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Bite missing from a slice of vanilla cake with strawberry filling.

Vanilla Cake With Strawberry Filling

This incredible vanilla cake with strawberry filling is moist, tender, and full of strawberry flavor and is made with fresh strawberries!
5 from 9 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
chill time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 596 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

For the vanilla cake

  • 3 oz Butter softened
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 1 ⅓ cups Granulated sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¼ cup Sour cream
  • ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Vinegar
  • ¾ cup Buttermilk
  • 2 ⅓ cups Flour
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder

For the strawberry filling

  • 3 cups Strawberries sliced in half
  • 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
  • ¼ cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water

For the strawberry cream cheese frosting

  • 4 oz Butter
  • 8 oz Cream cheese
  • 3 ½ cups Powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups Freeze dried strawberries ground

Instructions
 

  • Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare 2 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • In a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
  • Add the eggs, vinegar, vegetable oil, and sour cream, and mix until creamy.
  • Add ½ of the flour and ½ of the buttermilk, and baking powder and mix it until almost combined.
  • Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible.
  • Divide the batter into 2 8-inch baking pans and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Make the strawberry filling

  • In a saucepan, add strawberries that are cut in half, add the sugar, and lemon juice, and mix over medium-high heat.
  • Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes mixing occasionally.
  • Mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with a little bit of water and pour it into the strawberry mixture mixing constantly. Simmer for another 2 minutes.
  • Set aside and let it cool completely before you fill the cake with the filling.
  • Let the cakes cool to room temperature and remove them from the pans.

Make the strawberry cream cheese frosting

  • Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese, softened butter, ground freeze dried strawberries, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Mix with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  • Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a round tip. Pipe a small dollop of the frosting on the surface you are frosting on and top it with the first cake layer.
  • Use the frosting to create a border around the edges of the first cake layer.
  • Then fill the middle with the cooled strawberry filling and smooth it out with a spoon or a spatula.
  • Top with the second cake layer and frost the cake with the rest of the frosting.
  • I like scraping some of the remaining frosting to reveal the beautiful layers of the cake for a seminaked cake look, but it's not a must.
  • Make dollops around the edges of the cake and top the middle of the cake with sliced fresh strawberries. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Select fresh, ripe strawberries for the best flavor and texture. Avoid using overripe or underripe berries, as they can affect the overall quality of your cake.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the Amazon link.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.

Nutrition

Calories: 596kcalCarbohydrates: 113gProtein: 6gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 367mgPotassium: 550mgFiber: 5gSugar: 50gVitamin A: 786IUVitamin C: 383mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 8mg
Keyword Vanilla and strawberry cake, Vanilla cake with strawberries, Vanilla Cake With Strawberry Filling
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