Soft vanilla cake layers filled with fluffy strawberry whipped cream, these mini strawberry vanilla cakes are ideal for gatherings and parties. They’re not only adorable but also fun to make!
About This Recipe
Strawberry vanilla cake has a delightful combination of sweet and creamy flavors. The taste of ripe strawberries adds a tangy and fruity note, while the vanilla enhances the overall sweetness of the cake. Overall, these mini strawberry vanilla cake is a perfect balance of sweet, fruity, and creamy flavors that is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.
These adorable mini strawberry vanilla cakes are made with layers of a moist vanilla cake and strawberry whipped cream. The vanilla cake is the same as my soft vanilla cupcakes recipe, that’s made with a mixture of butter and vegetable oil which makes the cake so fluffy, and also remains moist for days. This also makes it perfect to make ahead of time.
The strawberry whipped cream frosting is flavored with fresh strawberries as well as strawberry Jell-O which also stabilizes it. It’s quick, easy, and tastes amazing!
The best part about these mini strawberry vanilla cakes is how easy it is to make! They’re so cute making it perfect for birthday parties and holidays.
By the way, this is the third recipe for my fruit cakes series, where I take seasonal fruits and use them to make delicious cakes. The first recipe was Black Forest Cake, featuring cherries, and the second was White Chocolate Raspberry Pistachio Cake, featuring raspberries!
What You Need To Make This Recipe
All-purpose flour: you do not need any other type of flour like self-rising flour or cakes flour.
Buttermilk: the acids in the buttermilk will react with the rising agents (baking powder/soda) and cause the cake to rise making is light and fluffy. Don’t have buttermilk? No problem you can easily make it at home with just 2 ingredients! See how here.
Cornstarch: this gives the cakes a beautiful, crumbly texture.
Vegetable oil: use any flavorless vegetable oil like sunflower or canola oil. Using a mixture of oil and butter makes this cake super moist, and it also stays that way for a longer period of time.
Butter: make sure you use softened, unsalted butter. Here’s a hack to quickly bring butter to room temperature.
Eggs: use room temperature eggs for the best results.
Baking powder/soda: these are the rising agents that will make the cake soft and fluffy. Always make sure your baking soda and baking powder are not expired, if they are, they may fail to react with the acidic ingredients making the cakes dense.
Vanilla extract: this is a very important ingredient for the cake, the better the quality of your vanilla extract the better the cake is going to taste. Do not leave out vanilla extract, you cannot have vanilla cake without vanilla extract.
How To Make Mini Strawberry Vanilla Cakes
Step 1: Make the vanilla cake layers: Beat softened butter, vegetable oil, and sugar until pale and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 2: Add in the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition.
Step 3: In a separate bowl sift and combine the dry ingredients. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the batter and gently fold to combine. Then add in 1/3 of the buttermilk and fold to combine. Repeat this process of alternating between the dry ingredients and the buttermilk while gently folding to combine. DON’T OVERMIX the batter.
Step 4: Spread the batter out evenly in a greased and lined 9×13 inch baking tray. Bake at 180 °C / 350 °F for 25-30 minutes. Once baked cool completely and then trim off a very thin layer off the top of the cake to make it even.
Step 5: Beat cold heavy cream, powdered sugar and, strawberry Jell-O until stiff peaks form, about 5-6 minutes if you use an electric mixer.
Step 6: add in strawberry puree and beat to combine.
Step 7: Use a cookie cutter (any size you’d like, I used a 2.5 inch diameter cutter) to cut as many cake layers as you can. You could also use the end to make 2 halves that are put together to make 1 layer.
Step 8: Assemble the cakes and decorate!
Storing The Mini Strawberry Vanilla Cakes
They can be stored uncovered in the refrigerator for up to 5 hours after that ,you need to store them in a container or cake box to prevent the sides of the cake from drying out.
To freeze the mini vanilla cake layers: transfer them(without any frosting) to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 month. You could also wrap them in a layer of aluminum foil for extra protection. Thaw at room temperature.
Pro Tips
- Measure your ingredients properly, for the flour spoon it into a measuring cup and level it using the back of a spoon.
- If you have a convection oven (oven with a fan setting) I recommend reducing the temperature by 20 degrees.
- Easily bring eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 4-5 minutes.
- Don’t over mix the vanilla cupcake batter, mix until just combined.
- You could also bake the batter in a cupcake pan to make strawberry vanilla cupcakes instead.
- If you accidentally overbeat your heavy cream, causing it become curdled, add a few more tablespoons of heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Add a few drops of red or pink food coloring to the frosting for a more vibrant color.
- Use a cold bowl to help the heavy cream beat into stiff peaks faster.
- Make your strawberry whipped cream frosting right before you need it to frost your cakes.
- Don’t have piping tip? No problem, just smother the frosting in between the layers to create a messy look, then top it off with a slice of strawberry!
- Cut off a very thin layer off of the top of the cake before cutting your layers to remove the browned parts.
FAQ’s
How to buttermilk at home?
It’s simple, for every one cup of milk add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for 5 minutes before using it in your recipes!
What can I substitute for buttermilk?
Buttermilk can easily be made at home with just milk and vinegar, check the question above. If you can’t make it at home either you could also just add whole milk.
I don’t have an electric hand/stand mixer, can I still make this cake?
Of course, all you really need is a whisk, spatula and two bowls. It will take a bit longer to beat the oil, butter and sugar, but after that all the step can easily be done by hand.
Why is my heavy cream not beating into stiff peaks?
There are different factors which could cause this, but these are the 2 main causes: Your cream is not cold enough, or the cream you’re using has a fat percentage that’s lower than 35%. If you have the first problem, simply refrigerate the whipping cream until it’s nice and cold, then whip it up. For the second problem, well you’re going to have to switch to a cream with a fat % of 35 or above.
How do I fix over-whipped cream?
First off, do not walk away from your mixer while the cream is beating. If you do end up over-beating the cream, the cream will look curdled, to fix this, add more chilled heavy cream while beating until stiff peaks form. You’ll have to add about 1/2 cup more of heavy cream to fix over-whipped cream.
How to quickly soften butter?
If you forgot to take your butter out of the refrigerator in advance here’s a very simple hack to quickly soften up butter: Cut the butter into small cubes and place them into a microwave safe bowl, then microwave at 20% power in 10 second intervals until the butter has softened (it should take about 20 seconds in total).
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Recipe Card
Mini Strawberry Vanilla Cakes
Soft vanilla cake layers filled with fluffy strawberry whipped cream, these mini strawberry vanilla cakes are ideal for gatherings and parties. They’re not only adorable but also fun to make!
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Total Time: 1 hrs.
Course: Dessert
Servings: 6-8
Calories: 710kcal
Ingredients
For the vanilla cake
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (270g)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch (30g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (113g)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (118ml)
- 1 2/3 cup granulated sugar (330g)
- 3 large eggs, room temp.
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temp.
For the strawberry whipped cream frosting
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold (240ml)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (50g)
- 1 tbsp strawberry Jell-O
- 4-5 large strawberries, pureed (plus more for the top)
Equipment/Utensils
- A large bowl
- 2 medium sized bowls
- Electric hand/stand mixer (see note)
- Spatula
- 9×13 inch rectangular baking tray, greased and lined
- Piping bag fitted with a regular sized round tip
Instructions
Make the vanilla cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F. Grease and line a 9 x 13-inch rectangular pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl sift in the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Give it a mix and set aside.
- In a separate bowl(or the bowl of your stand mixer) add in the softened butter, vegetable oil and granulated sugar. Beat until the mixture turns white and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix. Next add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.
- The remaining batter will be made by hand. Add in 1/3 of the dry mixture into the wet and fold together using a spatula. Then add in 1/3 of the buttermilk and fold until combined.
- Next add in another 1/3 portion of the dry ingredients and gently fold until combined. Add in the next 1/3 portion of butter and fold until combine. Then add in the remaining dry ingredients and fold to combine.
- Lastly, add in the rest of the buttermilk and fold together until fully incorporated. This process will take time but it’s very important to be gentle when combining the ingredients, so take your time with it.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
Make the strawberry whipped cream:
- Beat cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and strawberry Jell-O together on high speed until stiff peaks form, 7-8 min.
- Add in fresh strawberries blended into a puree, beat until fully incorporated.
Assembly:
- Use any size round cookie cutter (I used a 2.5-inch diameter) to cut as many cake layers from the cooled vanilla sheet cake as possible. Cut each of the layers in half to make 2 more layers *optional.
- Start with a layer of cake, then pipe on dollops of frosting using whichever piping tip you’d like (I used a regular-sized round tip). Then add on another layer of cake and repeat this process with 4 cake layers. Once you’ve added the top layer of frosting, garnish with a half strawberry.
- Repeat these steps until you’ve used up all your cake layers. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 710.72kcal
Total Fat: 39.55g
Carbs: 81.99g
Sugars: 51.94g
Protein: 8.22g
Sodium: 477.65mg
Fiber: 1.12g