Strawberry Filled Cake with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Yields
1 2-layer 9-inch cake

from Sugar Bakeshop in Charleston, SC

Yellow Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup of milk

Strawberry Filling

1 pound fresh strawberries, cut into ¼-inch pieces

½ cup sugar, or to taste (too much is too much!)

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Strawberry Buttercream

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

5 ounces of liquid strawberries (approximately 1 pound of strawberries puréed in food processor until there are no chunks)

8 cups confectionary sugar, sifted

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more if needed

1234 Yellow Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (320 degrees for convection). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter.
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
medium speed, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Scrape down sides of bowl, and add eggs one at time, mixing after each. Mix in vanilla.
Alternate adding ⅓ of flour mixture with ⅓ of milk at slow speed, until barely incorporated.
Bake for approximately 20−25 minutes until the center bounces back to the touch. Cool for 15 minutes and turn onto drying rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Filling

In a medium bowl, mix strawberries with sugar, then add vanilla and lemon juice. Mix well.
Strawberry Buttercream
Beat the butter until very smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl and add about one ounce of strawberry juice. Mix just to incorporate.
Add the sugar and the rest of the juice gradually. Mixture will be quite stiff. Finish by adding heavy cream as needed, beating until the frosting is well incorporated. Note: while icing the cake, more cream may be necessary—add gradually to avoid runny icing.

Assembling the Cake

Cut the layers of cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Lay cut sides up so strawberry juice will soak in, and spoon the strawberry filling onto each side.
Carefully use a flat surface such as a tart pan liner to “sandwich” the cake layers back together so that the layers of strawberries are facing each other. Place on a cake stand.
Ice the cake with strawberry buttercream, possibly putting a thin coat of icing on, then placing cake in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to set before adding a final coat.
Decorate top and base of cake with any extra strawberries—or eat them as your reward appetizer for baking this cake for friends and family.

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