Description
A great summertime layer cake full of strawberry lemonade flavor!
Ingredients
- 5 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 5 cups powdered sugar, or more as needed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Place strawberries
- sugar
- and lemon juice for reduction into an electric blender and purée until smooth.
- Pour strawberry mixture into a large saucepan and simmer over medium heat
- stirring frequently
- until reduced by half
- 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature
- 10 to 15 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons for cake and frosting; remainder will be used as cake filling.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Beat sugar and butter using an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time
- mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix in lemon zest and vanilla extract. Stir in 1/3 of flour mixture until just combined. Stir in 1/2 of the sour cream
- and 1/2 of the lemon juice. Repeat alternating additions of flour mixture and sour cream plus lemon juice until just combined
- making sure not to overmix.
- Place 1/2 of the batter into a separate bowl. Fold in 1/2 cup strawberry reduction. Place dollops of both lemon and strawberry-lemon batters alternately into the prepared cake pans. Swirl batters together with a butter knife.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of each cake comes out clean
- 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pans before removing and transferring cakes to a wire rack to cool completely
- 15 to 30 minutes.
- While cakes are cooling
- beat butter for frosting with an electric mixer in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until incorporated. Mix in 5 tablespoons strawberry reduction
- lemon juice
- vanilla extract
- lemon zest
- and salt until combined. Pour in heavy cream and beat until frosting is smooth and fluffy
- 2 to 3 minutes. Add additional powdered sugar if too thin
- or additional heavy cream if too thick
- 1 tablespoon at a time
- until desired consistency is reached.
- Place 1 cooled cake layer on a serving platter and cover top with a thin layer of frosting. Pipe a border around the edge of the cake layer using a piping bag filled with frosting
- leaving the center open. Pour remaining strawberry reduction into the center of the border
- making sure it doesn’t overflow over the sides. Place second cake layer on top and continue to frost as desired. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Servings: 16