Strawberry Vanilla Cake Recipe
This strawberry vanilla cake is a rustic one-layer dessert with a tender buttermilk crumb, a hint of almond, and juicy strawberries baked right into the cake. Top it with vanilla whipped cream and fresh strawberries for an easy spring or summer dessert.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 364kcal
Equipment
- 1 9" springform pan
- 1 Stand mixer or electric hand-mixer
Ingredients
For the strawberries
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the cake
- Unsalted butter and cornmeal, for preparing the pan
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
For the whipped cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prep the strawberries:
- Toss hulled and sliced strawberries with lemon juice. Cover and chill in refrigerator.
Make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan, and dust with cornmeal, shaking out the excess.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or electric hand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop once to scrape down sides of bowl, and continue to beat for an additional minute.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition.
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with buttermilk mixture. Mix just until incorporated, stopping at least once to scrape down sides of bowl.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Arrange half of sliced strawberries on top of cake batter and lightly press down on them.
- Bake until top is golden brown and firm to the touch, or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Use a knife or offset spatula to loosen cake from pan by going around the edge of cake, and unlatch to remove outer ring. Cool to room temperature.
Make the whipped cream:
- Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to bowl. Whip at high speed for several minutes, until soft peaks are formed. Cover and chill in refrigerator.
Assemble the cake:
- Once cake is completely cooled, transfer to a serving platter. Add whipped cream to cake and spread evenly. Place remaining strawberries on top in a pretty arrangement.
- Optional: Dust assembled cake lightly with powdered sugar.
Video
Notes
- Storage: Place cake in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator (separate from strawberries and whipped cream) for up to 4 days.
- Use room-temperature eggs, butter, and buttermilk. This incorporates air into your batter and creates a softer crumb. To quickly bring your eggs to room-temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
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- Cool the cake completely before adding whipped cream. If the cake is warm, the whipped cream will melt.
- Don't overmix the batter. Mix just until the flour disappears to keep the cake tender. Overmixing could also cause your cake to sink in the middle. We want to avoid that!
Nutrition
Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 259mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 712IU | Vitamin C: 56mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg
