Dreamy Layer Cake

I’ve had visions of a strawberry buttercream, frosted vanilla cake running through my head for the past few weeks. I imagined the frosting to be creamy with a hint of tartness from the strawberries and the cake to be moist, dense and very, very vanilla. This morning when I woke up, I had the overwhelming urge to make this cake that has been dancing around my head a reality.

The cake is a recipe I pulled from Martha Stewart. This particular cake recipe calls for Buttermilk and let’s let it be known that I’m a sucker for cakes with Buttermilk. I followed the recipe to a T. My only advice is to keep an eye on it— I wish I would have taken mine out 2 minutes earlier than I did.

The frosting is by moi.

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (a little cooler than room temp.)

Roughly 4 cups confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 pinches salt

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into small pieces

In a blender or food processor, puree strawberries until smooth. Set aside. In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer whip butter and salt until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar a cup at a time and whip. Make sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding another. When you are finished adding all your sugar, add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Now add strawberry puree tablespoonfuls at a time. I added about 6 tablespoons (if you have extra puree, use it for something else). Make sure you don’t pour the puree in all at once or your frosting will “break”.

When your cake has cooled completely, you are ready to frost. This frosting recipe should be the perfect amount for 2, 9 in cakes. In the cake recipe it says to place your first layer bottom side up and then the second layer bottom side down. I did this and it made for a stress free frosting process. As for other tips on frosting, I’m really not the one to ask. I think frosting a cake is an art in and of itself…and I am determined to master it some day…