Strawberries & Cream is Option #2 in the
Streamlined Layer Cake Filling Menu
Streamlined Cake Filling Method
This recipe is one of 11 cake filling flavors in a streamlined cake menu. All the variations are based on these two simple buttercream recipes that work beautifully both as fillings and frosting. A streamlined menu minimizes the amount of work required to make each cake, which is a terrific time-saver in the kitchen, especially for those who run a bakery business.
Base Recipe
Vanilla Buttercream Cake Frosting & Filling
Components
– Your choice of pound cake, white cake, or yellow cake layers
– Fresh strawberry puree (recipe below)
– Stable cream cheese filling
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Prepare a batch of strawberry puree (recipe below) or thaw a frozen one out in advance.
2. Soak the top of each cake layer with the puree. Add just enough to saturate the entire top of each cake layer. Don’t soak the topmost or bottom-most outer layers.
3. Fill the inner cake layers with cream cheese filling using this layer cake filling method.
4. Wrap the filled cake within its pan entirely in plastic wrap.
5. Freeze or chill the cakes until cold. Follow this link to read more about my cake freezing method.
Fresh Strawberry Puree Recipe
This puree can be used for cake filling, pie glaze, ice cream topping, yogurt swirl-in, mixed drink making, or to add a sweet kick in a homemade salad dressing.
1. Hull and wash freshly picked ripe strawberries.
2. Add a sliver of beet (soft, roasted) to the strawberries, for color.
3. Run the strawberries in a food processor until pureed.
4. Seal the puree in a closed container and refrigerate. Use within a few days. Frozen cubes of puree made in ice cube trays will last in a sealed bag in the freezer for up to three months. Frozen pucks of puree stored in sealed containers can last for up to a year.
Sourcing The Best Strawberries for Puree
For this recipe, it helps to use local, organic strawberries. The small, juicy, heavenly aromatic, genuinely strawberry-y strawberries that only bloom in the spring/early summer have the most concentrated flavor therefore make the best homemade strawberry puree. The bloated, bland-tasting conventional variety found at supermarkets all year long here in the US does not work as well.
The addition of sugar is not necessary unless the berries happen to be bitter, in which case you may opt to add sugar to taste.
Making Bulk Batches of Puree
Since fruit purees can be stored frozen, a good system to follow is to buy a few flats of strawberries when they are ripe, cheap, and in peak season, make a big batch of this puree, split it up into smaller portions, seal it well, freeze it, then defrost later as needed. When out of season, I recommend using frozen berries instead.
Using Beets for Color
Even with the reddest of strawberries, I typically add a sliver of beet to the puree to help it attain the same hue of red as the outside of a strawberry. The taste of the beet is undetectable; its purpose is to lend vibrancy to the color.
Suggested Cake Filling Method
My preferred method for assembling layer cakes is to build them inside the baking pan. I recommend watching the videos and reading this entire tutorial on how to fill cakes in the pan.
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Get the Base Recipes
Smooth Buttercream Cake Frosting
Get All 11 Stable Layer Cake Filling Recipes
VIDEO: 5 Reasons Why Cake Fillings Bulge
Related Tutorial: How to Freeze and Thaw Cakes
Go Back to the Article’s Introduction
Streamlined Cake Filling Menu
My Cake Frosting Method
Smooth Buttercream Cake Frosting
Such a great website! Thank you!
What is your advice for adding alcohols to creams/icings and/or cake batter?
Liqueurs with sweet flavor profiles such as Grand Marnier, Irish Cream, or Amaretto are virtually interchangeable with extracts such as vanilla or almond, which are usually alcohol-based too. It’s a fine way to add more depth to the flavor of a cake, the only limitation being that it’s expensive.
My favorite way to add liqueur to a cake is by mixing it with simple syrup (to taste) then dousing the baked cake layers with it. That way, the flavor of the alcohol is most impressionable.
I can only report one negative experience with these types of liqueurs. It happened back in Culinary school, when I was frequently baking for homework. I had amassed a sizable collection of liqueurs, at least a dozen bottles used not for drinking but for experimenting with pastries and creams. One night, my roommate, who was an alcoholic, broke his sobriety by guzzling them all down.
:)))
Are there any guidelines for adding alcohols to cremes?
I have always added alcohols to simple syrup without any problems..but the creams don’t always turn out..
Thank you for the info. What type of filling, fruit wise, would I use that would come out pink. Making a white cake.
This recipe is by far the best I’ve found on the net. The only problem is, I’m not seeing any actual amounts for how many strawberries to use? I’ve looked this page up one end and down the other and I can’t find the actual recipe. Please help! I’m making a 12″x18″ half sheet cake and need to know how much of this to make. I’m making a Neapolitan Cake. THANK YOU!
Hi Kristen,
I’m thinking of doing a chocolate cake with the strawberry puree and chocolate buttercream. Will this work or does it need to be a cream-cheese filling? Thanks!
That works! The strawberry won’t show or come through as a flavor quite as well next to all the chocolate due to the dark color and pronounced flavor of chocolate but it will *definitely* still work. I think raspberries pair better in that kind of cake so you might consider that kind of berry instead.
Thanks! Will try it with raspberries as well
Hi Kristen,
I used your strawberry puree method and it is wonderful!
What’s the best way to add mixed berry preserves in between cake layers? Should I put a thin layer like the strawberry puree and then buttercream on top? Or should I put a thin layer of the preserves and pipe a dam around it?
Thanks much,
Nancy
Yay! I’m glad you liked it. In terms of preserves, if the layer is thin enough to be absorbed by the cake then you don’t need a dam. If it’s thick enough to squish out, you do need a dam. I suggest using the same amount as you did with the puree. Preserves are sweet and concentrated in flavor so you don’t need a lot.
Thanks for the quick response!!
I have a request for a chocolate cake with strawberry mousse filling. Do you have any advice to make the filling stable enough to keep the cake from sagging like the bottom layer of the cake in the pic.
Cyndi,
I recommend reading this: Why Cake Fillings Bulge: Top 5 Reasons + Solutions
have you ever tried to use a banana cream filling? I have a bride who wanted a banana pudding cake, dome cake?
No I haven’t tried that. I would probably puree the bananas and use them like strawberries, being very careful not to add too many because the fruit is so slippery. Also, I would add lemon juice to prevent the banana from oxidizing.
Hi Kristen,
Just took your advice, pulverized and froze a few packets of strawberries for when they won’t be readily available. Just wondering if you ever mix the pulverized berries either strained or unstrained directly with the buttercream. Or do you always prefer to soak the cake with the fruit sauce and then to add the buttercream. I’m looking for fruits or vegies to use as a colour dye for buttercream. Thank you for your help.
Francine,
Hi! No I don’t recommend mixing strawberry puree with buttercream. They will never fully combine and that will cause a broken emulsion texture. It’s better to keep them separate.