Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling (with cream cheese icing)

A thick cream cheese frosting covers a beautifully moist vanilla cake cooked from scratch with a handmade strawberry filling.

This is now one of my favorite cakes. It starts with THE BEST buttery vanilla cake and is filled with a cooked strawberry filling.

Whipped cream cheese buttercream icing is the ideal finishing touch that transforms this cake into strawberry and cream nirvana.

This cake looks stunning, and with everything created from scratch, it tastes much better. It’s not difficult, but you should start on the filling a couple of hours or the day before you want to create the cake.

The vanilla cake has an outstanding soft and moist texture, and the icing virtually melts in your mouth. All of this, along with the tangy and sweet strawberry filling, makes this cake delicious.

This wonderful layer cake is ideal for birthdays, weddings, or any other occasion when you want delicious vanilla cake with strawberries. This dish will undoubtedly be a success every time it is served.

Strawberry cake filling may also be used to make cupcakes or other layer cakes such as chocolate or white cake.

Of course, if you like, you may use fresh strawberries.

Sugar and lemon juice: Sugar is required to sweeten things, while lemon juice gives a dash of flavor.

Cornstarch and water: This is what thickens the strawberry filling, so don’t miss it.

Baking soda and powder: Both are required for this recipe. However, do not replace them since they are not the same item and do not sub equally.

Oil, sour cream, and milk: These three ingredients, particularly the sour cream, will bring a lot of moisture to the cake.

Nothing beats a thick buttery cake, and this recipe asks for a whole cup of butteryum. This will result in a rich, buttery, and moist cake.

Sugar: This, of course, is what makes a cake sweet, but it also adds moisture to the cake. Don’t scrimp on this component.

Eggs: You’ll certainly need eggs to help firm and lift everything.

Confectioners sugar: This adds sweetness and thickens the icing.

Vanilla and salt: Vanilla adds a nice taste to everything, while salt helps to offset the sweetness.

(For inquiries about ingredients and substitutions, see the FAQ section at the bottom of this page.)

To begin, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Allow this to boil for several minutes, or until the strawberries break down and the sauce thickens.

You’ll want to stir constantly, and you may mash up the strawberries with a potato masher while it’s cooking.

Next, in a measuring cup, whisk together the warm water and cornstarch until smooth, then pour into the strawberry mixture. Allow the mixture to softly boil for about a minute, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.

At this stage, you may add additional red food coloring to make the filling a darker or brighter red.

Allow the filling to cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating it until ready to use.

In a medium-sized mixing basin, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set away after thoroughly whisking.

In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla essence. Set away after thoroughly whisking.

Now, in a large mixing bowl, combine the room-temperature butter and sugar and beat on medium-high for several minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low-medium just until barely incorporated after each addition.

Following the addition of the eggs, alternately add the dry combination and the liquid mixture to the butter mixture, beginning and finishing with the dry mixture.

Always make sure not to mix the batter too long.

Next, equally distribute the mixture between the two prepared 8-inch round cake pans.

Bake the cake layers for 45-50 minutes at 325 degrees F on the center rack.

Remove the cake layers from the oven and cool for approximately 15 minutes on a wire rack, still within the pans.

Next, remove the cake layers from the pans and place them on cooling racks to cool fully before adding filling and frosting.

Mix in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth.

Now, if necessary, add milk to get the appropriate consistency and thoroughly combine.

Finally, whisk the buttercream on medium-high for several minutes until it is frothy.

If necessary, level the tops of the cake layers.

Place a layer of cake on a cake plate, followed by a dollop of cream cheese frosting.

To prevent the strawberry filling from squishing out, pipe an icing dam only around the inside of the cake layer.

Then, within the icing dam, add the strawberry filling to the cake layer.

Now add the last layer of cake.

Then, using the remaining frosting, cover the whole cake.

At this stage, you may either add the leftover strawberry filling to the top of the cake or leave it coated with frosting alone.

Serve at room temperature to keep the cake moist, but refrigerate cold since it is topped with cream cheese frosting.

(Keep in mind that the directions will also be included in the recipe card below.)

***I write recipes in volume (cup) measures since that is what people in the United States are accustomed to seeing and using. Click the metric button beneath the ingredients in the recipe card to get weight in metric measures. The weights are converted by a software, not by me, and the results are an educated approximation. Please keep in mind that while I prepare recipes in cups, I cannot guarantee that weighing the components will provide the same results.

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