Super soft cake layered with cream cheese frosting and tart lemon curd
If you are looking for an easy cake to make for all your summer get togethers, look no further. This cake is elevated, easy and so delicious.
Making cakes is very intimidating for me. They can be finicky and you have to prepare them days in advance. So I find that simply adding a few things to a cake mix takes the stress out of it and we get a cake that is delicious and stress free.
I follow Baking with Blondie, who has all the best tips on doctoring up boxed cake mixes. This cake is based off of her white cake. I swapped out the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt and used 3 full eggs instead of egg whites. Additionally, I added TONS of freeze dried strawberry powder to add my own spin on the cake. These few tweaks and addition was exactly what I needed to get my version of a perfectly soft, tart and sweet strawberry cake.
"Cakes have such a terrible habit of turning out bad just when you especially want them to be good"
Don't you just hate it when you have planned the perfect cake for an event and everything seems to be going great until you pull it out of the oven only to find that the center collapsed? Or the flavor wasn't what you were hoping for or.....
It's got to be the most stressful thing planning a whole event and then having your cake totally give out on you. This is why I stick to doctored up cake mixes . They are easy, foolproof and taste delicious. Yes, they require a few more ingredients from what is on the back of the box BUT they are all recognizable items and I'd bet you already have most in your fridge.
Now, you might be thinking, well if you doctor up a cake mix, isn't that cheating? And to that I'd say, this is not a competition. This is about making a cake for YOU. There is no shame in taking the easy route. Especially if you have 8 million other tasks you need to get done before all your guests arrive. Do yourself a favor and just simplify the cake- it's going to taste just as good.
There are some pretty good rules of thumb to follow inf doctoring up a cake;
The suggested egg amount is typically wrong. For better structure add another egg
Buttermilk is a must- the way it interacts with the leavenings will give the cake a beautiful homemade like crumb
Use oil for insurance and butter for flavor- Oil will keep your cake soft while butter adds the flavor
Always add in extra flavor- chocolate cakes should have cocoa powder added and you definitely need to add some vanilla
So with that lets get to the best part, the recipe:
Strawberry Lemon Curd Cake
Ingredients:
1 box @bettycrocker Super Moist French Vanilla Cake
3 @vitalfarms eggs
1 5 oz tub plain Greek yogurt
3/4 c buttermilk
1/3 c oil
1 TBSP vanilla
1.5 oz freeze dried strawberries- crushed
@bonnemaman_us lemon curd filling
Cream cheese frosting:
8 oz cream cheese (super soft)
6 TBSP butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
Makes two 6 OR 8 inch cake rounds.
-Prep cake pans and with oil and parchment paper.
-Preheat oven to 325* F
-To a large bowl add all wet ingredients and whisk together well. Whisk in cake mix to the wet ingredients being sure not to over mix. Whisk till full combined
- Add freeze dried strawberries to a blender or food processor and blend on high till it becomes a nice powder. Feel free to leave bigger chunks if desired.
-Then add freeze dried strawberry powder to the cake mixture.
-Using a spatula, fold in the freeze dried strawberries to the cake mixture till combined
- Fill each cake pan half way full.
-Bake at 325* f for 25-30 minutes or till a toothpick comes out with soft crumbs.
-Let cakes cool for 10 minutes before turning out of the pan. Let cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
Cream together the cream cheese and butter till smooth. Add in 1 c of powdered sugar at a time. On the last cup add in salt and vanilla and mix till well combined.
Layer cake, cream cheese frosting and lemon curd. Top with strawberries and enjoy