A tender vanilla cake filled with layers of whipped cream frosting and juicy strawberries. The classic flavors of strawberry shortcake in a layer cake.
What tastes like a strawberry shortcake, looks like a beautiful layer cake, and is sure to impress anyone and everyone you serve it to?
Answer: STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CAKE!
If you’ve been around these parts for a while you know that I absolutely love baking with strawberries (I kinda like drinking ’em, too). During spring and summer, there are always strawberries in our kitchen. They are my favorite fruit to bake with, and they go well in so many recipes. Try these, too:
I’ve had a Strawberry Shortcake Cake on my summer “to-bake” list for years. My goal was to come up with a cake that had all the flavors of strawberry shortcake stacked high in a gorgeous layer cake.
My main criteria were that the recipe needed to be fairly easy, completely from scratch, and it needed to taste AMAZING (duh). I fully expected to have to play around with this recipe multiple times until I got it right, but, somehow this came out perfect – just the way I wanted it – on the first try.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
- Vanilla Cake: I made three layers of a fluffy vanilla cake. The cake layers are light, yet sturdy enough to hold our filling and topping. If you’d prefer a two layer cake, you can bake the cake in two pans, rather than three. Your layers will be slightly thicker than mine.
- Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting: Strawberry shortcake has to have whipped cream (and not the kind in a can or that questionable whipped topping in a tub). This is the real deal – freshly whipped cream, lightly sweetened with powdered sugar, and flavored with a touch of vanilla. In order to keep our whipped cream firm, I also add cream cheese to it. This stabilizes the cream and helps it hold its shape. You will have enough frosting to frost the sides of your layer cake, if you desire. I like the rustic look of leaving the sides exposed.
- Strawberries: Find the best strawberries you can and toss them with some strawberry jam (this makes them glossy and sweet). Strawberries go in between our cake layers, as well as on top of the cake. You can decorate the top of the cake however you like: I used a combination of diced strawberries and whole strawberries. I used thinly sliced strawberries for layering in between the cake (see below).
What I love about this cake is its versatility. It’s pretty enough to be served at a dinner party, yet casual enough to be part of a summer BBQ. If you know someone with a summer birthday, this cake would be extra pretty studded with candles and served to your loved ones. However/whenever you choose to make it – just make it! Grab those beautiful summer strawberries before they are gone.
- More STRAWBERRY RECIPES:
- Strawberry Cupcakes
- Warm Strawberry Crumb Cake
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Strawberry Orange Margaritas
- Strawberry Jam
- Strawberry Crisp
**RECIPE UPDATED AUGUST 2020 – After receiving mixed reviews on the cake itself I have changed the cake portion of this recipe. Originally I used a “hot milk sponge cake”, which is a bit fussy. I have updated the recipe with a more traditional (almost foolproof) vanilla cake. If you’d prefer the previous recipe you can access that here.
Recipe
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2½ cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract , optional, but highly recommended
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup milk , preferably whole or 2%, room temperature
Filling:
- 3 cups sliced or diced fresh strawberries , divided
- 2 tablespoons strawberry jam
- additional whole strawberries , for garnish, optional
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened to cool room temp
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups heavy whipping cream , really cold, straight from the fridge
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (preferred) or a hand mixer, beat sugar, oil, eggs, egg whites, and extracts until combined. Add the sour cream and beat until combined. Add half of the flour mixture, beating until just combined. While still beating, slowly add milk, then the remaining flour mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Be careful not to overmix it.
- Line three 8-inch cake pans** with parchment paper and grease the pans. Evenly divide the batter between the three pans. Tap/gently drop the pans on the countertop a couple times to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If necessary, rotate the pans once during bake time to ensure even browning. Place the pans on a rack to cool completely.
Filling:
- Combine the strawberries and jam and set aside (these will be used for the filling and topping). Note: I slice the strawberries for the filling (about 2½ cups), and I diced the strawberries for the top of the cake (about ½ cup). You can slice or dice, your choice. You'll need about 3 cups total.
Frosting:
- Place the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (preferred) or hand mixer, beat the mixture on medium speed until smooth. While the mixer is still whipping, slowly pour the heavy cream down the side of the bowl. Stop and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl periodically. Increase the speed to high and continue whipping until the cream can hold a stiff peak. It is important that the cream stays cold so that it will thicken properly. If you're using a hand mixer hold the bowl near the top and don't hold the bowl against your body.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a platter. Top with one-third of the frosting, then top with about 1¼ cups of strawberries. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat. For the third/top of layer of cake, top with remaining whipped cream frosting, then place the remaining strawberries in the center. Decorate the outside with whole strawberries, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Jessica Marie Jayasena
Can cake flour be used? I’m making this tomorrow for the in laws
Allison
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. If you do I would recommend using 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour.
Miriam
Hi, I only have 6 inch pans. 3 of them. What do I need to do differently ? I’ don’t want my cake to be dense. I’m about to start on this cake
Allison
You will have more batter than you need. I would fill each pan halfway (or a little less). You can use the remaining batter to make cupcakes.
Miriam
Hi, can you please explain what you do with the jam? You state that it’s for the filling, however I don’t see where you talk about where and how to add it. I add the cream cheese whipping cream, then I lay out the sliced strawberries, then you say to add the second cake. Please explain! Thank you!
Allison
It’s step 1 under “filling”.
Dana
You say the filling is under step 1, and, yes, it is. However, you don’t say in the cake assembly section when and how we should add the filling.
Thank you
Allison
Hi, Dana. The “filling” is the strawberries. Under the assembly section it says “Top with one-third of the frosting, then top with about 1 1/4 cups of strawberries….”, the instructions continue to explain stacking the layers and adding the strawberries, then finishing with the remaining strawberries on the very top of the cake.
Tina
Can I use buttermilk instead of sour cream?
Allison
I’m concerned it will be too thin. If you decide to try it I would swap the sour cream for an equal amount of buttermilk, but reduce the regular milk down to 1/2 cup. Or you could swap plain yogurt for the sour cream. Good luck playing around with it.
Farah
Hi! So my cake was too dense. It still tasted good but it had a weird texture. The only thing I did differently is I put all the batter in one cake pan. Is that bad? I only had one so I just cut the cake in 3 after it baked.
Allison
You likely over baked it. If you squeezed all the batter into one pan it took much longer to bake which likely made the edges dry out before the center was cooked through.
Farah
Great I will definitely remember that for next time. Thank you so much!
Alayah
I made this cake about 2 years ago using the old recipe. It came out amazing! I am about to make it again for my inlaws tomorrow. I see that the cake has been updated, which I won’t try to fix what isn’t broken, so I am sticking to the original recipe. I love it!!!
Allison
Great! Enjoy! 🙂
Lesa
If at all possible can you please send me the old version of the cake. I would like to make it on Christmas for my family.
Allison
Here you go: https://celebratingsweets.com/wprm_print/11862
Simran
Hi, the cake is so tasty, but I have a lot of frosting left over. Can it be frozen? Or how long will it stay fresh in the fridge? Great recipe!
Allison
I would not freeze it since it has so much whipped cream in it. You can use it as a dip for fruit. I store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
A.
Made this cake yesterday afternoon and refrigerated it overnight, and just had some today. It turned out excellent! The recipe is really straightforward with great results. Tastes like a classic strawberry shortcake cake – super light and summer-y. Initially I was worried that adding cream cheese to the whipped cream frosting would affect the taste, but it did not! It tasted identical to standard whipped cream, so if you intend to keep this cake for more than a day or so, I definitely recommend sticking with the cream cheese frosting. The only thing I wound up changing was the amount of sugar in the whipped cream frosting. After following the recipe exactly, I taste tested the frosting and thought it didn’ttaste sweet enough, so I added maybe a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, making it around one cup total as opposed to the 3/4 cups of powdered sugar called for. This may be personal preference though, so go by your taste. The cake itself was also wonderful, light, and not overpowering.
I’m going to be making this recipe again in the future, as this is by far the best strawberry shortcake cake I’ve had.
Allison
Perfect! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Samaya Bachan
This recipe is amazing. It was so good, and all of my family members thought it was delicious. They said I could sell the cake for $50 if I wanted to. I highly recommend this recipe, it was fairly easy to make.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Ella
The cake came out really dense but the flavor was good. The almond extract definitely helped. Also, the frosting was super tasty. Other than the cake part, it came out okay.