Strawberry Cheesecake Cake
This decadent, beautiful Strawberry Cheesecake Cake is certain to make any occasion feel more special! If you love strawberries and cheesecake, you will love this recipe!
Servings: 18
Equipment
- 9 inch spring form pan
- 2 9 inch cake pans
Ingredients
For the Cheesecake Layer
- 16 oz Cream Cheese, softened (We used two 8 oz packages. Use full fat cream cheese.)
- 1 cup white sugar (200g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour (23g)
- ¾ cup Sour Cream, full fat (182g)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (4g)
For the Strawberry Sour Cream Cake
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (170g)
- 2 cups white sugar (400g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature (Place eggs in a bowl of warm water for five minutes if in a hurry.)
- 3 cups cake flour (342g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 cup sour cream (full fat) (227g)
- ½ cup strawberry puree (Puree fresh or frozen, thawed strawberries) (129g) Liquefy in a blender. We did not heat on stovetop.
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (54g) (We use canola oil)
- 2 teaspoons strawberry extract (8g) (If no extract, you can substitute 2 Tablespoons powdered strawberry jello)
- *Pink Coloring Gel- Optional for desired color. We used a small amount.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g total)
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened (We used two 8 oz packages, full fat)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 6 cups powdered sugar (adjust up or down to your liking) (690g-747g) (We use between 6-6.5 cups)
Filling and Decoration
- Additional Fresh Strawberries to use in between layers and on top. (Optional)
Instructions
For the Cheesecake Layer
- Place a 9x13 (or similar size) pan filled with one inch of water on a rack in the bottom ⅔ of the oven. (Just under the rack where your cheesecake layer will bake)
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese until smooth.
- Mixing at low speed, add sugar, salt, flour.
- Add vanilla extract and sour cream. Mix at low speed until smooth and incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. Mix until well combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into springform pan lined with parchment and place on a rack just above the pan of water.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. The cheesecake should be set at this point- it may jiggle slightly.
- Turn off the oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 more minutes with the oven door slightly open. (This helps the cake to gradually cool without cracking.)
- Then, allow the cheesecake to cool on the countertop. Then, place foil on the pan and chill in the freezer for 2-3 hours. If you are not in a hurry, you can refrigerate the cake for 5-6 hours or overnight.
For the Strawberry Sour Cream Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans (ours were 9x2 inch).
- In a medium sized bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend for 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In another bowl combine the sour cream, strawberry puree, strawberry extract and oil, blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs one at a time mixing after each addition until the yolk is blended
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 additions of wet ingredients.) If adding a little pink coloring gel, you can do so at this time.
- Mix just until combined. Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. The surface of the cake should bring back when lightly touched. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes, then turn out. Baking times can vary.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first cooled strawberry cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal. Spread with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting. As an optional step, you can also add a thin layer of thinly sliced strawberries on top of the frosting as we did. Keep them from the edge of the cake so that the juices don't escape.
- Cheesecake Layer: Run a thin knife (I like to heat it with hot water) between the cake and side of the springform cake pan to help prevent sticking.
- Release the sides of the springform pan.
- Carefully place the cheesecake layer upside down onto the first cake layer. Remove the bottom of the springform pan. If it sticks at all, use a thin, hot knife to slide between the pan and the cake to release.
- Remember to remove the parchment if you haven't already!!
- Spread the top of the cheesecake layer with another thin layer of frosting. Add sliced strawberries to this if you'd like. (Keep the slices away from the edge of the cake).
- *If your cheesecake layer is slightly wider than your cake layers, just trim away the excess with a hot knife.
- Frost the cake as usual with cream cheese frosting. If at any time the frosting becomes too soft, or the layers are sliding, just pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm things up. (You can refrigerate the bowl of frosting also as needed.)
- This cake should be stored in an airtight container or under a cake dome in the refrigerator until closer to the time of serving. Remove about 1-2 hours before serving.
Notes
Substitution for cake flour: Using all purpose flour (plain in the UK) for each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
The strawberry cake recipe makes 7 cups cake batter.
Fresh or frozen strawberries can be used.