Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Gooey pecan dream bars are the perfect mix of soft and gooey with a little bit of pecan crunch. They use a box cake mix, toffee bits, and sweetened condensed milk to make an easy but memorable dessert.

If you like gooey butter cake and pecan pie, you are going to love these tasty gooey pecan dream bars. They have a texture and flavor that will remind you a little bit of both in a super simple-to-make recipe.

Strawberry Vanilla Cake

This strawberry vanilla cake is a three-layered fluffy vanilla cake. It is full of a strawberry filling and decorated with strawberry cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries.

INGREDIENTS

Vanilla Cake

• 3 ½ cups All-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon Baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ¾ cup Unsalted butter room temperature
• ¼ cup Oil canola or vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cups White granulated sugar
• ½ cup Sour cream room temperature
• 1 tablespoon Pure vanilla extract
• 4 Large eggs room temperature
• 1 cup Buttermilk room temperature

Strawberry Filling

• 1 ½ cups Strawberries washed and quartered (measure the quarters not the whole berry)
• 1 tablespoon Strawberry jam store bought is fine
• 1 teaspoon White granulated sugar

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz Cream cheese room temperature
• 1 ½ cups Unsalted butter slightly cold
• 6 cups Powdered sugar sifted
• 2 oz Freeze-dried strawberries grounded to a fine crumb
• 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Strawberry jam
• ¼ cup Heavy cream
• Fresh strawberries for decoration

INSTRUCTIONS 

Vanilla Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottoms of the pan with 8-inch parchment paper circles. Spray again.
• In a mixing bowl, sift the flour. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.3 ½ cups All-purpose flour,2 teaspoon Baking powder,1 teaspoon Baking soda,1 teaspoon Salt
• Using a mixer, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high speed for 3 minutes. It will be light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix on medium until combined. Scrape the bowl.¾ cup Unsalted butter,¼ cup Oil,1 ½ cups White granulated sugar,½ cup Sour cream,1 tablespoon Pure vanilla extract
• Add the eggs one at a time on medium speed. Switch to high speed and beat for 1 minute.4 Large eggs
• Add ⅓rd of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk and mix on low speed. Add another ⅓rd of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Finish with the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Don’t over mix. Scrape the bowl1 cup Buttermilk
• Pour the cake batter evenly throughout the three cake pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Let the cakes sit in the hot pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack. Cool the cake layers completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• Pull the butter out and sit on the counter for 30 minutes. This will get the butter slightly cold. Then, sift the powdered sugar while you wait. Also, ground the freeze-dried strawberries using a food processor and add that to the powdered sugar.1 ½ cups Unsalted butter,6 cups Powdered sugar,2 oz Freeze-dried strawberries
• Using a mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl and slowly add in the powdered sugar/ freeze-dried strawberries. It will be very thick.8 oz Cream cheese
• Add the strawberry jam, salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix this on low speed until just combined. Switch to high speed and beat for 1-3 minutes until fluffy.1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract,½ teaspoon Salt,1 tablespoon Strawberry jam,¼ cup Heavy cream

Strawberry Filling

• Make this right before using.
• In a large bowl, add the quartered strawberries. Add the sugar and strawberry jam and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding to the cake.1 ½ cups Strawberries,1 tablespoon Strawberry jam,1 teaspoon White granulated sugar

Assembly

• Place a small amount of frosting on the board you are decorating on to lock the cake in place.
• Place the first cake layer down. Spread ¾ cup of frosting on top of the cake layer. Pipe a layer of frosting around the border of the cake. use half of the strawberry filling and spread evenly.
• Repeat with the second layer. The last layer of cake should be placed with the bottom of the cake facing up.
• Frost the cake in a very light layer of frosting. Freeze for 15 minutes to lock the crumbs in place.
• Frost the rest of the cake. Top the cake with fresh strawberries.Fresh strawberries

NOTES

Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the cake.

High altitude baking- Add an extra 3 tablespoon of flour.

Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.

NUTRITION

Calories: 547kcalCarbohydrates: 95gProtein: 5gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 21gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 408mgPotassium: 160mgFiber: 1gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 1114IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 86mgIron: 2mg