My grandfather turned 86 years old this past weekend and I was honored to bake the cake for him. We were able to celebrate with some of our family at his favorite restaurant. We finished off the celebration with this refreshing spring cake.

Strawberries are one of his favorite fruits. My grandpa grows them in the summer and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that compares to his homegrown strawberries.

When my sister and I were kids we would go to his house and pick them fresh out of the garden. Two for me and one for the basket was our motto. We loved spending the summers at our grandparent’s home. Once we were finished we would have angel food cake, vanilla ice cream, & fresh sliced strawberries with some cool whip. Yum! I can taste the dish just thinking about it. This cake takes me back to those wonderful nostalgic memories at Grandma & Gtrandpa Harpers.

This cakes serves 16- 24 servings

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (8 oz) (2 sticks)unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup  granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pastry Cream Filling:

3-4 Large Strawberries

1/2 cup skim milk 1/4 cup fat free half and half1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup cornstarch
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar, divided
4 oz cream cheese, 1/3 reduced fat, room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1  lbs strawberries, hulled and sliced into pieces slightly under 1/2-inch
Sliced strawberries for decorating

 

Directions for the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cooking spray with Bakers Joy (or a flour based spray) 3 9-inch round cake pans then line bottom with a round of parchment, cooking spray with Bakers Joy parchment. Set pans aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and egg yolks one a time. Also add vanilla in with the eggs.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time (to the butter/egg mixture) alternating with 1/2 of the milk and mixing on low speed just until combined after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and gently fold batter several times.
Divide batter among prepared baking pans evenly. I like to use my scale for this, even distribution makes for even baking. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan about 5 minutes, run a plastic knife around edges of cake to ensure they are loosened then invert onto wire racks to cool for 20 minutes. After the time has elapsed prepare them for the freezer. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap and place them back into their baking pans and stack them in a deep freezer before frosting.

Directions for the Custard Filling:

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, heavy cream,  half and half, and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours before placing in between the layers of the cake.

Whipped Cream Frosting: 

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form (occasionally scrap down sides and bottom of bowl to ensure even mixing), add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (make sure they are stiff or your topping will be runny, it should get to the point where it doesn’t have a wet sheen). Scrape cream out into a separate bowl.
Add cream cheese to bowl of stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment and whip cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, mix in remaining  1/4 cup powdered sugar and vanilla. Add strawberries and mix until uniform in color. Remove bowl from stand mixer, add whipped cream and fold into mixture.

Putting it all together:

Take the side with flat surface (the side that was touching the bottom of the pan) and place it onto cake plate or cardboard cake circle. Place a ring of the whip cream frosting around the border of the cake (I piped this by using a ziplock baggie & cutting a small rectangle at one of the tips of one of the corners) and then pour some of the custard into the center. Spread the custard evenly in the center. The ring of whip cream serves as a border to prevent spillage. Place slices of strawberries around the middle.

Place next cake layer down and repeat the custard layer with boarder of whipped cream. Top with the last cake layer.  Finish frosting by taking the remaining whipped frosting and frost cake. Place the cake in the freezer immediately and remove before serving.  Store leftover cake in an airtight container in refrigerator, well that is if there are any leftovers. We did not have any…