VANILLA CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY CREAM FROSTING!

UPDATE 5.23.12: I did a variation of this recipe, cutting it in half and using blueberries instead of strawberries for her 5th birthday. We also live in a much higher and drier climate. Click here to see how it turned out!

My little girl turned two a couple of weeks ago, and we had a bunch of her little friends over to celebrate (as well as their families. It was quite the shin-dig.) I needed a large cake so everyone could have some, and after the chocolate cake fiasco* from her first birthday, I wanted to try something in the fruity spectrum. Plus Sophie’s crazy about strawberries.

*Last year she ate chocolate cake by handfuls, broke out in a rash from getting it all over herself, then threw it all up an hour later. Happy 1st Birthday!

Hint: Refrigerating the cake for a few hours makes it LOTS easier to cut into layers.

This was the first time since my cake decorating class over a year ago that I used my frosting bag and tips. Writing on cake is not my forte.

She’s also crazy about butterflies. (Yes, I made those, and I’ll post a tutorial shortly. They’re not that hard, I promise.) The cake turned out delicious. I think it’s one of the moistest vanilla cakes I’ve ever had that wasn’t a pound cake. The frosting was fluffy from the whipped cream and had a hint of strawberry cream cheese flavor. After we refrigerated the leftovers and ate it the next day we decided that it was even better chilled.

I tried desperately to get a good shot after the cake was ravaged. It looks like someone got to this side with a fork. *twiddles thumbs and looks away*

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Frosting

ingredients:

Frosting:
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c seedless strawberry jam
3/4 c chilled heavy whipping cream

Cake:
3 c cake flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 c sugar
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
7 large eggs
2 T vanilla extract
1 c sour cream
6 T plus 1/3 c seedless strawberry jam
2 1/4 lbs strawberries, hulled, sliced (about 6 cups), divided

directions:

For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. You'll probably want to use an electric mixer for this so you don't end up with lumps. Stop every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in sugar, then jam. Beat cream in a separate, chilled, bowl until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into frosting. Cover; chill for a couple of hours until it's firm enough to spread.

For the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans with 2-inch high sides. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add sour cream, and beat for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in three additions, beating to blend after each addition. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pans, then turn cakes out onto a rack to cool completely. (You may even want to refrigerate them for a couple of hours to make this next step easier.)

Using a serrated knife, divide each layer in half horizontally. Place one half, cake side down, on a cake plate. Spread 2 T of strawberry jam over the cake, then spread 3/4 c of the frosting over the jam. Arrange 3/4 c of the sliced strawberries on top of the frosting in a single layer. Repeat two more times with cake layer, jam, frosting, and strawberries. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread two cups of frosting over the top and sides of the cake in a thin layer, then frost with remaining frosting. Stir remaining jam to loosen, then spoon teaspoonfuls onto the top and sides of the cake. Use the back of a spoon to swirl jam decoratively into the frosting.

Makes 12 servings.

Nat's Notes:
1. As you can see, I used a 9x13 cake pan and did three layers instead of four. This makes a LOT of cake. (Which seems to justify the pound of butter (between the cake and the frosting) and 7 eggs, no?) It fed well over 20 people at Sophie's party. It does take longer to bake that way. I think I baked it for an hour and 5 minutes or so. Begin the toothpick tests at around 55 minutes, though.
2. Because I decorated her cake, I didn't swirl jam into the frosting.