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This strawberries and cream cake is one of my favorite layer cake recipes of all time! Dense and moist yellow cake layers get topped with a fresh strawberry jam and homemade whipped cream. This dessert is fresh, simple, and a total showstopper!
This layer cake is basically a full-sized version of those cute, personalized strawberry shortcakes. The cake itself is scented with vanilla and almond. The simple strawberry jam boasts fresh lemon juice and zest. Soft and delicate homemade sweet, whipped cream ties everything together in the perfect bite!
Ingredients for the yellow cake recipe
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract
- Whole Milk
- Cake Flour
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
The cake gets its delicate crumb from cake flour. Gently folding in the whipped egg whites makes the cake light and fluffy to boot! This a great base recipe for more than just this strawberries and cream cake.
How to make a Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake
- Whisk the dry ingredients. And set aside.
- Whip the egg whites. Just to soft peaks. And set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Until light and fluffy. Then stir in the egg yolks and extracts.
- Mix the cake batter. By alternating adding the dry ingredients with the room temperature whole milk.
- Fold in the egg whites. Being sure not to overmix.
- Bake the cakes. And let them cool.
- Assemble the cake. With layers of whipped cream and strawberry jam.
Whisk the dry ingredients. Whip the eggwhites. Make the cake batter and bake. Assemble the cooled cake.
Ingredients for stovetop strawberry jam
- Fresh Strawberries
- Sugar
- Lemon Juice & Zest
How to make a quick strawberry jam
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil. Be sure to stir the jam occasionally.
- Boil for 30 minutes. Or until luxuriously thick and syrupy.
- Remove the jam to cool. It’s imperative the jam is cool before being put on the cake.
Combine the jam ingredients. Cook until thick and let cool.
What do you need to make homemade whipped cream?
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Kosher Salt
Making homemade sweetened whipped cream
The key to making a perfect whipped cream at home is to not overwhip. Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on medium until the whisk starts leaving streaks in the cream.
Stop the mixer and finish whipping by hand until the cream is full of soft peaks. This is how you avoid over-whipping the whipped cream!
Recipe Tips
- If you’re not into strawberries, substitute an equal amount of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a combination of any of them! Even mulberries would be delicious!
- The jam can be made a few days in advance, if desired. I like to make it the day before so it can chill in the fridge before assembling the cake.
- The whipped cream can also be made in advance! And kept in the fridge to cool.
- If baking the cake a day ahead wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. I love that all of the components of the cake can be made ahead and assembled when ready to serve.
- Only assemble the cake when ready to serve. Because of the whipped cream and jam, this cake shouldn’t be transported or assembled days in advance. The whipped cream and jam are too delicate to hold the cake together for more than a few hours.
Strawberries and Cream Cake
This strawberries and cream cake is one of my favorite layer cake recipes of all time! Dense and moist yellow cake layers get topped with a fresh strawberry jam and homemade whipped cream. This dessert is fresh, simple, and a total showstopper!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 298kcal
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 8-inch round cake pans
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 whole eggs separated, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. almond extract
- ¾ cup whole milk at room temperature
For the strawberry jam:
- 1 pound of fresh strawberries cleaned and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
For the sweet whipped cream:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
For the strawberry jam:
- In a medium saucepan combine all the ingredients for the jam. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, or until jam has reduced by half and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set jam aside to cool to room temperature.
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick baking spray, set aside.
- Whisk together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
- While the butter and sugar are mixing, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, this will take about three minutes. Be sure to use a very clean bowl and whisk, as any trace of oil will prevent the egg whites from properly whipping. Set the egg whites aside.
- Add eggs yolks to the creamed butter and sugar, one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated and scraping down sides of the bowl in between each addition. Stir in the extracts.
- Working in alternating batches, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by ½ of the milk, ending with the dry ingredients.
- Add in the whipped egg whites and gently fold in by hand, being sure not to deflate the batter. Mix until no streaks of egg white remain and everything is fully incorporated.
- Divide batter among prepared pans and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown, the tops spring back when lightly touched, and the edges have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Allow cakes to cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out of pans and cooling completely on wire racks.
For the Whipped Cream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine all ingredients and whisk on medium until the whisk begins to leave streaks in the cream. Stop the mixer and finish whisking the cream by hand until soft peaks form.
To Assemble the Cake:
- Place one of the cakes on a serving platter. If necessary, level off the top before spreading on a few cups of the whipped cream. Add a generous amount of jam on top of the whipped cream.
- Place the second cake layer on top of the filling, and finish with another layer of whipped cream and the jam. If desired, garnish with additional fresh strawberries to make it really show stopping!
Notes
- The cakes, jam, and whipped cream can all be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Do not assemble the cake until ready to serve, as the whipped cream and jam are not stable enough to support transporting the cake or having it stand at room temperature for an extended period of time.
- The cakes can be baked in 6-inch pans if desired. Prep 4 6-inch pans as directed above and bake in preheated oven for 18 - 22 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 298kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg
Erika Close says
My daughter requested a strawberry/whipped topping layered birthday cake, and I came across this recipe. I followed directions, and waited to assemble until we were ready to eat it. The whipped cream was delicious, but the jam was way too sweet. I followed the recipe, but not sure if I did something wrong??? Structurally, I think it would be better to put the jam on the cake first, then add the whipped cream on top. Or, make more layers, put the jam on the first layer, then cake, then whipped cream, then cake, etc. in that order. Doing it in the order that it's suggested in the recipe (putting whipped cream on cake layer, then jam on whipped cream) created a mess, and the jam/whipped cream slid off and made it look like a landslide. As far as the cake goes, the flavor was fine, but I think if I made this again, I would double the cake recipe and make more layers. Just the two layers wasn't thick enough for the ration of the jam and whipped cream. Ratio was way off.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Erika,
I'm sorry you had difficulty with the cake. I think "too sweet" is completely subjective - especially if you're making a jam with a fruit that's not in-season and you get berries from the grocery store - they may not be as flavorful as a summer-ripe, hand-picked strawberry and so you'll get a lot more of the sugar than the fruit. I think you'd be better off in the future cutting the two cake layers in half to make four thinner layers. To have four normal-sized cake layers with the whipped cream and jam could definitely create even more structural issues if you were already struggling. You could also consider serving slices of the cake alongside the extra whipped cream and jam.
Thanks!
Amanda
Meredith says
Made this for a backyard birthday barbeque and it was absolutely the hit of the night! Amanda is absolutely right about the structural integrity bit - I put a few too many whole strawberries on top and created a bit of a whipped cream landslide... but it still tasted amazing. Made exactly as written and wouldn't change a thing!
Amanda says
This thrills me to no end, Meredith. Thank you for making my recipes <3