Indulge in the tangy and sweet flavors of summer with our Lemon Strawberry Cake recipe! This delicious cake features a fluffy and tender lemon sponge cake, filled with a layer of roasted strawberries and a creamy chamomile infused frosting.
Our easy-to-follow recipe guide will show you how to create this delicious cake in the comfort of your own home. Perfect for a special occasion or a sweet treat, this Lemon Strawberry Cake is the ultimate way to enjoy the fruity taste of summer in a unique and satisfying way.
Why you'll love this
Refreshing and Fruity
Our Lemon Strawberry Cake recipe features a lemon sponge cake with and sweet strawberries in the center, creating a deliciously fruity cake that's perfect for any occasion.
Moist and Tender
This Lemon Strawberry Cake is moist, tender, and perfectly balanced, making it a perfect dessert for any palate.
Perfect for Any Occasion
This Lemon Strawberry Cake is perfect for any occasion, whether it's a special holiday or just a sweet treat for yourself. It's a unique and flavorful cake that's sure to impress your guests. Plus, it's a great option for anyone who wants to try something new and delicious with a fresh and fruity twist!
Ingredients and substitutions for Lemon Strawberry Cake
- Butter: Butter must be room temperature here to create the nice and fluffy base of the sponge cake which allows more air to be whipped up and help the sugar begin dissolving. Unsalted was used as it is fresher than salted, however, you could absolutely substitute with salted butter.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar gives our cake it’s sweetness without overly flavoring the cake allowing the lemon flavors to really come to the fore. You could substitute with raw sugar or half and half with brown sugar, though your cake would have slightly more caramel flavor. Icing or confectioner’s sugar is best in the glaze because it dissolves into the lemon juice thanks to it’s incredibly fine texture.
- Plain flour: The finer crumb in plain flour gives our sponge cake it's signature texture. However, you can substitute in equal measure with self-raising flour and omit the baking powder, which is most commonly recommended for this recipe.
- Baking powder: This helps our cake rise so to create the nice light crumb and avoid a dense cake. Baking powder can expire, so it's best to check the best before date, particularly if yours has been open for some time.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs are essential to bind with the butter and sugar as they allow more air to be introduced which gives our sponge that nice and light texture.
- Lemon: Verna lemons were most easy to source for this recipe, but honestly, any lemon you have on hand works. You will want the skin to be as blemish free as possible due to using the zest for the cake batter.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment needed to make this
Greaseproof paper: Lining your tins will make getting the cakes out a breeze!
Mixing bowls: A medium mixing bowl is needed for the cake batter as well as a heatproof mixing bowl for the Swiss meringue buttercream.
Hand or stand mixer: To whip the cake batter, this is best done with an electric beater to give your sponge the light airy texture. Both can be done by hand, but you will need some elbow grease to get the texture right.
Cake tin: Two 18 centimeter or 7 inch cake tins were used here for a higher cake due to the batter not being a large recipe; the smaller your tin the higher the cakes will be. If your cake tin is any larger then 23 centimeters or 9 inches, your cakes will be much flatter than they appear here.
FAQ’s for the best Lemon Strawberry Cake
How long should I roast strawberries?
Roasted strawberries can be used in a multitude of dishes, from an accompaniment to your breakfast bowl alongside yogurt and granola to being served here in the center of a cake. Ultimately the length of time you roast your strawberries depends on your use for it. In the case of using in the center of a cake; we want most of the moisture to be baked out of it and the flavor to be intensified. You could roast your strawberries for 1 hour and if you feel they’re sufficient then take them out and they’ll still be perfect for the center of your cake. This is where you get to decide what suits you and your flavor preferences best. They can be made ahead and kept in the fridge up to 5 days before you make your cake.
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How to make Lemon Strawberry Cake:
Preheat your oven to 160C/320F and toss the strawberries, sugar and vanilla seeds into a baking dish.
Stir together and ensure the strawberries are in a nice evenly layer in your baking dish (we don’t them to be too piled together).
Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, removing and stirring every 20 minutes. (See FAQ’s for more details).
Remove and set aside to cool completely.
Lower the heat to 180C/350F and line the bases of two cake tins with greaseproof paper.
Place the sugar and lemon zest into a bowl and rub together to coat the zest thoroughly with sugar and draw out the oils in the peel.
Add the butter and eggs and beat until pale and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes with an electric beater.
Add the flour and baking powder to your mixture and beat on low until just combined.
Pour evenly into the cake tins and spread out evenly.
Place in the oven until golden, approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.
For the buttercream, place a small saucepan on low heat with enough water not to touch the base of a heatproof bowl.
Place the egg whites and sugar into the bowl and put over the simmering water.
Beat on low until your egg whites reach 73C/165F (if you don’t have a thermometer, the best test is to put a clean finger into the egg whites and you feel no sugar granules between your finger or can’t keep your finger in the mixture for more than 3 seconds).
Remove the egg whites from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Beat on medium speed with a whisk attachment until stiff and the bowl is tepid to the touch.
Toss in all the cubed butter and whisk on the lowest setting to incorporate, approximately 3 minutes.
Increase the speed to medium and beat until your buttercream is smooth, approximately 10 minutes.
Add in the vanilla extract, salt and chamomile tea and beat for a further 2 minutes until smooth.
To assemble your cake, place your base cake layer onto a plate and evenly spread a portion of the buttercream on top and smooth out to a ¼ inch thickness with a rim of buttercream.
Spoon the roasted strawberries evenly into the center of the cake.
Lay the second layer on top and press down lightly to ensure the layers are evenly stacked.
Place approximately 6 tablespoons of the buttercream on the cake and smooth out over the entire surface to form your crumb coating.
Smooth out and ensure you do not mix the crumb coating portion into the remaining buttercream.
Place the cake into the fridge to set for 30 minutes or set at a cool room temperature for 1 hour.
Finish with the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream, decorating how you prefer.
Serve up and slice.
Dig in!
Lemon Strawberry Cake
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 10
- Category: Cakes, Spring, Summer
Description
This delicious Lemon Strawberry cake features a fluffy and tender lemon sponge cake, filled with a layer of roasted strawberries and a creamy chamomile infused frosting.
Ingredients
Roasted Strawberries
300 grams / 10.6 ounces strawberries, roughly chopped
25 grams / 2 tablespoon superfine/caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla seeds
Lemon Sponge Cake
200 grams / 1 cup superfine/caster sugar
5 grams / 1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped
200 grams / 7 ounces butter, room temperature
160 grams / 3 eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
14 grams / 1 tablespoon lemon juice
200 grams / 1 ¼ cups plain flour, sifted
6 grams / 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Chamomile Swiss Meringue Buttercream
100 grams / 3.5 ounces egg whites
200 grams / 1 cup superfine/caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225 grams / 7.93 ounces butter, room temperature
¼ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
3 grams / 2 bags chamomile
50 grams chamomile tea, strained
Instructions
Roasted strawberries
- Preheat your oven to 160C/320F and toss the strawberries, sugar and vanilla seeds into a baking dish.
- Stir together and ensure the strawberries are in a nice evenly layer in your baking dish (we don’t them to be too piled together).
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, removing and stirring every 20 minutes. (See FAQ’s for more details).
- Remove and set aside to cool completely.
Lemon sponge cakes
- Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and line the bases of two cake tins with greaseproof paper.
- Place the sugar and lemon zest into a bowl and rub together to coat the zest thoroughly with sugar and draw out the oils in the peel.
- Add the butter and eggs and beat until pale and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes with an electric beater.
- Add the flour and baking powder to your mixture and beat on low until just combined.
- Pour evenly into the cake tins and spread out evenly.
- Place in the oven until golden, approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.
Chamomile Swiss meringue buttercream
- For the buttercream, place a small saucepan on low heat with enough water not to touch the base of a heatproof bowl.
- Place the egg whites and sugar into the bowl and put over the simmering water.
- Beat on low until your egg whites reach 73C/165F (if you don’t have a thermometer, the best test is to put a clean finger into the egg whites and you feel no sugar granules between your finger or can’t keep your finger in the mixture for more than 3 seconds).
- Remove the egg whites from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Beat on medium speed with a whisk attachment until stiff and the bowl is tepid to the touch.
- Toss in all the cubed butter and whisk on the lowest setting to incorporate, approximately 3 minutes.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat until your buttercream is smooth, approximately 10 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla extract, salt and chamomile tea and beat for a further 2 minutes until smooth.
Assembly
- To assemble your cake, place your base cake layer onto a plate and evenly spread a portion of the buttercream on top and smooth out to a ¼ inch thickness with a rim of buttercream.
- Spoon the roasted strawberries evenly into the center of the cake.
- Lay the second layer on top and press down lightly to ensure the layers are evenly stacked.
- Place approximately 6 tablespoons of the buttercream on the cake and smooth out over the entire surface to form your crumb coating.
- Smooth out and ensure you do not mix the crumb coating portion into the remaining buttercream.
- Place the cake into the fridge to set for 30 minutes or set at a cool room temperature for 1 hour.
- Finish with the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream, decorating how you prefer.
- Serve up and slice.
- Dig in!
Notes
Recipe by Roamingtaste
Nutrition
- Calories: 550 calories per serve
Keywords: lemon cake, sponge cake, layer cake, roasted strawberries
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