This classic Strawberry Cake is exploding with strawberry flavor and is the PERFECT summer sweet treat! I like to bake this cake and load the insides with Fresh Strawberry Compote and Strawberry Easy Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The strawberry buttercream is my Easy Swiss Meringue Buttercream with 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries. If you want to customize this recipe by making it raspberry, you can easily do that by swapping out the freeze-dried strawberries and strawberry gelatin for freeze-dried raspberries and raspberry gelatin (I use Jell-O).

Quick note - I like to prepare the compote and the strawberry buttercream before I start the cake so those are ready to go when the cake has cooled.

Ingredients

Makes 3 6” cakes, 2 8” cakes, or 12-15 cupcakes.

• 2 sticks or 1 cup of unsalted room temp butter

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 4 room temperature eggs

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 3 cups cake flour or 2 3/4 all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup corn starch

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 6 oz strawberry gelatin

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

• 1/2 cup ground freeze-dried strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Start by creaming the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes at medium-high speed until light and fluffy .

3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla.

4. With the mixer on a low speed, add the eggs one at a time followed by the sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Sift the dry ingredients - flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and strawberry gelatin in a separate bowl.

6. Ground the freeze-dried strawberries and set aside.

7. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk into the mixer, mixing well in between additions. I add one heaping cup of dry ingredients to the mixer and follow that with 1/2 of the buttermilk.

8. Once all the dry ingredients and the buttermilk has been added, swipe the sides of the bowl with the spatula and mix or fold in the freeze-dried strawberries.

9. Prepare the cake pans by lining them with parchment paper and spraying with baking spray.

10. Add in the batter to about 3/4 of the pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes. Oven baking times may vary. Test the center of your cake with a knife at the 40 minute mark to see if it comes out clean. When it does, place the cakes on a cooling rack for 2-3 minutes and cover the tops with plastic wrap to “steam” the cakes. This keeps the cakes moist.

11. Wrap cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze until needed.