Naked Strawberry Buttercream Cake

For the love of strawberries, who can say no to a slice of fresh strawberry buttercream cake? Well, it will be even harder once you sink your fork into this strawberry delight. There is something about fresh fruit and dessert that just goes hand in hand.

As a tried and true cake lover, I am giving you the best strawberry buttercream cake recipe that will surely win the hearts of family, friends and maybe even your enemies!

Why you’ll love this recipe:
-The cake only takes one bowl
-It’s beyond moist
-Beautifully refreshing
-Did I mention the buttercream is pink?!

You are going to learn how to make the perfect strawberry buttercream cake, how to make strawberry buttercream frosting from scratch, and how to work with fresh fruit fillings without them leaking.

How to Make The Perfect Strawberry Buttercream Cake:

Does using fresh strawberries in a cake filling work?

Using fresh strawberries in a cake filling can be done in two ways. Traditionally, we see fresh strawberry filling in shortcakes and naked cakes. Strawberries are often lightly tossed with sugar and lemon juice or quickly tossed in a pan over heat. Shortcakes and naked cakes usually have a rustic feeling, welcoming a runnier filling.  

There is a second way to prepare strawberries as a cake filling and that is boiling fresh or frozen strawberries with sugar, lemon juice, and a cornstarch slurry. This type of filling is thick like jam and is just as delicious as their lightly tossed counterparts from above. I recommend this type of filling for layer or tier cakes as they provide support to the structure and are less runny.

How do you keep strawberries from leaking in a cake?

There are two ways to prevent strawberries from leaking in a cake. First, make sure to use a homemade strawberry jam or thick compote that includes cornstarch. Once the cornstarch is boiled with the strawberries, it will create a delicious, thick filling. In the process of boiling the strawberries they lose a lot of their water content, thereby creating a denser filling.

Secondly, when filling a cake with strawberries, be sure to create a double dam with your buttercream if you’re creating a fully iced cake. This will ensure all potential gaps are filled and will mitigate the risk of strawberry spillage!

Can you put fresh fruit in a cake mix?

Of course you can add fresh fruit to baking, however use caution. Fresh fruit has high water content. As we know, baking is a science built on ratios. By adding too much fresh fruit you can essentially alter the integrity of a recipe or even cause the recipe to not bake at all. Nobody wants a soupy mess as a finished result. So, yes you can add fruit to a recipe, however use caution.

Here are some tips I use if I want to add fresh fruit to my recipes.

• Grate or chop sturdy fruit or veggies and squeeze out excess liquid in a piece of cheesecloth.
• Boil berries with a little sugar until it becomes a thick syrup, then add a couple tbsp to your recipe. I use a ¼ cup of the syrup for this particular recipe.
• Dehydrate my own fruit or find its dehydrated alternative at the supermarket.
• Or, test the recipe, it may just need a tad more flour to compensate for the extra water. 

Strawberry Cake Notes

This cake recipe is very simple to make. All you need is one mixing bowl to add all your ingredients.

I love giving my cakes the perfect crust. The dark brown crust you see on white cakes can be distracting. To fix this, simply tear a piece of aluminum foil and paper towel that’s long enough to completely wrap around your cake pan (plus 3 inches). Wet the paper towel and ring it out. Lay it flat in the middle of the aluminum and fold the aluminum so it creates a long strip the same height as your cake pan. Wrap it around the pan and bake your cake. I promise this will give you perfect edges every time.

In this recipe, use flax seed powder. To grind up flax seeds, simply add them to a clean coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind until they are a fine powder. Once water is added to flax seeds they create a paste. This is a wonderful alternative to eggs! As a baker’s note, 1 tbsp of flax seeds with 2.5 tbsp of water, is equivalent to one egg. 

My favourite way to make cakes is by mixing all purpose flour and cake flour. The use of cake flour in this recipe gives the cake a tender crumb and fluffy texture. In addition to creating a tender crumb, I love adding syrup to my cakes once baked. The syrup has the ability to heighten cake flavors.

I like to add the syrup once my cake has cooled. I often find cakes that have had a chance to sit overnight once doused in syrup taste even better the next day! 

Baking Overview: How do you make strawberry buttercream frosting from scratch?

This particular strawberry buttercream is made in two steps. Start by removing the strawberry’s stems, discard. Then, place the berries in a blender or food processor. Blend until a uniform purée is formed. Place the purée in a saucepan on medium heat. Reduce until most of the water has evaporated. The purée will become thick. Once the purée has reduced, place in a container and let cool to room temperature. 

This purée will flavour our buttercream and give it that beautiful pink color.