Strawberries & Cream Crunch Cake

The strawberry crunch cake of my dreams… happy strawberry season!

Yield: 2 x 9-inch cake pans or 4 x 6 inch cake pans

PREP IT!

For Strawberry Cake:

2 cups (240 grams) Flour, all purpose

¼ teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon Sea salt, fine
1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, salted (room temperature)
2 cups (400 grams) Granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (85 grams) Strawberry gelatin powder
4 teaspoons Vanilla extract
4 teaspoons Strawberry extract
1/16 teaspoon Lemon extract
¼ Red food coloring (optional)
4 Eggs, large (room temperature), separated and egg whites whipped to stiff peaks
½ cups (122 grams) Buttermilk

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

12 ounces Cream cheese (room temperature)
1½ cup (3 sticks) Butter, salted (room temperature)
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon Salt
3 cups Powdered sugar
1½ tablespoon Evaporated milk

For Strawberry Filling:

1 cup Strawberries, fresh or frozen, diced
3 tablespoons Sugar, granulated
4 teaspoons Cornstarch
1½ teaspoons Lemon juice

For Strawberry Crunch Topping & Garnish:

1 cup (25 grams) Strawberries, freeze-dried, crushed
3 cups (171 grams) Vanilla wafers, crushed
3 tablespoons Butter, salted, melted
8 Strawberries, fresh, sliced in half (optional)

MAKE IT!

For Strawberry Cake:

Preheat oven to 325F.
Prepare 2 round 9-inch cake pans or 4 round 6-inch cake pans by spreading a thin layer of butter and a thin dusting of flour along the inside of the pan and setting aside.
In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and strawberry gelatin powder, using a whisk attachment, until very airy and light pink in color (about 15-20 minutes on a stand mixer).
Stir in the vanilla extract, strawberry extract, lemon extract, and red food coloring (optional).
Stir in egg yolks one at a time, being careful not to overmix.
Using a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Add in 1/3 of the buttermilk. Repeat until all ingredients are folded in.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form (peaks that stand straight up when you put the whisk in the egg whites, pull it straight out, and turn the whisk right side up). Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Pour batter, split evenly, into the prepared cake pans. You can use an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter into the different pans, so it is evenly distributed. Gently shake the pans from side to side to even out the batter and pop any air bubbles. Don’t bang it on the table or counter.
Place the cake pans in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 1 hour and 10-20 minutes (check on it at the 30-minute mark and the 1-hour mark) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool on a cooling rack about 10-15 minutes. Using a knife, gently separate the cake from the sides of the pans. Carefully flip the cake onto the cooling rack to finish cooling.

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

Place cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and salt in a stand mixer or mix with a hand mixer. Whip until creamy, airy, and lighter in color (about 10 minutes). Add in powdered sugar and evaporated milk until well incorporated and smooth.
Reserve ½ cup of the frosting in a quart sized zip top bag and keep it at room temperature to use for a drizzle garnish (optional).
Transfer remaining frosting to a gallon size zip top bag. Refrigerate immediately. Frosting must stay cold to remain set.
It stays fresh in the fridge for approximately 5 days.

For Strawberry Filling:

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. There will still be strawberry chunks remaining when it is done.
Refrigerate to cool and allow for additional thickening.

For Strawberry Crunch Topping & Garnish:

Place freeze dried strawberries and vanilla wafers in a food processor or gallon size zip top bag. Pulse in food processor or bang the bag with a sauce pot until contents are slightly crumbly with small pieces of strawberry and cookie still visible.
Drizzle in butter and stir in the food processor or shake in the bag to combine.
Slice fresh strawberries in half and set aside for garnish (optional)

For Assembly:

Squeeze the gallon sized zip top bag full of frosting in your hands to warm it up and soften it.
Once cake is completely cooled, cut a small hole in the corner of the gallon zip top bag and place a small dollop of frosting in the middle of the plate you will store the cake on. Line the edges of the plate with 4-5 strips of parchment paper that can be easily pulled out from underneath the cake layers once frosting and decorating is complete.
Place the first cake layer onto the center of the plate over the dollop. The dollop helps to adhere the cake to the plate.
Pipe and spread a thin layer of frosting on top of the cake. Pipe a circle of frosting along the top edge of the cake layer.
Fill the inside of the circle with strawberry filling. Refrigerate this layer if needed to firm up the frosting before proceeding.
Place the second cake layer on top of the strawberry filling. Pipe and spread a thick layer of frosting on top of the cake. Let the frosting fall over the sides of the cake. Pipe and spread additional frosting on the sides of the cake as need, achieving a thin layer of frosting for the strawberry crunch topping to adhere to. Refrigerate this layer if needed to firm up the frosting before proceeding.
Coat the entire cake with the strawberry crunch topping by gently pressing it against all surfaces of the cake. Some will fall off the sides but that is what the parchment if there for.
Once the cake is fully coated, cut a tiny hole into the quart sized zip top bag and drizzle the room temperature frosting over the entire cake as desired.
Top the cake with strawberry halves (optional).
Gently remove the parchment paper strips from the sides of the cake, one at a time, being sure to catch all the excess frosting and crumbs on the parchment. This should result in a relatively clean looking finished cake.
Keep cake refrigerated and enjoy!! This cake also freezes well.

STRAWBERRIES & CREAM CRUNCH CAKE