Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling (Swedish Midsummer Cake)

Elegant and bursting with true strawberry flavor, this Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling is the perfect way to celebrate any summer occasion.

Rich pastry cream and a luscious roasted strawberry filling are sandwiched between two layers of tender vanilla cake and topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries....it's the perfect show-stopping dessert for any summer celebration, gathering or weekend dinner that you have coming up in the next few months.

So what are we waiting for? Let me introduce you to this delicious (and surprisingly easy) homemade Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling.

Why This Recipe Works

• The vanilla cake layers are tender, moist and light in texture....the perfect compliment to the strawberries and cream.
• The simple strawberry filling is roasted in the oven to create a delicious jam-like concoction that tastes deeply of strawberries.
• In addition to the roasted strawberry filling, there is also a layer of rich vanilla pastry cream sandwiched between the cake layers, which provides a luxurious strawberries-and-cream flavor.
• The assembled cake is downright stunning and so easy to put together!

The Ingredients

There are essentially four components to this cake: The cake layers, the roasted strawberry filling, the pastry cream and the whipped cream and fresh strawberries that finish the cake.

A few ingredients that are worth noting:

• Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour (and therefore less gluten) and creates an exceptionally tender, delicate crumb in this cake.
• A mixture of canola oil (or another type of neutral vegetable oil) and butter gives this cake both delicious flavor and a moist, tender texture.
• I use half and half (A mixture of whole milk and cream) to make my pastry cream. You can certainly use just milk or just cream, but I really like the balanced richness that comes from a mix of the two. If you don't want to buy half and half in addition to the other dairy products called for in this recipe, you can simply make your own by combining 1 part whole milk with 1 part cream.

Equipment Needed

• 2 9-inch round cake pans
• parchment paper
• heavy-duty stand mixer or hand mixer
• pastry bag with a large pastry tip or a gallon-sized plastic Ziploc bag

How to Make This Recipe

• Begin by roasting the strawberries for the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss 1 pound of quartered strawberries with ¼ cup of sugar and a pinch of salt in a square baking dish. Stir to combine. Roast for 20 minutes, and then give the strawberries a stir. Roast for 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and mash the strawberries with a fork or potato masher until they are a jam-like consistency. Set aside to cool.

• Make the cake layers. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut out two 9-inch rounds from a piece of parchment paper. Butter two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of the cake pans with the parchment rounds. Butter the parchment. Dust the inside of the cake pans with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside.
• Whisk the cake flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together on medium-high speed until light in texture and pale yellow in color, about 2-3 minutes.

• Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
• Heat the milk in a medium saucepan until it just begins to simmer. Add the butter and oil and stir until the butter has melted completely.
• Return the mixer to low speed and slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the batter. Mix until just smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the whisk as necessary.
• Remove the bowl for the mixer and scrape the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.

• While the cake is baking, make the pastry cream. Whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, half and half and sugar together in a medium saucepan. Add the butter (it will melt once we start the cooking process).  Place pan over medium low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and thick, about 3-5 minutes.  Strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Place a piece of parchment paper directly on top of the pastry cream, followed by a layer of plastic wrap (this prevents it from forming a skin).  Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the cake.

• Once everything has cooled to room temperature, make the whipped cream and assemble the cake. Place the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-high to high speed until the cream can hold relatively firm medium peaks.
• Spoon ½ a cup of the whipped cream into the bowl with the cooled pastry cream. Whisk to combine. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a wide tip (or simply use a gallon storage bag with ½ inch size hole cut out of one of the corners) with the remaining whipped cream.
• Place one cake layer on the bottom of a serving plate.  Make a border of alternating dollops of whipped cream and halved strawberries, cut side down. Spread some of the pastry cream evenly in the center of the border (you will have some pastry cream leftover). Using a slotted spoon, top the pastry cream with some of the roasted strawberries, taking care to leave most of the juices behind in the bowl (again, you will have some roasted strawberries left over).

• Place the second cake layer on top of the strawberry filling layer.  Create dollops of whipped cream over the top of the cake and arrange fresh strawberries over the top, finishing with a whole strawberry for garnish.  Serve immediately or cover carefully with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve (up to a few hours ahead).

Expert Tips

• Be sure to gently spoon and level the cake flour when measuring your ingredients. Or better yet, weigh the flour for the most accurate measurement. 2 cups of cake flour should weigh 240 grams.
• Don't overmix the cake batter. Mix at a low speed and just until everything is smooth and comes together. This helps our cake to be tender in texture rather than tough.
• Be sure to strain the pastry cream. Pastry cream contains egg yolks, and even if we are stirring it constantly as it cooks, it's quite likely you might have small bits of cooked egg in the final result. Straining the pastry cream removes any unsightly bits of egg and produces a perfectly smooth and luxurious final result.
• Don't over whip the whipped cream. Whipped cream can go from perfectly billowy to curdled in appearance VERY quickly. Keep a close eye on it as it whips. You want it to hold medium-stiff peaks and not be overly stiff.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the cake. This will create cleaner slices.

FAQs

Elegant and bursting with true strawberry and cream flavor, this easy cake is the perfect way to celebrate summer and impress your guests with what is a surprisingly easy baking project. Looking for more Scandinavian-inspired recipes for strawberries? Give these a try:

If you loved this recipe, give it a star review! Also, snap a picture of your Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #truenorthkitchen and tagging me @true_north_kitchen.