Strawberry Lemonade Cake 🍓

This one is a bit more complicated than my usual recipe but it sounded so good, I just had to share it.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake :strawberry: :lemon:

Ingredients:

2 pounds strawberries
vegetable shortening (or butter, for greasing pans)
flour (for pans)
1 3/4 cups salted butter (divided, softened)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract (divided)
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk
red food coloring (optional)
1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries (1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup lemon curd (store-bought)
lemon slices (optional, for serving)
lemon zest (curls, optional, for serving)

Directions:

Hull and stem 1 1/2 pounds of the strawberries, then pulse berries in a food processor or blender until pureed. (Save the remaining strawberries for serving.) Pour puree into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until reduced to 3/4 cup, 20-40 minutes. (The texture of the mixture will look like tomato paste.) Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 3 (8-inch) round cake pans. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat ¾ cup butter and the granulated sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add mayonnaise and beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) vanilla.

In another bowl, stir together 3 ½ cups flour, the baking powder, and baking soda. Alternately add the flour mixture and 3/4 cup milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in the cooled strawberry puree. Add a few drops of red food coloring if you like.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bang pans on a work surface a couple of times to remove any excess air bubbles.

Bake cake layers, switching pan positions halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean and cakes spring back when lightly pressed in the center, 24-33 minutes total. Set pans on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of pans and turn out cakes to cool completely (about 1 hour).

While cakes bake and cool, make strawberry-lemonade buttercream: In a food processor, whirl freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder, scraping down inside of the container. (You’ll have 4-5 tablespoons.)

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment and a clean bowl beat the remaining 1 cup butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the strawberry powder, 1 tablespoon milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until combined. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat until smooth and spreadable.

To assemble the cake, with a long serrated knife, trim cake layers to make them level if you like. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate. If you like, tuck strips of waxed paper under the cake layer to protect the cake stand. Top cake layer with about 1/2 cup buttercream and spread evenly to the edges. Top with 1/4 cup lemon curd, and spread almost all the way to the edges (but not all the way — that would make it hard to frost the edges of the cake). Place a second cake layer on top of the first, and repeat with more frosting and lemon curd. Place the third cake layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Remove strips of waxed paper.

Just before serving, decorate the top of the cake with the remaining strawberries (whole and cut in half), and if you like, lemon slices and lemon zest curls.

Recipe courtesy of Yummly.

Hope y’all enjoy!

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How about you make it and I’ll help eat it :kissing_heart:

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Heh. If I could stand up long enough to bake, I would. That sounds yummy!

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I’m with you on this one, @AliceInWonderdab! :joy::plate_with_cutlery:


Gorgeous recipe, @Amethyst! :drooling_face: Strawberries, lemonade, and cake- all flavors of summertime delight! :cake: :star_struck:

You really have a knack for finding creative and delicious goodies- thanks so much for sharing! :two_hearts:

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Drooling already :yum::drooling_face: I could almost as well it baking. Mmm but I can’t have sugar anymore!!! :sob::cry: ಥ_ಥ
But thanks for the recipe :blush:

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I wish I could have this in my house, but my son is severely allergic to seeded berries. (Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)

It sounds really good though! Thank you for sharing…

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Glad you liked it! I try to find something for everyone. If anyone has any request on what you’d like to see, give me a holler!

Are you allergic to Splenda? That would work in this recipe I think if you wanted to try it. See, I’m not supposed to have sugar AND I’m allergic to artificial sweeteners like Splenda. I’m stuck. :pouting_woman:

Want me to look for a lemon/lime cake for him? That might work.

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I like Splenda a little bit too much. So I’m spending more than I should to keep up with everything I make. or I miss out.

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Hee! I know that feeling. Good luck staying away from the sugary treats!

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@Amethyst… he does like Lemon & Lime. But you don’t have to do that. Thank you though! :heart:

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Strawberries or Blueberries have always been one of my favorite flavors @Amethyst ,

It seems I now have a new potential recipe to attempt to make when my birthday comes in 6 months time.

Thank you for sharing the recipe,
Margaret

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If I see something citrus-based I’ll post it. Right now it’s berry season … can he eat cherries? Because I found a nifty-looking cherry dump cake.

Glad you liked Margaret! I hope they have good berries for your birthday! Six months is a long time to wait.

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He does! & blueberries! He’s my generally not picky eater. If he wasn’t allergic he’d eat the other berries. He used to & then 1 day, he couldn’t anymore.

Thank you @Amethyst

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Thank you, I’ll go with strawberries if blueberries are unavailable @Amethyst when the birthday comes, I kept thinking of the Samhain holiday that time because of how it could be changed to be the date for Samhain, it was a different approach for all the prior years, I can be fed with anything except for the dish called Dinuguan, large cuts of squid or octopus (Takoyaki is the only exception to this rule), boiled Okra and Ampalaya, anything else within reason I can eat. A lot who had observed my habits in both past and present said I’m not exactly a picky eater in their perspective

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Cool, I’ll try to find that cherry recipe and post it next Sunday. I hate it when allergies suddenly pop up, that sucks because you know what you’re missing all of a sudden.

You’re welcome, hon!

That’s nice! I’m a picky eater because I have so many food allergies and intolerances. I really wish I didn’t have to think about it myself.

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Sorry to hear that you have food allergies and intolerances (a year of skipping drinking soda actually made my stomach hurt after I tried it once again the following year so it seems I’m to never drink soda ever again lest I want stomach problems to arise and I do have lactose intolerance out of hereditary genes), we’ll have to accept that there are sorts of food which our bodies won’t digest well other than that finding alternatives are also fun to do for the diet

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Thanks, @anne2! I’m sorry you can’t drink soda, that must be awful!

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It’s alright @Amethyst , I’m already used to it too

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