft and fluffy vanilla cake is filled with strawberry preserves and finished with strawberry buttercream.

If you’re looking for more strawberry cake recipes, check out some of my other favorites like Simple Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes, Eggless Strawberry Shortcake, Eggless Strawberry Zucchini Cake, Strawberry Snack Cake, or Strawberry Almond Cake.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

• Recipe Name: Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake
• Ready In: 1 hour 50 minutes
• Makes: 3 layer 6-inch cake
• Main Ingredients: salted butter, cane sugar, cake flour, strawberries
• Flavor Profile: light vanilla cake with juicy sweet strawberries
• Dietary Info: no seed oils, gluten free swap available
• Difficulty: Medium
• Why You’ll Love It: the ultimate summer cake when you have fresh strawberries!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Classic: This Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake is a classic flavor that is a crowd pleaser!
• Light and Sweet: The subtle strawberry buttercream compliments the light and sweet vanilla cake that’s bursting with juicy strawberries.
• Naturally Colorful: I love this cake because it’s naturally pink, just like Eggless Chocolate Heart Cake.
• Simple and Elegant: This organic strawberry cake is both simple and elegant. Perfect for a birthday, dinner party, or backyard BBQ.

This naturally pastel pink cake is made using organic freeze dried strawberry powder and no artificial colors! Using fruit and veggie powders are such a great way to color desserts, naturally. This is what we used at my bake shop!

If you are new to decorating and want to check out ways to do it organically, check out The Best Natural Food Dyes & Sprinkles for all my top ingredient picks. And, if you want more naturally colorful desserts, check out Strawberry French Macarons Without Food Coloring, Cherry Cake With Whipped Cream Frosting, Birthday Bundt Cake, or Eggless Sprinkle Cookies.

Ingredients

• Butter: I prefer to use a sweet cream butter with 80% butterfat for the most tender and light cake. Check out Best Salted Butter for Baking where I compare different butters with vanilla cake for a full breakdown.
• Sour Cream: Using sour cream makes the cake incredibly moist and fluffy.
• Cake Flour: Cake flour has a lower protein content than all purpose, which provides a light and tender crumb in cakes, so make sure to use cake flour. I use Homemade Organic Cake Flour, but store bought also works.
• Strawberry Preserves: I use my Organic Strawberry Jam With Fresh or Frozen Berries but you can use store bought or even strawberry jam too!
• Powdered Sugar: Make sure to sift powdered sugar so you have smooth and creamy frosting.
• Strawberry Powder: I use organic freeze dried strawberry powder here to create a naturally colorful frosting with minimal effort!
• Strawberries: I use organic strawberries for the top of this cake. But this is optional and you can leave off if you want.

*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.

Baker’s Tips for Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake

• Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
• Be sure your butter is softened. I like leaving this out to soften at room temperature for the best results.
• I use my Organic Strawberry Jam With Fresh or Frozen Berries for the filling, store bought preserves or jam also work!
• Make sure to store extra cake in the fridge because of the strawberry filling and fresh strawberries.
• Gluten Free — Replace the cake flour with 170 grams (1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons) gluten free flour blend.

How to Make a Strawberry Vanilla Layer Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.

2. Add the eggs, sour cream, and milk and mix until combined.

3. Add the cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt.

4. Mix together on low until combined into a smooth batter.

5. Transfer the cake batter evenly to the prepared pans, about 226 grams each. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pans. (If you’re baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions.)

6. To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, strawberry powder, and water.

7. Mix on low until combined then speed the mixer up to high and mix for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

8. To assemble the cake: Transfer some of the frosting to a piping bag with no tip. Cut a small hole. Add a small amount of frosting onto the cake plate or spinner.

9. Add the first cake layer. Add a small amount of frosting on top and spread evenly.

10. Pipe a frosting boarder around the edge of the cake.

11. Then add in strawberry preserves into the center of the frosting boarder.

12. Place the second cake layer on top and repeat this process. Add a small amount of frosting onto the cake layer and spread evenly. Pipe a boarder of frosting around the edge of the cake and fill the center with strawberry preserves.

13. Top with the third cake layer. For more detailed description of this process, visit my post How to Stack a Layer Cake with Filling.

14. Next, crumb coat the cake. If you are new to cake baking, check out How to Crumb Coat a Cake for a detailed description plus tips and tricks.

15. Once the cake is crumb coated, finish it the rest of the frosting.

16. Finish with a spiral design. For a more in depth description of a the design, visit my post How to Spiral a Buttercream Cake.

17. Add fresh strawberries on top of the cake.

Recipe FAQ’s

More Strawberry Recipes

Strawberry Snack Cake

Strawberry Cream Drops

Olive Oil Strawberry Blondies

Sourdough Strawberry Pop Tarts