Looking for a fresh take on a strawberry cake that will absolutely blow you away? Sally McKenney, baking blogger and founder of Sally’s Baking Addiction, created this fresh berry-flavored showstopper that will inspire you to bake from scratch from now on.
Sally’s version isn’t the typical pink-colored cake full of fake strawberry color and flavor. Not even close! Sally has perfected using real strawberries to give this cake that whimsical, irresistible pink color with fabulously fresh strawberry flavor. How does she do it? With real strawberries, of course! Even the pretty in pink cream cheese frosting on this cake is made with strawberries. Sally pulverizes freeze-dried berries into dust and whips it into the frosting. Genius!
This stunning bake is basically a lovely white cake (Sally shares that recipe too!) that gets transformed into the best one you’ve ever eaten with the simple addition of reduced strawberry puree. Sally has tried every fresh berry trick in the book and has come up with the perfect way to incorporate real strawberries into cake batter without ruining the cake.
The baking expert didn’t want to just add chopped up strawberries to the batter because that is nothing more than eating white cake with strawberry chunks. She tried adding pureed strawberries to the batter but it made the cake too dense. Jam is also an option, but Sally wanted to make this scrumptious cake without adding sugar. Her solution? Puree fresh strawberries, then reduce the liquid in half. The reduced liquid concentrates the strawberry flavor without adding too much moisture to the batter. Be sure to plan ahead, the reduced strawberry puree needs to cool before you can bake with it.
Sally’s homemade strawberry cream cheese frosting will quickly become your new favorite frosting for festive birthday party cakes or cupcakes — it may even become your preferred topping for toasted bagels. Simply beat freeze-dried strawberry powder, softened cream cheese, butter, milk, and pure vanilla extract together and generously spread on the baked and cooled cake.
Though we doubt you’ll be able to resist digging into this compelling cake, you can bake it, frost it, and freeze it for up to two months.
Click here for Sally’s recipe.