High-Altitude Strawberry Cake

I’ve been going back to layer cakes lately and I’m ready to share another classic recipe developed for high-altitude bakers- this one is a fluffy strawberry layer cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting and it’s SO good.

This recipe uses fresh strawberries in both the cake and the frosting, and it’s easy to make. You can bake it in two 8-inch layers like I did, or in three 6-inch layers. Either way, it’s a lovely cake with the perfect pretty pink color. Let’s get to it!

How to Make High-Altitude Strawberry Cake

Both the cake and the frosting here use pretty simple ingredients- we’re starting out by blending up an entire pint of fresh hulled strawberries. Some of this mixture gets used in the cake itself, and some gets cooked and reduced down and used in the frosting.

For the cake we’re using the reverse creaming method. Start off by stirring together the dry ingredients in your large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. That’s all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar. Then add in your softened butter, cut into small chunks.

You want to beat this mixture until it becomes sandy in texture and the butter has been worked through the dry mixture. It may be slightly clumpy but mostly should resemble sand in texture like pictured above.

Meanwhile, whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl- that’s vegetable oil, eggs, the uncooked strawberry puree, vanilla extract, buttermilk, and optionally a couple drops of red food coloring.

With the mixer running, slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture until it comes together into a batter. You want to mix it for 1-2 minutes at this stage, or until you have a mostly smooth cake batter.

Pour the cake batter evenly into your cake pans and spread it out into a flat layer before it’s off to the oven. If you’re looking for my fav cake pans- they are from Fat Daddios! The cakes bake until they are golden brown on top and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Once the cakes are completely cooled, it’s time to frost. You want to cook the remaining strawberry puree until it’s reduced and thickened significantly, which takes about 30-40 minutes. Cool this mixture completely before making the strawberry cream cheese frosting.

You should end up with a couple of tablespoons remaining of the strawberry puree, which you can spread onto the first cake layer before adding a generous amount of cream cheese frosting. Top with the second cake layer and cover the whole thing in frosting, optionally topping with fresh strawberries!

Tips & Tricks for High-Altitude Strawberry Cake

Here are my tips and tricks to help you make the best high-altitude strawberry cake!

• How come I only cook some of the strawberry puree? I found that it wasn’t needed for the cake layers, and that the cake benefits from the extra moisture before the strawberries are cooked down. The frosting, however, needs as little moisture as possible.
• How do I know when the butter is mixed in well enough? The mixture should look sandy in texture and the butter should be evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
• Do I have to use food coloring? No, this is optional. I like to add a couple of drops to the cake so it retains a light pink color.
• Be sure to scrape the bowl a few times while mixing the cake batter to ensure everything gets mixed in properly and evenly using this method.
• How do I know when the cake batter is finished mixing? The cake batter should be relatively smooth with no large lumps, but you don’t want to over-mix the cake batter or it will become tough.
• Why do I add in the cream cheese last in this frosting? Cream cheese tends to thin out in frosting if it is whipped too much, so I like to add it at the end instead, which helps retain a thicker frosting.
• Be sure to beat the frosting for several minutes before adding the cream cheese, and scrape the bowl as you go to ensure everything is well combined and fluffy before adding the softened cream cheese.
• Be sure all the frosting ingredients are at room temperature. This helps make sure everything mixes together well.
• What if my frosting is too thin? You can add in more powdered sugar if needed, or you can chill the frosting for 10-20 minutes before re-whipping briefly.
• I am at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

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High-Altitude Strawberry Cake

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

For the strawberry puree:

• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the cake:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups softened butter
• 2 tbs. vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup pureed strawberries
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1-2 drops red food coloring optional

For the frosting:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbs. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup cooked strawberry puree
• 1 8 oz package softened cream cheese

Instructions

For the strawberry puree:

1. Wash your fresh strawberries and hull them. Then roughly chop the berries- this is to just to help them fit more easily into a blender. Put all the chopped berries into a blender or food processor and process until you have an even puree.
2. Separate 1/2 cup of the puree for the cake and set aside. Pour the remaining puree into a small saucepan.
3. Cook the puree over low-medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 30-40 minutes, or until the mixture has reduced and thickened- you want to be able to see the bottom of the pan for a few seconds as you stir the mixture.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla extract. Cool this mixture completely.

For the cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease two 8-inch cake pans, lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper rounds.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until combined.
3. Cut the softened butter into tablespoon-sized chunks, and mix the butter into the dry mixture until the mixture becomes sandy.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, eggs, reserved 1/2 cup strawberry puree, vanilla extract, buttermilk, and food coloring.
5. With the mixer running, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and mix until well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes on low-medium speed.
6. Divide the batter evenly between your two cake pans, spreading evenly in each pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. While the cake layers are still hot, carefully turn them out of the pans and wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap. Let the cakes cool completely in the plastic wrap before trimming and frosting the cake.

For the frosting:

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy and lightened in color. Beat in the powdered sugar and cornstarch, mixing until well combined and thick. This make take several minutes to come together.
2. Beat in the salt and cooled, cooked strawberry puree until combined, being sure to scrape down the bowl several times as needed to ensure everything is well combined. Whip this mixture for 3-4 minutes on medium speed until it is light and fluffy.
3. Finally, beat in the cream cheese until just combined.

4. Trim any domed tops off your cake layers and frost and fill the cake as desired, using the 1-2 tablespoons of remaining strawberry puree in a very thin layer on the first layer of cake. Optionally top the cake with more fresh strawberries. Enjoy!

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!