• Before you begin: Make the strawberry reduction the day before so it has time to cool completely. On bake day, set butter, egg whites, milk, and reduction out at room temperature for at least 1 hour before mixing. Grease two 8" cake pans with cake goop and preheat the oven to 350º F.

Strawberry Reduction Instructions

• I recommend making this reduction the day before you're ready to make your cake. Place your thawed or fresh strawberries into the blender and blend until smooth.
• Place the strawberry puree, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce the puree until you have two cups of liquid and the mixture is very thick like tomato sauce. This can take between 40 to 60 minutes. Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning. You will use some of the reduction for the cake batter, some for the frosting, and the rest for filling between the cake layers for extra moisture.

Strawberry Cake Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add room temperature butter to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.
• Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the egg whites one at a time, beating 15 seconds in between. Your mixture should look cohesive at this point. If it looks curdled and broken, your butter or egg whites were too cold.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Mix on low speed and add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, mixing until ingredients are almost incorporated. Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. If it looks like ice cream, you did it right.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake at 350º F until the cakes feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, about 30 to 35 minutes.
• Place pans on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Flip the cakes onto the racks and cool completely. Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze before assembling.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Buttercream Instructions

• Place pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Attach the whisk and combine ingredients on low, then whip on high for 5 minutes.
• Add the softened butter in chunks and whip on high for 8 to 10 minutes until very white, light, and shiny. It may look curdled and yellow at first, this is normal. Keep whipping.
• Add the strawberry reduction, vanilla extract, and salt and continue whipping until incorporated. Optional: switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for 15 to 20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles.

Assembly

• Layer the chilled cakes with strawberry buttercream and a thin spread of extra strawberry reduction between each layer. Crumb coat the cake, chill, then apply the final coat of buttercream and decorate as desired.