My boy turned 16 last month. Seriously?! His one request besides a new microphone to record on for his music production business was a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting. He told me I could get it from the store, but you know this mama LOVES to bake and her love language is acts of service, so no one is making my son a cake but ME.
I dug out my tried and true Best White Cake Recipe and my buttercream frosting. I added a few little things to make it my own and voila- at Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Frosting we have decorated 5 layers thick and towering nearly 15" tall.
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The Best White Cake
For years I've been using this cake recipe and it always gets raving reviews. My secret is the extra egg- or even better- duck eggs!!! This makes it super moist.
Ingredients
1 cup butter (or 2 sticks) softened 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 3 cups granulated sugar 5 large eggs at room temperature (or 6 medium eggs or 3 duck eggs) 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the ovens Begin by preheating the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
Prepare cake pans Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or coat well with shortening or butter and flour the pans, taking care to remove all excess flour.
Cream butter and shortening In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, you will cream together butter and shortening until light and fluffy with an electric mixer or stand mixer.
Add sugar and eggs per instructions Then slowly add sugar one cup at a time to the butter/shortening mixture, making sure to fully incorporate each cup before adding another. Next, add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another.
Dry ingredients; Milks Get a separate bowl for your dry ingredients and sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Then in a measuring cup, pour milks and vanilla into the measuring cup and whisk together with a fork.
Next, alternately add a small amount of the dry ingredient mixture to butter and shortening mixture, gently stirring after each addition. Then add a small amount of the milk mixture to butter/shortening mixture and gently stir until just combined. Continue alternating between adding small amounts of the dry mixture to the the butter/shortening mixture with adding small amounts of the milk mixture to the butter/shortening mixture, just gently stirring until combined after the addition of each. Make sure to begin and end with the addition of the dry ingredients.
Final Stir and Scrape the Bowl Gently stir all ingredients until well combined. Then, stop the mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, making sure to that all ingredients are mixed well.
Distribute Cake Batter into Pans Next, evenly distribute cake batter between the three 9 inch cake pans and place pans into oven.
Bake the Cake Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Please don’t open and close the oven door a lot while the cake is baking as the oven temperature drops each time the door is opened.
Remove from Oven and Cool Remove the cakes from the oven when done and allow to cool slightly in cake pans for about 5 minutes. Then gently place the cake layers on a wire rack to finish cooling completely. This is important because cakes left in the cake pans the too long to cool may sweat, making it possible for the cakes to stick to the pans.
Recipe Credit to: Add A Pinch
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
So I debated between cream cheese and buttercream with strawberries, but ultimately decided to go a "less sweet" route for this cake. I wanted to showcase the cake. I kinda dabbled with it til it was perfect!
Ingredients
1/2 cup softened butter (salted or unsalted, depending on your preference)
4 cups/one pound powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons milk or cream
1- 11.75 oz jar of Smuckers strawberry ice cream topping
Optional: 2 cups chopped strawberries
Instructions
Add softened butter into your stand mixer or bowl.
Beat butter on medium to high in stand mixer or with a hand mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy.
Just before the end of 3 minutes add vanilla and 3 tablespoons milk to butter, keep beating.
Reduce to medium low or medium.
Slowly pour in powdered sugar and continue beating for a total of 3 more minutes on medium moving up to high speed as sugar is incorporated.
If you want to add in food coloring, add in while it is beating that last 3 minutes.
Add in strawberry topping and strawberries gradually.
If frosting is too stiff add in more milk 1 tsp at a time and beat until combined.
Place in refrigerator to thicken and cool.
Spread on cake.
To store place butter cream in an airtight container and store in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Recipe altered from: Frugal Living Mom
Additional Tips:
Fruit from anywhere- whether from a store or freshly picked comes with some yuck on it. In our home we use Thieves Fruit and Veggie Soak to clean all our fruits and veggies before we eat them. This is a natural cleansing soak that gentle but effective! It's great and way more powerful than just rinsing. I no longer have to worry about nasty things bugs leave behind, pesticides or harmful chemicals or germs that may have come in contact with our food. If you want to learn more, feel free to message me and I'll be happy to help you grab some for your family!
Video Demo of Frosting the Cake
Baking and cooking has long been a love of mine. There is something about sharing food I've created with my hands for those I love. It's a long language for me to get to host, feed, and partake with my friends and family. So, I hope you enjoy the recipes on our blog for your own family.
Happy Baking,
Lauren
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