Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Hubby and I went strawberry picking the other day. I actually had never gone, but we’ve been going through SO MANY strawberries recently that I thought it would be a good idea. We went with our friends K and A. We drove out to Tougas Farms on Saturday morning. We started with some warm fresh out of the fryer strawberry donuts. They were delicious with just a hint of strawberry. Hubby and I also split a strawberry slush. It was basically just some strawberries blended with some ice. It was very refreshing.
We did get rained on in the middle of our strawberry picking adventures. It wasn’t anything horrible but we did get a bit wet. Hubby and I came home with ~12 pounds of strawberries. We figured we’d be able to eat our way through about 6 of those pounds, but to go through the rest, I’ve decided to highlight even more strawberry recipes this week. So today I’m kicking off a second Week of Strawberry recipes. Be sure to check back each day to see what I’m doing with all these fresh strawberries.
The first thing that these freshly picked strawberries went in to was a cake. Hubby announced this year that he was going to make me a cake for my birthday. I was honestly shocked. Hubby has never baked anything in his life. Growing up with him mom being a great cook and baker, then living with me, he’s never been in a position to need to bake something himself. So I was very excited to see how it went.
Hubby asked that I give him a few recipes from my to-bake list and he’d choose from there. I gave him three cake recipes that didn’t look too complicated. He chose this Strawberry Shortcake Cake recipe from The Pioneer Woman. He baked the cake the night before and wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in the fridge. The next day, after our fresh strawberries were washed and dried, he continued with the filling and frosting.
This cake was very tasty. We took leftovers to work and I kept having people stop by to thank me for the cake. I had to correct them and tell them that Hubby had made it (we work in the same building). I have to admit, Hubby’s cake was awesome. I might commission him out to do some baking for me more often! I was in the kitchen giving him tips, but he did it all himself. Even the frosting of the cake.
This cake did get pretty soggy on day 3. I would definitely serve it the same day you put the strawberry filling in the cake. Definitely let it set for a while so the strawberry filling soaks into the cake layers. The second day, it was also delicious.
Two Years Ago: Inside Out Stuffed Peppers and Ropa Vieja
Check out my SECOND week of Strawberry Recipes HERE
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Yield: 12
Ingredients:
For the Cake
1 1/2 cup flour
3 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
9 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cups greek yogurt, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
For the Frosting
1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound strawberries
Directions:
For the Cake
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and corn starch.
Cream 9 tablespoons butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing 1 minute after each addition. Add yogurt and vanilla and mix until combined. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just barely combined.
Pour into greased and floured 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until no longer jiggly. Remove from cake pan as soon as you pull it out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely.
Stem strawberries and slice them in half from bottom to top. Place into a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar. Stir together and let sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, mash the strawberries in two batches. Sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoons sugar and allow to sit for another 30 minutes.
For the Frosting
Combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and dash of salt in a mixing bowl. Mix until very light and fluffy.
Assemble the Cake
Slice cake in half through the middle. Spread strawberries evenly over each half (cut side up), pouring on all the juices. Place cake halves into the freezer for five minutes, just to make icing easier.
Remove from freezer. Use a little less than 1/3 of the icing to spread over the top of the strawberries on the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top. Add half of the remaining icing to the top spreading evenly, then spread the remaining 1/3 cup around the sides.
Leave plain or garnish with strawberry halves.
Cake is best when served cool. Store in the fridge.
Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
OMG, I am in love with these cupcakes! They’re so awesome! I love HP, and I made owl cupcakes when the movie came out. I might need to give these a try before going to see the IMAX 3D movie.
How cute are those?! And i was wondering how you got the lettering so perfect – thanks for the step-by-step. Lol – I just dragged DH to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry – I’m sure he’ll be happy when the final movie comes out and he doesn’t have to hear about it anymore!
Great job, how lucky are your friends?
I’m so jealous! My two sisters are going to the exhibit this weekend. I thought about flying to Chicago to join them. Luckily I found out the exhibit is coming here in October. Whew!
These look fabulous! You did such a great job on them!
WOW JEN!! Those are fantastic!! Better than professional! Seriously, what talent you have to make those! 🙂
Aw thanks Katie – you’re making me blush.
I hate when cupcakes do that to me too. Instead of baking up they bake out! 🙁
Love your Harry Potter cupcake toppers! Very cute and creative!
~ingrid
Hi Jen! A friend of mine forwarded me your page for HP Cupcakes and I just wanted to drop in and say that I think they’re awesome and I want to run home now and try to create some fun hp themed cakes! I had done some in the past–cauldron cakes if you will, by buying mini cauldrons and cutting the bottom off so the tops sat just on the cakes and then used a bit of green frosting on the inside. You should join up with the HP-MA crew! We’ve been organizing some meet-ups for Boston Fans!
Sounds awesome Manda.
Oh my goodness, what adorable little cupcakes!
So so cute! And yeah, those “HPs” must have taken FOREVER. I have a fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe that never fails me here: http://annies-eats.com/2008/07/18/vanilla-cupcakes/. Also, I recently made Dorie’s perfect party cake into cupcakes and had great results with that as well.
I love your HP cupcakes! I too am a huge Harry Potter fan but I have to admit, I don’t think I’d be patient enough to make cupcakes and toppings as cute as yours!
These are so awesome!! I wish I would have seen them and did some of these with the HP cake I did!!