Strawberry Buttercream Jam Cake

believe it or not you can still find a few places with michigan strawberries available! it’s so rare this late in the season (they’re typically done by june) but with the cold and wet june we had here a lot of things are slower to ripen and pop up at the farmers markets. i made this cake earlier this summer but decided it was too good not to share. the combination is a mix of my favorite magnolia bakery recipes (the original bakeshop in NYC not the waco one)

i remember the first time I had their buttercream frosting. it was a hot october day and I was visiting my former college roomie in NYC. We sat on a bench waiting in line for the improve theater to open sharing cupcakes. I took my first bite of the vanilla buttercream and was overcome with an instant sugar rush. it was the best buttercream frosting i’ve ever had. (don’t tell my grandma but her’s is a close second).

i love when food has memories tied to it. i remember that day in october so vividly. looking back it was such a carefree time. It was before careers and babies and mortgages, it was right on the cusp of becoming an “adult”. We were fresh out of school and just trying to figure things out. what a better place to do it than NYC?

twelve years later this is still my go to recipe for cake and buttercream frosting. it just really, can’t be beat. I also use this cake for birthday cakes as well as cupcakes.

you are going to need a  lot of butter. like a few sticks of butter. and also the key is ROOM TEMP ingredients. do not melt and do not use cold butter. I pull things out of the fridge first thing in the morning if I am going to be baking in the afternoon. the temperature of the butter will dictate your success of the frosting.

cake

• one cup of unsalted butter, softened
• two cups of sugar
• four room temperature eggs
• one and a half cups of self-rising flour
• one and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour
• one cup room temp milk (i measure it out and let it come to temp
• one teaspoon of vanilla

buttercream frosting

• one cup of unsalted butter, softened
• eight cups of confectioners sugar
• half cup of milk
• two teaspoons of vanilla

Jam

• i used one of my homemade strawberry jams but really you could use anything that sounds good! if it’s too thick heat it up with a bit of water to make it more of a sauce. but make sure you allow to cool before adding it to the cake.

preheat your oven to 350F and gather two ten inch round pans and rub the base with butter, sprinkle with flour and shake to coat. cut two ten inch circles of parchment paper and place in the base of the cake pan. this will help you flip the cakes out easier.

cream the butter in a mixer with a paddle attachement until smooth and slowly add the sugar until nice and fluffy. i like to set a timer because 3- 4 minutes is longer than you think.

add eggs in one at a time until the mixture is nice and fluffy (about a minute per egg)

combine the flours together and the milk and vanilla together (flour vs. milk) and slowly add in alternating flour, milk, flour milk etc until all have been added.

divide batter into pans and bake about 25 – 30 minutes pending your oven. check after 20. if a toothpick comes out of the middle clean you are done baking.

let cool for ten minutes and then flip out of pan on to a cooling rack. allow to completely cool before frosting.

now to make the frosting.

beat the butter again with the paddle attachement. add in four cups of the sugar and slowly add in the milk and then vanilla. until incorporated together. slowly add in the rest of the confectioners sugar. you might not need all of it pending out thick you want the frosting to be.

once your cake is cool and your frosting is mixed place one of the rounds onto the cake stand or serving dish. with a bread knife slowly cut the cake in half horizontally (essentially creating another cake) frost the layer with frosting and then with a separate knife spread a layer of the strawberry jam. repeat with the next layer. repeat the slicing process with the next cake and frost the same as the bottom cake. you will have four cakes with three layers of frosting.

frost the top and sides. decorate with berries and serve!

NOTE: Do NOT refrigerate! the frosting will set. the frosting will keep at room temperature in a container for up to three days.

original recipe from magnolia bakery.