So here is the Strawberry Cake recipe I promised in my last post. I don't think I mentioned the lemon part, but there is just something about the combination of these two flavors that screams summer to me! And as you saw in the
decorating post, I topped it with plenty of icing and fresh blueberries. The icing is a Lemon Vanilla Buttercream. It all worked together really well!
This cake started with the strawberry puree. I could dive right in this and swim there forever...
I had sliced a pint of strawberries and sprinkled them with a few tablespoons of sugar the day before. I pulsed them a bit in the food processor until they looked like this --
I put the butter and sugar into the mixer bowl.
And creamed them together until light and fluffy. Then I mixed in the vanilla and strawberry puree. I added the eggs one at a time and mixed them well after adding each one.
In a separate bowl, I had sifted together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. I then added the zest of a lemon to that mixture. It is always a good idea to mix zest or fruit that you are putting in a cake batter with some flour to keep the items from sinking to the bottom. Instead of adding a pinch of flour to the zest, I figured I would just throw it all in together.
I added the flour in about 3 portions, mixing well between each addition. Don't forget to scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.
Once the batter was complete, I split it equally between two prepared pans. I placed them into a 325 degree oven for about 25 minutes. They were moved to a cooling rack for a 10 or 15 minutes and removed from the pans.
Once they were completely cool, the fun began...
ICING! I spread a generous amount of icing on top of the first layer. Then I topped that with some more strawberry puree.
I topped all of that deliciousness with the other cake layer and iced the rest of the cake. You can see more about my icing technique in my previous post (linked at the top of the post). It turned out cute and yummy -- very moist and strawberryie -- ok, maybe not a word, but it should be!
Here's the finished cake.
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Strawberry Lemon Cake
1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 c cake flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp double strength pure vanilla extract
3/4 c strawberry puree *
2 eggs, room temperature
*I sliced 1 pint of strawberries and mixed with about 2 tbsp sugar and pulsed in the food processor until pureed.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Spray two 9 inch round pans with non-stick cooking spray that has flour added.
With the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add vanilla and eggs one a time, mixing well in between each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix the lemon zest into the flour mixture. Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in 2-3 additions, mix between each one.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool and ice and enjoy!
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Lemon Vanilla Buttercream
2 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp double strength pure vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
2-3 tbsp half & half
Cream the butter. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts and mix well. Add the sugar about a cup at a time. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, add the half & half a tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
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