Ingredients
- Vanilla Buttermilk Cake from Sky High Cakes
- Makes three 8", 9" or 10" round layers or two 9x13" layers (I made mine 10" round, so I could build in a springform pan)
- 4 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 3 cups cake flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 lb strawberries
- 2 cups of heavy cream + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup water + 1/4 cup rum
Preparation
Step 1
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350C and butter the cake pans well.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the butter and 1 cup of buttermilk and with the mixer on low, blend together to moisten the batter. Then, on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Whisk the eggs and the egg yolks, the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk in a bowl and add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing only until thoroughly incorporated.
Divide the batter between your pans. NOTE: The recipe anticipates that you will have the requisite number of cake pans (i.e., three round 8", 9" or 10" pans or two 9x13" pans). Having a 90 sq. ft. kitchen, I only own one cake pan of each size, so I had to bake each layer separately. The cake batter hung out on the counter while I did this and seemed to do just fine.
Bake the layers for 28-32 minutes, until the top is golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. If the cake layers have domed, trim them with a sharp bread knife.
Prepare the strawberries:
Reserve 18 whole strawberries out of the 2 lbs. Chop the rest into small pieces. Out of the 18, take six and cut them in half with the green part still on. Hull and halve the other 12.
Whip the heavy cream with the sugar until it holds stiff peaks (but do not over beat because it will be hard to spread). Combine water and rum together.
Assemble the cake:
Line the sides of a cake ring or a spring form pan with plastic, so there is some overhang. Put one cake layer inside and, with a spoon or a pastry brush, soak the cake layer with one third of the rum/water mixture. Set the halved strawberries around the sides of the cake, placing them cut side down and wide end pressed against the sides of the pan. Spread half the chopped strawberries inside. Spread a little less than half of the whipped cream on top of the strawberries.
Place the second layer on top and press gently to distribute the whipped cream evenly. Repeat the soaking/strawberries/whipped cream steps. Place the third layer on top of the second one and again press gently to distribute the filling. Soak with the remaining rum, frost the top with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with the halved strawberries that still have the tails on. This cake needs at least 4-5 hours for the flavors to meld.