My grandma will be 95 in July. She has been such an important part of my life and I'm so thankful that my girls have gotten to grow up being influenced by her positive outlook on life and experience the overflowing, unconditional love she pours out to others. So for Mother's Day, my oldest daughter wanted to do something special for her. She knows her grandma's love for homemade cake and favorite evening snack of fresh strawberries and whip cream, so she decided to put them all together into one beautiful, delicious cake! We finished each slice off with a drizzle of our chocolate caramel sauce which complimented the strawberries perfectly. This incredibly easy box cake replacement recipe will now be my go to for a moist, vanilla cake and the whip cream filling can be adapted to any fruit of your liking. I hope you all had a beautiful Mother's Day and will enjoy making and eating this cake as much as we did!
Ingredients:
For the Cake
- 2 1/2 c all purpose flour
- 2 c sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c milk (or milk substitute)
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 c hot water
For the Filling/Frosting
- 2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cup + (2 tbsp reserved) heavy cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 4 large strawberries, diced
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2-3 tbsp water
For Garnishing:
- 12 large strawberries, halved and whole
- Caramel Kitchen chocolate caramel sauce
Directions:
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease two 10 inch round cake pans. Line with the bottom with parchment paper, (I like to place it on the bottom of the pan and then flip it over so that it is greased on both sides), sprinkle the pans with flour and shake around to evenly coat. Tap out any excess flour.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- Next add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well to ensure all of the ingredients are combined.
- Slowly pour in the hot water into your batter and mix on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is well combined. Your batter with be very thin.
- Divide the batter into the two cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Set aside to cool completely before frosting.
For the Filling/Frosting
- In a small pot over medium-low heat, combine diced strawberries, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil and stir until strawberries are cooked down. Use an emulsion blender to puree and allow to cool completely.
- If using a stand mixer, place the bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for a few minutes to chill. After chilling, add the one and a half cups of whip cream and powdered sugar to the bowl and mix on high until stiff peaks form. Set aside in a separate bowl.
- Next replace the whisk with the paddle attachment and add the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of cream to the bowl and mix on high until light and smooth. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl several times.
- Reduce speed and mix in the cooled strawberry puree until well combined
- Hand fold in the whip cream until no streaks appear.
Assembly:
- Remove cakes from pan and discard the parchment paper.
- Cut each cake in half so that you have 4 even rounds.
- Place your bottom layer on a cake platter.
- Evenly spread a fourth of your filling onto the first layer all the way to the edge
- Repeat with the remaining layers.
- After all of your layers are assembled, take a straight edge icing spatula to smooth out the outside of the cake, allowing the cake layers to show through.
- Garnish the top with fresh whole and halved strawberries and fresh flowers
- Serve each slice with a drizzle of chocolate caramel sauce.
Cake recipe adapted from here.
