Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Serves 14

45 mins prep

15 mins cook

15 mins

75 mins total

This strawberry vanilla chiffon cake is light and airy, with fluffy moist cake layers, macerated juicy sweet strawberries, and creamy, cloud-like whipped yogurt frosting. The syrup from the macerated strawberries soak right into the chiffon cake, keeping them extra moist and flavorful. And the slightly tangy yogurt whipped cream frosting is the perfect stable whipped cream that holds it all together. It's the ultimate spring and summer cake!

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Macerated Strawberry Filling

Start with macerating the strawberries: Trim the tops off the strawberries and cut them into slices or quarter them like I did for chunkier pieces. Don't cut the slices too thin because the pieces will shrink as they sit in the sugar.
⅗ cups fresh strawberries
Pour sugar, lemon juice, and salt over the macerated strawberries. Use a spoon to toss the strawberries so that they're evenly coated.
⅕ cup granulated sugar
⅕ tablespoon lemon juice
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
Cover and place the berries in the fridge to macerate while you work on the rest of the cake. The strawberries need at least 30 minutes.

Vanilla Chiffon Cake Layers

Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line the bottoms of three 8" round baking pans with parchment paper. Don't line or grease the sides of the pans!
In a large, clean bowl or stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft medium peaks.
1 large eggs
⅕ teaspoon cream of tartar
Then, gradually pour in a half cup (½ cup) of sugar, whisking until stiff peaks form. Set the whisked egg whites aside, or transfer them into a different bowl while you work on the egg whites.
¼ cups granulated sugar
In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar (1 cup). You can reuse the bowl and whisk from the egg whites without washing. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until lightened in color and they fall off the whisk in ribbons.
Add the oil, milk, vanilla extract, and salt into the egg yolks. Mix to incorporate them.
⅕ cup olive oil
⅕ cup milk
⅓ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
Then, sift flour, baking powder, and cornstarch into the egg yolk mixture. Fold the mixture with a wire whisk, being very gentle.
⅕ cup all purpose flour
⅕ teaspoon baking powder
⅓ tablespoons cornstarch
Add a large scoop of whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold the mixture with a wire whisk (by hand) until evenly mixed. Add the rest of the egg whites and fold until evenly mixed. Stop folding as soon as the batter looks nice and even!
Divide the batter evenly amongst the baking pans. Use a large ice cream scoop or a scale to make sure that each layer is even.
Bake the layers in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached.
Remove the baked layers from the oven and immediately flip them upside down to cool. The cake layers should stick to the sides of the pan. This helps the chiffon cake from collapsing as it cools.
Once cooled, run a spatula along the edges of each cake pan to release the layers. Flip the pan over and the layer should fall out easily.

Whipped Yogurt Frosting

Add the heavy whipping cream into a large bowl or stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar. Use a whisk attachment to whip the cream to medium peaks.
⅓ cups heavy whipping cream
⅕ cup powdered sugar
Add yogurt, salt, and vanilla extract into the whipped cream and continue whipping until it gets ultra thick and creamy. Don't over whip or else it will be grainy!
⅓ cups plain Greek yogurt
⅓ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅕ teaspoon sea salt
Transfer whipped frosting to a piping bag.

Assembly

Pipe a dollop of frosting onto a plate or cake stand. Place the first cake layer down. Pipe a thick border of frosting over the first layer.
Fill the center with the juicy, macerated strawberries. Drizzle some of the strawberry syrup on top.
Seal the strawberries in with a generous dollop of frosting and spread it out in an even layer.
Place the next layer of cake on top and repeat with the frosting ring, macerated strawberries, and more frosting to seal it in. Place the last cake layer on top, flipped upside down.
Cover the whole cake with the rest of the frosting in an even, smooth layer. Use a long, straight spatula for this. To get smooth sides and top, scrape the spatula clean against the edge of the bowl after each swipe.
Pop the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the frosting if enjoying immediately, or for up to 24 hours in the fridge.
Before serving, pile on loads of fresh, washed, whole strawberries on top. Drizzle a bit of the strawberry syrup from the macerated strawberries over top. Slice and serve with any leftover macerated strawberries, and enjoy!