Strawberries and Mascarpone Cream Cake
Earlier this month I was glued to the TV watching the worlds finest battle it out on the grass tennis courts of Wimbledon. Strawberry’s and cream is a staple at Wimbledon which got me thinking….. Strawberries….Cream…. Strawberry and Mascarpone Cream Cake! There is something about the classic combination of strawberries and cream that I love so much and can never get enough of.
Mascarpone cheese is an Italian cream cheese which is mild and slightly sweet in flavor, it’s perfect for desserts. The star of this dessert is the mascarpone cream icing…I mean this stuff is so addicting you can eat by the spoonful or mix it with any fruit and it will satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s slightly sweetened with sugar, contains NO butter and incredibly light. The addition of mascarpone cheese helps the heavy whipping cream hold it’s shape for icing and decorating. When I originally made this cake, I made a classic cream cheese icing- which was also delicious- but overall it didn’t go with what I had in mind. I really wanted to create a light and tasty summer dessert and the mascarpone cream icing helped with achieving my goal.
I was also on a mission to impart as much strawberry flavor onto this cake as possible without using strawberry extract. My taste buds are extremely sensitive to fruit or nut extracts in desserts, 98% of the time I can detect the artificial flavor and I’m not a fan. Being picky like this comes with consequences though, it created an extra step for myself. I ended up making a fresh strawberry puree to swirl into the cake batter, this extra step was so worth it.
Why don’t you just use strawberry jam you ask? Well, by making my own puree I can control the level of sweetness. Strawberry jam can be too sweet. Plus, I live next to a strawberry farm so I better put those strawberries to good use
Swirling the strawberry puree into the cake batter not only looked cool but it didn’t interfere with the cakes’ consistency. It baked evenly and you can taste the bright strawberry flavor in each bite. Once the cakes have cooled, scoop a big dollop of mascarpone cream onto the cake smooth it out. Add about a cup of fresh chopped strawberries. Place the second cake layer on top and ice with the remaining mascarpone cream and strawberries. I had a little puree left over and I mixed it with some of the icing. I used it to pipe around the edges of the cake. It added a touch of color and even more strawberry flavor to the cake!
Vanilla cake recipe from The Fearless Baker, Emily Luchetti.
- 1 2/3 cups fresh strawberries
- 2 Tb granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh strawberries one for filling and one for topping
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9-inch round cake pans with butter and line bottom with parchment paper and grease parchment paper as well.
- Cut stems off strawberries and place strawberries in food processor. Process until it turns into a smooth puree. Place strainer over medium sauce pan and pour strawberry puree over it, with spatula press puree through strainer to speed up the process. Once puree is strained add sugar and mix. Place pot over medium-high heat. Watch closely, when puree begins to boil reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. When time is up, pour puree in a heat proof bowl and allow to cool.
- Sift dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Using the stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scrape sides of bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add half of the buttermilk to butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Then add half the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Add remaining buttermilk and mix, then end with dry ingredients beat until just incorporated.
- Pour half of the cake batter into prepared pans. Dollop strawberry puree all over cake batter and then pour remaining cake batter over the puree. Run a dull knife throughout the cake to swirl the puree all over cake.
- Bake cakes on middle rack of oven until inserted toothpick comes out clean about 15-20 minutes. Allow cake to completely cool before icing.
- Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the mascarpone cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until you get stiff peaks.
- To assemble cake, place one cake layer on cake stand and use about half of mascarpone cream to fill cake and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Add one cup of fresh chopped strawberries to cream filling and place second layer of cake on top. Ice top layer of cake with the remaining cream. You can save some for piping bag and do any design you like. Garnish with remaining cup of strawberries.
Cake can be left out for about four hours but if it's too warm where you live, it's best to place it covered in the fridge after serving. The mascarpone cream hold it's shape pretty well but it wont be as good if it's warm.
Store cake covered in fridge for about four days.
I can’t wait to try this one! It sounds AMAZING!!!
Thank you Adele! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂