Strawberry Shortcake Cake

closeup of strawberry shortcake slice on a white plate

Nothing says summer like this strawberry shortcake cake! Super moist and fluffy layers of vanilla cake layered with juicy strawberries and stabilized whipped cream. If you love traditional strawberry shortcake then you will LOVE this layer cake version.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings cups

Calories 1070kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

Two 8"x2" round cake pans
Stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachments

Ingredients

Vanilla Shortcake

10 ounces milk room temperature, divided evenly into two measuring cups
3 ounces canola oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 Large eggs room temperature
13 ounces cake flour
13 ounces sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature

Stabilized Whipped Cream

24 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 ounces powdered sugar
2 teaspoons gelatin I use KNOX brand
3 Tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream for the gelatin
16 ounces fresh strawberries washed and sliced for the filling

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making the Vanilla Cake

Bring all your ingredients to room temperature, meaning the milk, eggs, and butter should not be even a tiny bit cold. This will ensure that the cake batter mixes together correctly and you'll get a better rise and texture in your final cake.
Preheat your oven to 335ºF and prepare two 8"x2" round cake pans with cake goop or another preferred kind of pan release and parchment paper.
Measure out your ingredients with a food scale. If you haven't used a scale before, don't be intimidated. It's actually easier than using cups and way fewer dishes (yay). You can get a great scale online or in any local store that sells kitchen equipment.
Divide your milk in half and add your oil to one half and add the eggs and vanilla to the second half. Set them aside.
Place your cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached.
Add in your softened butter and mix at low speed until the flour mixture resembles a coarse sand texture.
Add your milk/oil mixture and increase the speed to medium. Let your cake batter mix for 2 full minutes. Scrape after 1 minute if you need to. The texture should be light, white, and fluffy after 2 minutes. Don't worry you won't overmix it.
Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the milk/egg mixture in a steady stream until it's all added in. This takes me about 1 minute. Once the egg mixture is all mixed in, your cake batter is ready to bake!
Divide your cake batter into your cake pans evenly and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center bounces back when you lightly touch it.
Let your cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes or until the pan is just barely warm to the touch.
Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way or pop them into the freezer to cool them down faster. For me, it takes about an hour and then they are chilled and ready to go. You can also fully freeze your cakes (wrapped in plastic wrap) and that will help seal in the moisture and keep them moist until you're ready to frost your cakes.

Making the Whipped Cream

Add your powdered gelatin to the cold water and let it bloom for 5 minutes.
Start mixing your 24 ounces of heavy cream in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment until it begins to look thick and foamy. Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla.
Continue mixing until you start to see lines forming on the surface of the whipped cream (soft peaks)
Microwave the gelatin for 15 seconds and stir. The gelatin granules should look transparent. If they aren't fully melted then go for another 5 seconds.
Add 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream to the melted gelatin and stir.
Drizzle the gelatin mixture into the heavy cream mixture and continue mixing on medium until firm peaks form. Don't over-mix it!

Assembling the Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Start by slicing your cakes length-wise (tort) with a serrated knife so the layers are thinner.
Slice 1 lb of washed strawberries but keep 4-5 whole for decorating the top.
Place the first layer of cake onto your cake board or cake platter and apply a thin layer of your stabilized whipped cream.
Arrange a single layer of your sliced berries on top of the whipped cream.
Cover the sliced berries in another layer of whipped cream so the top is nice and flat.
Stack your next layer of cake on top of the berries and whipped cream and repeat the process.
Finish with a few dollops of whipped cream and whole berries on top of the cake!
I highly recommend refrigerating the cake until you need to eat it because it will make it much easier to slice. If you plan on refrigerating the cake overnight, then wrap the cake in plastic wrap first to keep it from drying out.

Video

Notes

1. Using cake flour will make these vanilla shortcake layers SUPER moist and tender. If you don't have cake flour you can use my white cake recipe instead.

2. Keep your berries fresh for up to a week by using my natural berry wash.

3. Don't want to use gelatin? Check out my blog post for more ways to stabilize your whipped cream.

4. Cake flour has a protein level of 9% or less so look for a flour that specifies protein content or ask your local flour supply. If you're in the UK, search for Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour.

5. I don't recommend doing the homemade cake flour hack (replacing some AP flour with cornstarch) for this recipe because of the reverse creaming method. The texture of the cake will be more like cornbread because of the extended mixing.

6. Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!

7. Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.

Nutrition