It’s Strawberry Week here at Of Cabbages & King Cakes. Six days of posts featuring this delicious fruit in all of its height-of-the-season goodness. Monday began with an amazing Strawberry Shortcake, followed on Tuesday by a not-so-amazing French Strawberry Cake (hey, they can’t all be winners).
After my French Strawberry Cake disaster, I was ready to make a tried and true strawberry cake. Mom and Dad were coming, and it was Mom’s birthday, so I decided to revisit the Strawberry Chantilly Cake recipe from Nick Malgieri’s Bake! that we made last year for Easter and my friend Kayte’s birthday.
Since we recently started the Cakes section of the Modern Baker Challenge, I decided to use the Yellow Cake Layers from The Modern Baker for this recipe.
I began by creaming butter, sugar, and vanilla in the electric mixer until the mixture was light and fluffy.
I added the eggs one at a time and mixed well after each addition. Next I mixed in half the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt), then the buttermilk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture. I beat the batter for 3 minutes to lighten it.
I divided the batter between two 9-inch cake pans and smoothed the top.
I baked the cake layers in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, until they were golden and baked through. I let the cakes cool completely before assembling the Chantilly cake.
As noted in my original strawberry Chantilly cake post, the recipe is really more a set of assembly instructions than a recipe. I began by putting one of the cake layers right side up on a cake cardboard. I tucked pieces of waxed paper under the edges of the cake to keep the cardboard clean. I spread a layer of freshly whipped cream on the top of the cake, followed by sliced strawberries.
I topped this — carefully — with another layer of whipped cream.
I turned the second cake layer upside down and put it on top of the first layer.
I spread whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake, then smoothed it with an offset spatula.
I learned from making this cake before that it tastes better the next day, so at this point, I wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight. The next day, I finished the cake with sliced strawberries.
We celebrated Mom’s birthday with this cake for dessert after dinner. It was better than I remembered, and everyone had seconds.
This is a great way to use fresh, height-of-the-season strawberries. In fact, I may just have to make this cake again before the good berries are gone for the year.
In addition to the Strawberry Shortcake and French Strawberry Cake linked above, the following recipes will be featured in the next few days:
- Thursday: Fresh Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
- Friday: Lemon Ginger Pound Cake with Fresh Strawberries
- Saturday: Pimm’s No. 1 Punch Cup