Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I love lemonade. In fact I almost love everything citrus and bubbly. Lemonade spritzer! I also love berries. So when I realized that I had too much strawberries in the fridge from the last farm market visit, I came up with this cake.

I basically put together this lemon cake and this strawberry buttercream. And the result is a perfect summer cake – tart lemon cake sandwiched between layers of sweet strawberry buttercream frosting and freshly sliced strawberries.

Ingredients (one 5-inch 3-layer cake):
Lemon Cake
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
Strawberry Buttercream
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons strawberry puree
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
Garnish
10 to 15 small fresh strawberries
1 teaspoon powder sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease three 5-inch cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, whisk sour cream, lemon zest, juice and vanilla.
Beat butter and sugar together on medium speed in a bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
Reduce the speed to low and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the sour cream mixture. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remaining sour cream mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.
Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake pans and spread evenly.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for about 10 minutes before inverting on rack. Let cool completely before frosting.
To prepare buttercream, beat butter for a few minutes in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add powdered sugar and turn your mixer on low, beat until the sugar incorporates with the butter. Add vanilla, heavy cream and strawberry puree, beat on medium speed for another 3 minutes, or until buttercream becomes light and fluffy.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on your serving plate and spread with 3 to 4 tablespoons of frosting, followed by some sliced strawberries. Place another cake layer on top, and gently press down a little bit. Spread with another 3 to 4 tablespoons of frosting and sliced strawberries. Place the last layer of cake on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Garnish with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.
Cover and refrigerate the cake. Leave out in room temperature for at least an hour prior to serving.

16 comments

  1. This cake looks so perfect for spring! I was just wondering what is cake flour? I’m from Australia and we generally have self raising or plain flour.

    1. Hi Jessie, cake flour is bleached. It makes the cake flour more delicate, perfect for more delicate baked goods like chiffon and angel food cakes.
      You can replace 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in every cup of flour. Before mixing it into your wet ingredient, make sure it’s well sifted (at least 2 times).
      Hope it helps. :)

  2. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Appreciate it!|

  3. 1) Can I use low fat yogurt/yogurt instead of sour cream
    2) can I use whipping cream instead of heavy cream

    THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!! ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL CAKE <3

    1. Hi, Kellyfish, to answer you questions:
      1) Yes. You can substitute with yogurt.
      2) Yes. Whipping cream works fine.
      :)

  4. Finally! A terrific reason to buy smaller cake pans. Looking forward to serving your beautiful, and most importantly I’m sure, tasty creation.

  5. I love everything about this cake. The size, the look, the cuteness, and I am sure the taste is good too! Strawberry and lemon is such a perfect combination. :)

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