It's Mother's Day this weekend for which this fluffy layered Mother's Day Strawberry Cake with fresh strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting is just perfect! And piped vintage ruffles are involved as well to add that special touch that your mom deserves!
This year I'll be about 8 hours away from my mom at Mother's Day. Although I'd love to send my mom a cake as well, this Strawberry Ruffle Cake is for my mother-in-law since she is living here in Calgary where we are.
When I started to bake and experiment again since our return to Canada, my mother-in-law showed me an old (Mennonite) recipe book (from 1976) from which she has been baking for a looong time.
Making My Mother-in-Law's Favorite Cake for Mother's Day
It's not really a cookbook. Just a lot of type-writer typed pages stapled together. Oh, and it is in German. But there are things like snickerdoodle cookies and Lady Baltimore cake. So I am certain a lot of the recipes are American/Canadian.
One of the cakes in the booklet is "Sternlicht-Torte" which basically means Starlight Cake. It is my mother-in-law's go-to white cake recipe. She loves white cake! But she is a lone star in a family of chocolate lovers. For this reason, she doesn't get to make it very often, because usually it means she has to eat it all by herself. Better said, she gets to eat it all by herself!
For Mother's Day, I thought I would treat my mother-in-law to her favorite starlight cake (I couldn't stop humming the Starlight Express songs while baking the cake).
Another thing about the recipe booklet - it doesn't specify baking times, temperature or pan size. In some recipes (like this one), not even the instructions are included! That's a bold move from the Mennonites!
The Journey of Making This Cake Was Epic!
Let me say: making this cake was a real adventure. As such, I only wanted a 6-inch-round cake. So I made the batter (while completely winging it with the method) totally prepared and having to make cupcakes from the rest. But it turned out to be the perfect amount for three 6-inch layers. (My bottom layer only is smaller because I had to level it more than the others. I opened the oven door too early and one layer sank in).
I loved how light, fluffy and moist the cake came out. This just might become my go-to white cake recipe after being inspired by my mother-in-law!
For the filling and frosting, I wanted to make something light an fresh - strawberries are just perfect for that.
While looking for a strawberry filling recipe, I came across a recipe called Natasha's Strawberry Layer Cake. Funny enough, the strawberry filling in her cake is simply pureed strawberries (at chunky apple-sauce-like consistency).
Making the Frosting, Piping, and Adding Color
Reading through Natasha's post, I was intrigued by her cream cheese frosting. And for good reason, since neither side of our family is very big on buttercream, and Natasha's frosting recipe doesn't use any butter at all. Just cream cheese, whipping cream and sugar. Thumbs up!
First, I was afraid without butter the frosting might not be stable enough to hold up for piping, but the ruffles came out beautifully. What's more, I even added a little strawberry puree to the frosting for flavor and color.
Another bonus of no butter in the frosting is that it doesn't harden up very much in the fridge. So even if you don't let the cake come to room temperature before eating it, you don't have to chew the buttercream.
A Little More About the Piped Ruffles
Almost 2 years ago, I posted another ruffle piping tutorial. Those were tighter, neater ruffles, while for this vintage cake, I wanted to try vintage, shabby-chic-style ruffles.
These are also created with a petal piping tip (eg. #104). The fat side of the tip touches the cake while the thin side points outward. I piped ruffly lines from top to bottom, each time overlapping a little with the thick part of the previous ruffle.
On the top, I piped a few hearts with the same petal tip - starting and ending at the bottom tip of the heart. Again, the fat side touches the cake, while the thin end points outwards.
I also used a few white sugar pearls to decorate the top and the side.
Strawberry Ruffle Cake (for Mother’s Day)
Ingredients
For the Starlight Cake:
- 1-½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2-â…› cup cake flour
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
For the Strawberry Filling:
- ¾ lb strawberries
For the Cream Cheese Filling/Frosting:
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- â…“ cup sugar
- few drops of red/pink food coloring
Instructions
For the Starlight Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease, line and flour three 6-inch cake pans.
- With your electric mixer beat together sugar,eggs and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add softened butter and continue beating on high speed until pale in color and very fluffy.
- In another bowl sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture in 3 additions alternating with the milk. Start and end with flour.
- Divide batter between 3 cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean. Don't open the oven before 20 minutes.
- Cool cakes for 10 minutes in cake pans. Loosen sides with a metal spatula and invert onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper and invert back - so the tops are up.
- If not using the cake right away, you can wrap the cooled layers in plastic wrap and store in the fridge or freezer.
For the Strawberry Filling:
- Wash and hull strawberries. Cut in halves or quarters and place in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse about 10-15 times until the consistency looks like chunky apple sauce.
For the Cream Cheese Filling/Frosting:
- Leave 2 tablespoons of strawberry puree in the food processor and puree until really fine. Press through a strainer to remove seeds.
- Beat together cream cheese, sugar and 2 tablespoon of strained strawberry puree until smooth (1 min.) If you prefer a darker pink hue add a few drop of food coloring. Add whipping cream and whip until fluffy (2 min.)
Assembly:
- Level the cake layers and place first layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread half of strawberry puree over top. Carefully spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture over the strawberries. Place second cake layer on top and spread remaining strawberry puree and another thin layer of cream cheese filling.
- Very thinly frost the top and outside of the cake with an angled spatula. Place remaining frosting in an icing bag with a petal tip (I used Wilton #104).
- With the fat side touching the cake pipe vertical ruffles around the cake. Start from the top going to the bottom. The thin end from one ruffle should slightly overlap on the thick side of the previous ruffle.
- Pipe hearts (or flowers) on the top. Decorate with optional sugar pearls.
- Store cake refrigerated due to the cream cheese frosting.
A Couple Useful Notes Regarding the Recipe
*If you want to make a larger cake, you can double the recipe and bake in 8- or 9-inch cake pans. Or, you can bake the batter in just two 8- or 9-inch pan for a wider but not so tall cake.
** You can make your own cake flour with all-purpose flour and corn starch: Per 1 cup of flour, replace 1 tablespoon of AP flour with 1 tablespoon corn starch.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
Oh my gosh. I had no idea how behind I was with my blog reading! I'm so ashamed. I gave up on Google Reader a few months ago and look what happens...
I'll catch up tomorrow but just had to say that this cake looks awesome! And love that book. A recipe in German for snickerdoodles. That's just amazing 🙂
Regina
Oh I totally know what you mean, Erin. Life back in the West seems so hectic - I am ages behind on all blogs.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment. And I'll definitely have to try the German snickerdoodles sometime 😉
Holly @ EatGreatBEGreat
This cake looks stunning!!! I love it!
Regina
Thank you Holly!
Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner
Your cake is absolutely gorgeous, not to mention looks so so delicious!
Regina
Aww...than you for your sweet comment Tina!
Melissa
This is so pretty, Regina. What a wonderful idea for Mother's Day! It looks so tasty!
Regina
Thank you so much, Melissa!
Melissa
This looks so yummy. I love all things strawberry. Aren't old cookbooks so cool?
Regina
Who can say no to strawberries? Haha, this old cookbook is really awesome but using it is an adventure too, because of the very limited instructions. Definitely gets my baking brains thinking everytime 🙂
Manuela
I should've checked your page earlier. I made a cake for L's birthday with cream cheese, cream, coconut oil and a little bit of honey. but it was so warm in the kitchen when I made it, I had to put it in the freezer before icing the cake. I think it was the coconut oil, that made it so runny. well, for next time I know better. Oh, and I used spinach juice for the color. I wish you could have made it. It would have turned out way better.
Regina
I would have loved to make his cake! But it sounds like you got quite creative yourself there 🙂 Love the idea of spinach juice as coloring.
Colleen
That's a gorgeous looking cake, and it looks delicious!
Regina
Thank you very much Colleen!
Aimee @ ShugarySweets
Oh my word this is so pretty!! I wish I had this cake today for Mother's Day 🙂
Regina
Aww...thats so sweet Aimee! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday 🙂
Kathleen Richardson
Such a pretty cake, Regina. I loved the cake recipe and the way you frosted and decorated it so I pinned it right away. Happy Mother's day to you, my friend!
Regina
Happy (belated) Mother's Day to you as well Kathleen! Thank you so much for your lovely comment and pinning.
sally @ sallys baking addiction
Absolutely gorgeous cake! I love strawberries and cake together so much. The layers are amazing!
Regina
Aww...you are so sweet Sally! My first memories of layer cake involve strawberries actually.
[email protected]
You are so talented, Regina! This cake is so pretty and any mom is sure to fall for it! xx
Regina
Thank you so much sweet Ashley 🙂
Sharon @ Bake & Bait
What a pretty cake, i love the ruffles and the pink!!
Regina
Thank you for your lovely comment Sharon and for visiting.
amy @ fearless homemaker
What a gorgeous cake! I love strawberries so I know I'd love this. Such a nice treat for moms (or non-moms) everywhere! =)
Regina
Aw...thanks so much Amy 🙂 This must be kind of a special Mother's Day for you this year, as almost mom
Jacquee @ I Sugar Coat It!
OK, so I love little cakes, vintage, strawberries, ruffles...in short, I LOVE this cake. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
Regina
Aww...thanks so much Jacquee! It was a great feeling to be caking again. Gotta get comfortable with smoothing frosting again though 😉
Jacquee @ I Sugar Coat It!
It looks great! The ruffles are pretty and more importantly, I'm sure it is delicious. Look forward to seeing more cakes from you before you resume your travels.
Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com
That's awesome that you were able to incorporate the filling and frosting into your cake! 🙂 Your cake is beautiful!
Regina
Thank you so much for the awesome recipe Natasha and your sweet comment 🙂