Strawberry Cream Cake and Lizzy McAlpine
My feelings around Valentine’s Day have been so mixed from the moment I was forced to hand out those weird, tacky Valentines to all the kids in my class that were basically torturing me 24/7. Because I “had to.”
The idea of forced-action to show someone you care feels so empty to me, and it always has. And does it help that I have been broken up with twice on Valentine’s Day, and had a boyfriend who forgot about it every other year? I mean - that’s not doing my POV on this holiday any favors. Buuuuuuuutttttt….
How cute are the decorations? And I have hearts and flowers tattoo’d on me more than once- I mean, come on. Also, Galentine’s Day? All for. I love my friends, I’ll take any day to be extra about it. So - if we’re going to celebrate, may as well get crafty with the desserts. I understand the urge to bake everything into a heart, I really do (see: tattoos) but if you would like to switch it up, I give you: this strawberry cream cake.
This strawberry cream cake has a dense, sweet vanilla cake that’s sandwiched between a mix of strawberry jam frosting and whipped cream. I’ve also frosted this ‘naked’ so you don’t have to worry about frosting this over and over to make it look perfect. It’s supposed to be messy, but fun, and delicious. I’m pairing this with Lizzy McAlpine’s song Ceilings. And I’ll tell you why after the recipe directions - because I’ve talked enough without giving it to you. Also, if anything seems complicated — you can watch the video below!
Directions //
Vanilla Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups cake flour (can sub all-purpose, but highly recommend cake flour to make this cake moist!)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
Whipped Cream:
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Strawberry Jam Cream:
1 /3 cup butter (unsalted)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 lb fresh strawberries
Make the cake! Combine dry ingredients into a large bowl (or mixer), and then add in the butter until it resembles sand. Then, mix the wet (butter, extract, milk, eggs) into another - you’ll want to scramble the eggs together first and then add in the milk and extract. Slowly incorporate the wet into the dry batter, until just mixed. You don’t want to over mix, so once you no longer see dry ingredients in the bowl, you’re good! Pour batter into 2 9-inch cake pans and bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Once out of the oven, let cool 10 minutes and then put into the freezer while you make the whipped cream and strawberry jam cream. IDEALLY, you’d make this a day ahead so the cake is cold as you frost it, but if you can’t do that - try to freeze/refrigerate as long as possible.
Make the whipped cream! With a hand mixer or stand-mixer (whisk attachment), blend the whipping cream, sugar and extract until stiff peaks form. Keep in fridge if not using right away.
Make the strawberry jam frosting! Cut strawberries and blend into a puree, then put that puree into a sauce pan on high heat. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat and let simmer for a few minutes (could take up to 10) until the puree looks thicker - add the lemon juice. If you scrape a spoon against the pan and can see the pan, it’s ready. Let cool. Mix the butter, powdered sugar and extract together to make the frosting and then slowly add in the puree until you get the pink color you desire.
Assemble the cake! Frost the first layer with whipped cream and jam (I did dollops of jam), and then place additional strawberries in top. Place top layer, and add remaining whipped cream on top and around the cake, scraping until the whipped cream is even on all sides. Place more strawberries and dollops of jam frosting on top. I also added tiny flowers, but you don’t need to.
When I moved back to NYC I was adamant on staying single; I’d have fun, not take anything seriously, and hopefully have a few years of ‘doing my own thing.’ I feel like once you find out your fiancé has been cheating on you for 5 years and you have to call off an engagement, have a mental breakdown and move back home across the country, a break feels valid. But the universe was like, “lol okay.” And so, enter: my boyfriend. Who I met maybe 5 months after moving back, which then followed about 4 months of us gaslighting ourselves into thinking we should stay “casual” before actually committing to a relationship.
I hate when people say “it just happened” - but it really did. It was so easy, fun, and we did things that I would do for fun myself anyway, so the time really flew by. This song (“all my ghosts”) by Lizzy McAlpine captures so beautifully the beginning of a connection, where even the simplest moments (like buying a slurp from 7-11) feel big and sweet and exciting. There’s a certain twinge of sadness throughout the song too that I think also taps into how tiresome it can feel to begin having feelings for someone while still trying to heal from past experiences. It’s sweet and innocent, and it’s all the best parts of the beginning of something.
