Ingredients
Cake Batter:
- 2 ½ cups (300 grams) cake flour, sifted
- 2 ¼ teaspoons (9 grams) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) fine sea salt
- ½ cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups (332 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup (55 grams) vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup (244 grams) whole milk, room temperature
Strawberry Filling and Topping:
- 2 pounds (907 grams) fresh strawberries, washed and dried, divided
- 2 Tablespoons (24 grams) granulated sugar
Whipped Cream Frosting:
- 10 ounces (284 grams) full-fat cream cheese, cold
- 1 ¼ cup (150 grams) confectioners' sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.75 grams) fine sea salt
- 2 ½ cups (595 grams) heavy whipping cream, cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray three 8 inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Make the cake batter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until blended and smooth.
- Add eggs and mix on low speed until blended. Then turn mixer up to high speed and beat for one minute.
- Add oil and both vanillas and beat until well blended.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add one third of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until blended. Add half of the milk, continuing to stir until combined. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk, and then the final third of flour mixture, blending slowly between each addition. Gently fold in any final bits of flour, being careful not to over mix the batter.
Bake the cake.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three pans.
- Bake the cakes for 21-23 minutes, or until the top sprigs back when gently poked and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Run a cake tester or knife around the edge of the cake to keep it from sticking to the sides of the pan once cooled. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before assembling.
Make the strawberry filling.
- Once the cake is cool, prep the strawberry filling. Wash and dry the strawberries. Slice half (one pound) of the berries into flat strips and place in a bowl. Set the other pound of strawberries aside for topping the cake.
- Add sugar and stir to coat the berries. Set the bowl aside, allowing the berries to macerate, while you make the frosting.
Make the frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer), beat the cold cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat on low speed until mixed. Then turn speed up to medium-high speed until smooth.
- With mixer running on medium-high speed, slowly stream the heavy cream into the bowl and blend until thoroughly mixed.
Assemble the cake.
- Place one cake layer onto a cake plate. Spread a layer of frosting over the top of the cake.
- Fit a piping bag with a piping tip and pipe a ridge of frosting around the edge of the cake layer.
- Spoon half of the macerated strawberries on top of the frosting inside the ridge. Avoid adding the juice from the bottom of the bowl.
- Top the frosting and strawberries with a second layer of cake and top this layer just as you did the first: spreading a layer of frosting, piping a ridge of frosting, and then spooning the remaining strawberries onto the frosting.
- Top with the third layer of cake. Spread frosting on top of the final cake layer and around the sides of the cake.
- Pipe a decorative edge of frosting around the edge of the top of the cake.
- Arrange the un-macerated strawberries on the top of the cake. You may choose to slice some of them.