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This Strawberry Layer Cake with homemade strawberry buttercream is the ultimate summer dessert – decadent, fruity, and naturally pink! Real strawberries, fluffy cake and luscious, strawberry frosting combine to make this one cake recipe you’ll want to make again and again.

Scrumptious Summer Strawberry Layer Cake Recipe

A strawberry layer cake should taste like summer: unapologetically fruity, delicately sweet, and indulgent. And today’s strawberry layer cake recipe definitely delivers on all fronts.

My apologies in advance because after you taste this recipe, you’ll never be able to use a boxed strawberry cake mix again! The flavors just do not compare, especially when you factor in that luscious, homemade strawberry frosting.

(However, if you are in a time crunch and need to use a boxed mix for the cake, elevating a boxed strawberry cake recipe with homemade strawberry frosting is definitely worthwhile and makes all of the difference.)

To achieve a profound strawberry flavor, we use a combination of real strawberry puree and strawberry flavor extract (<– this one to be precise). This helps ensure that we’re not adding too much moisture to the cake and helps make up for any issues with underripe strawberries.

You can use premade strawberry puree, or cook down strawberries to make your own puree, just ensure you cook well to remove as much liquid as possible.

This Strawberry Layer Cake Tastes Like a Summer Daydream.

There is a little bit of piping work that goes into this cake – all of the techniques are simple, with the piping tips doing most of the work for you. If you even make two cakes or cupcakes a year, I highly recommend purchasing a basic piping set like this one – you won’t believe how easy it is to pipe gorgeous decorations yourself using the right equipment!

(For just a bit more, this starter cake decorating set is a crazy good deal – basically everything you will ever need for cake or cupcake decorating is in here!)

Can this cake be frozen? The individual cake layers can be frozen before being decorated. Store in airtight freezer bags or freezer containers for up to two months.(This set of freezer containers is a crazy bargain.) The cake layers can be frozen for up to two months. Let the cakes come to room temperature before frosting.

How to get perfectly flat cake layers? I tend to just bake and then use this dental floss hack to remove any domes that occasionally occur with baking. However, you can also make homemade cake strips to ensure perfectly flat cake layers. Check out this tutorial from Preppy Kitchen for how to do that.

This cake can also be made into a strawberry sheet cake if you want to skip all of the layering steps!

How to store strawberry layer cake: The cake can be left in a cool place in your kitchen overnight if serving the next day. If storing for longer, cover and store the cake in your fridge for up to 3 days.

To allow the best strawberry flavor, serve this cake at room temperature.

Strawberry Layer Cake Ingredients

• Strawberry puree
• Vanilla extract
• Strawberry extract
• Cake flour
• White sugar
• Baking powder
• Kosher salt
• Canola oil
• Unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Strawberry Frosting Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter, softened
• Powdered confectioner’s sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Strawberry extract
• Finely diced strawberries
• Heavy whipping cream
• Whole Strawberries, optional for topping

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: for a fresh twist, replace the strawberry frosting with a vanilla or lemon buttercream.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Cake Leveler
• Three 9″ round cake pans
• 1-10″ round cake board
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Mixing Bowl
• Saucepan
• Electric mixer <– this is a great hand mixer if you don’t want to make the investment into a stand mixer
• Offset Spatula
• Piping Bag with Large Star Tip

How to Make a Strawberry Layer Cake

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and line three 8” or 9” round cake pans. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and white sugar for 2 minutes, until light, then slowly add in the oil.

Beat in the strawberry puree and flavor extracts, followed by the eggs, and finally the flour mixture.

Evenly divide the cake batter among the three prepared cake pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes in the pans before attempting to remove to cooling racks.

For the strawberry frosting:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes, then add the vanilla extract, strawberry extract, diced strawberries and cream.

Beat until well-combined and stiff peaks form.

Scoop 1 cup of the frosting in a large piping bag fit with a large star tip.

To assemble the strawberry layer cake:

Place the three cakes on a cutting board and use the cake leveller to remove the domes off of the cakes.

Place one cake layer on the cake board or your serving dish.

Scoop 1 cup of the frosting onto the middle of the cake and use an angled spatula to smooth the frosting out, covering the top of the cake completely.

Place the second cake layer on top, and repeat this process with the remaining cake layers.

Scoop the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake and spread to cover the top and sides of the cake.

(Note: if the cake is crumbly, do this first with only half of the frosting, let it set for 30 minutes or longer, then cover with the remaining frosting. This will trap the crumbs in your “crumb coat” layer and prevent them from showing on the outside layer of frosting.)

Use your piping bag to decorate the cake. We did dollops, but feel free to decorate however you like.

Garnish the frosted cake with fresh strawberries.

Pin this Strawberry Layer Cake for a Scrumptious Summer Dessert:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our strawberry layer cake recipe:

I hope your family loves this easy strawberry layer cake recipe as much as mine did!

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