My dear mother in law recently celebrated her 94th birthday. I am so blessed to have the best mother in law in the world. She is an amazing woman! So I wanted to do something really special for her and make her a cake that I knew she would love. She loves white cake and fruit, and she adores whipped cream!
There’s no shame in purchasing a store bought cake for a birthday celebration and while store bought cakes are beautiful and professionally decorated I wanted something a bit more personal, a lot less sweet, and something that would appeal to my dear mother in law. So I came up with this really simple cake, and it was DELICIOUS!!! Light, fluffy, creamy, and sweet but not too sweet, it was perfect!
To keep this cake simple to make, I used a boxed French vanilla cake mix. I wanted a light fluffy base for this cake. If you have a good white cake recipe that you can make from scratch, you could easily bake it up instead of using a boxed cake mix.
Since I needed to transport this cake I opted to bake it in my prettiest 13X9 inch cake pan. I would recommend baking two 9 inch rounds for a much prettier presentation if you are not transporting this cake. It would look stunning frosted in fluffy white whipped cream with a luscious layer of sliced strawberries in between the two layers of cake. YUM!
Bake the cake according to the directions on the box and allow the cake to cool completely.
Prepare the strawberries by slicing them while the cake is baking.
Since the strawberries I purchased weren’t as ripe as strawberries that are picked at their peak in the summer I decided to macerate them to enhance their sweetness.
To macerate strawberries is to simply sprinkle them with granulated sugar. The sugar breaks down the cell walls on the surface of the fruit, which lets moisture seep out. The liquid that emerges from the fruit combines with the sugar to form a syrup. Macerating is a good idea for any fruit that may not be quite sweet enough to eat on its own. After macerating, you can use the fruit as a dessert topping on cake or ice cream, on waffles or pancakes or just eat them as is.
If you have ripe juicy strawberries you can skip macerating them and just slice them and use them for the cake.
Slice a pound of fresh strawberries and place them in a bowl. Add a 1/4 cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir everything together.
Allow this mixture to sit for about 30 minutes on the counter, stirring it occasionally.
Once the cake has cooled completely and the strawberries are ready it’s time to make the whipped cream for frosting.
In a cold mixing bowl whip together a pint of heavy whipping cream, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a 1/4 cup of sugar.
Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
To prevent the cake from getting soggy from the strawberries, spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the entire surface of the cake.
Then spread the strawberries evenly over the cake in a single layer.
Top with the remaining whipped cream.
Spread out whipped cream evenly to cover the layer of strawberries.
Cover cake with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake
- 1 box French vanilla cake mix, plus ingredients to make according to package directions
- 1 lb. strawberries
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
Bake cake according to package directions in a 13X 9 inch pan.
For a fancier presentation, bake cake in two round 9 inch cake pans. Use the sliced strawberries as a filling in between the two layers of cake and frost the entire cake with whipped cream.
Slice strawberries and place in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup sugar and a teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir and allow the strawberries to macerate for 30 minutes.
Using the whisk attachment on your mixer beat together heavy whipping cream with a 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk until stiff peaks form.
Frost cake with a thin layer of the whipped cream.
Top whipped cream with a layer of the macerated strawberries.
Top the strawberries with the remaining whipped cream, smooth out to cover all the strawberries.
Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
This cake was a big hit with everyone at the birthday party! My dear mother in law loved every bite of it! 🥰
