Lemon Strawberry Cream Cake

Get this recipe for lemony strawberry cream cake that includes light and airy layers of yellow cake topped with real whipped cream and marinated ripe strawberries. It tastes like strawberry shortcake, but better!

I can’t even begin to express how awesome life is for me and Mr. BB right now. We have now been living in Philadelphia for 1 year and 2 months.

For the first year we were pretty miserable. We were getting up ridiculously early and spending the entire day apart and getting home too late to want to do anything but go right to sleep because we had to do it all over again the next day.

It was rough. We also went through several family emergencies and health issues and just a series of bad events. And all in a new city without our support network nearby.

Don’t get me wrong. We knew what we were getting into. We knew this first year would be a sacrifice so I could go to culinary school and pursue my passion. And I couldn’t have asked for a better partner for moral support in that.

But we didn’t anticipate all of the other bad things that happened. And it seemed to come in like a flood this year. But as the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” And as cheesy as that is, it has.

A few months ago, Mr. BB started a new job in the city. No more hour long commuting for him. And I finished school and stopped working nights. It has felt like heaven.

Going from only seeing each other for a few minutes in the morning and at night and not even really on the weekends to getting to have dinner together every single evening and spending an our entire weekends together.

It’s like we are newly in love again and it is just so so awesome. We have finally started exploring Philly and we are really learning to love this city! I appreciate quality time with my husband so much. I definitely do not take it for granted.

As most of the world knows, the World Cup is happening right now. Mr. BB is obsessed. I mean, beyond obsessed. It’s pretty much all he has been able to think about for months.

So last weekend he was glued to the TV and it gave me a great excuse to be glued to the kitchen. We live in a loft so the kitchen and living room are just one huge space. And even though I don’t care to much about the World Cup (shhhh, don’t tell him that) it was so nice to just be home together.

I baked several cakes and for the blog and gave him little tastes of batter while he yelled and screamed at the TV. It was perfection. And this cake was a result. A light and fluffy lemony cake with whipped cream and ripe strawberries.

Basically strawberry shortcake in a layer cake form. But better, in my opinion. If you didn’t see my post from Monday about how to make this yellow cake perfectly to keep it moist and airy and light, check out my tutorial here! 

If you’re looking for more of a traditional recipe, try my Classic Strawberry Shortcakes which includes lemony scones, juicy strawberries, and fresh whipped cream.

Barely sweet whipped cream is absolutely the perfect cake topping. It’s light and delicate and dreamy and balances out the sweetness of the cake. I don’t know why all cakes aren’t draped in real whipped cream instead of sickeningly sweet frosting.

Probably because it doesn’t hold up well for long periods of time. But I say that’s a plus not a negative. You’re just required to eat all the cake. And leftover cake gets dry really quickly anyway. So just eat all the cake.

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Yield: 12 Servings

Strawberry Cream Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 23 minutes

Total Time 43 minutes

Lemony strawberry cream cake that includes light and airy layers of yellow cake topped with real whipped cream and marinated ripe strawberries. It tastes like strawberry shortcake, but better!

Ingredients

For the Cake Layers

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting pans
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp table salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar (divided)
• 10 TBSP unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 3 TBSP vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBSP lemon zest
• 1 TBSP minced fresh mint, (optional but recommended!)
• 6 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature

For the Macerated Strawberries

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

For the Whipped Cream

• 1 pint heavy cream, very cold
• 2 TBSP granulated sugar (more if you prefer it more sweet)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans. Dust pans with flour and tap out excess any excess.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. In another bowl whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, lemon zest, fresh mint if using and egg yolks.
3. Add all of the liquid ingredients (excluding the egg whites) into the large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until combined being careful not to over mix.
4. For the meringue: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium speed until foamy. With machine running, stream in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat at high speed just until stiff peaks form.
5. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in 1/2 of the meringue into the batter just until incorporated. Fold in the rest of the meringue. Be very gentle to not deflate the air in the meringue. You will have a few white streaks in the batter. Divide batter evenly between your prepared cake pans.(Alternatively, you can divide the batter in between 24 paper lined cupcake tins)
6. Place pans on a half-sheet pan and bake on the center rack in the oven at 350F for 20-23 minutes, rotating halfway through. The cake will begin pulling away Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and will no longer jiggle in the center when it is finished.
7. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a thin bladed knife around the sides of the pans to loosen cakes then invert on a greased wire rack. Allow to cool completely (about 1 more hour) before assembling.

For the Topping

1. Combine the thinly sliced strawberries with the 1/4 cup sugar and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cake.

For the Whipped Cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream until it starts to become thick.
2. Add in the vanilla and slowly stream in the sugar while continuing to beat on high. Stop once the cream is thick enough to hold medium peaks.

To Assemble

1. Place 1 layer bottom side up on a cake platter and spread a generous amount of whipped cream in the middle leaving a boarder around the sides.
2. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the marinated strawberries in the middle of the whipped cream.
3. Top the first layer with the second, bottom side up. Repeat with the strawberries and whipped cream. Serve with more strawberries and whipped cream if desired.
4. If you are not serving that day, you can bake and prep all of the components the day before, but do not assemble until the day off.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 524