*Unfinished* Strawberry Perfection Cake

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake Recipe:

• 4 ounces milk to be mixed with the oil

• 3 ounces vegetable oil

• 6 ounces milk to be mixed with eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 3 large eggs room temperature

• 12 ounces all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• 13 ounces granulated sugar

• 3 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 8 ounces unsalted butter softened to room temperature but not melted

Buttercream Frosting:

• 40 ounces unsalted butter

• 300 grams confectioners sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 3 fresh strawberries washed and sliced

Strawberry Macération:

• 2 cups fresh strawberries washed and evenly sliced

• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Vanilla Cake:

Step 1

Heat oven to 335º F. Prepare one 9" round and one 7" round springform pan with canola oil spray or cake goop.

Step 2

Place the 4 oz of milk in a separate measuring cup. Add the oil to the milk and set it aside.

Step 3

To the remaining 6 oz of milk, add the vanilla and room temperature eggs. Whisk gently to combine. Set aside.

Step 4

Place the flour**, cornstarch**, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

Step 5

Turn the mixer onto the slowest speed. Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added then let everything mix until it looks like coarse sand.

Step 6

Add your milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium (speed 4 on kitchenaid, speed 2 on the Bosch) for 2 full minutes to develop the structure. Set a timer! Don’t worry, if you mix over 2 minutes it will not over-mix the cake.

Step 7

After 2 minutes, scrape the bowl. This is an important step. If you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour and unmixed ingredients in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.

Step 8

Slowly add in the milk/egg mixture while mixing on low, stopping to scrape the bowl one more time halfway through. Mix until just combined. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.

Step 9

Divide the batter into your greased cake pans and fill each about halfway full.

Step 10

Bake both in the oven at the same time for 35 minutes and check your cakes. Do the “done test”. Insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. Sometimes wet batter doesn’t show up so make sure it’s clean and not just wet.

Step 11

Remove the cakes from the oven and give them a tap on the countertop to release air and prevent too much shrinking.

Step 12

After cooling for about 10 minutes run a knife around the edge of the pan to ensure clean removal of the cake. Then release clamp on pan to remove the cake. (If using basic round pan, let cool until they are barely warm.)

Step 13

After the cakes are fully cooled, slice the cakes in half with a serrated bread knife. Set aside.

Buttercream Frosting:

Step 1

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, place the room-temperature butter. Let it whip and medium speed for 10 minutes. This step may seem long, but it’s essential for achieving a silky-smooth and creamy texture.

Step 2

While the butter is whipping, sift the confectioners’ sugar into a seperate bowl. Sifting is crucial to ensure your frosting remains clump-free and velvety.

Step 3

After the initial 10 minutes of whipping, gradually add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and the salt into the whipped butter. Continue whipping at the same speed for another 10 minutes. This extended mixing time contributes to the frosting’s exceptional fluffiness.

Step 4

With the frosting well-incorporated and velvety, add the pure vanilla extract. Whip for an additional 5 minutes. The extra whipping time creates the lightness that sets professional buttercream apart.

Step 5

Set aside about 1 and 3/4 cups of this buttercream frosting in a separate bowl. Now, fold in your sliced strawberries. Continue mixing until the frosting is a pastel pink color. Once achieved, remove the sliced strawberries; since they have infused the frosting with their color and flavor.

Step 6

Now that your amazing buttercream frosting is done, place the vanilla buttercream into a piping bag with a medium round piping tip. No need to bag the strawberry infused frosting.

Strawberry Macération:

Step 1

In a bowl combine your fresh strawberries and sugar. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for no longer than 10 minutes. Set a timer.

Step 2

Notes

Weigh your ingredients to avoid cake failure. If you convert to cups I cannot guarantee the same results. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.

**If you prefer, you can replace both the all-purpose flour and cornstarch with cake flour.

Make sure all of your cold ingredients are room temperature or slightly warm (butter, milk, eggs, to create an even batter. Curdled batter causes the cake to collapse.)