Strawberry Mousse Cake
This moist Strawberry Mousse Cake consists of soft vanilla cake layers filled with a creamy strawberry mousse filling, sliced strawberries, and frosted with a luscious layer of strawberry buttercream!
Servings: 12
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (170g) ( holds it shape but dents when pressed)
- 2 cups sugar (400g)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
- 3 cups cake flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled off) If you do not have cake flour see substitution in Notes below. (342g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk — if you do not have buttermilk, see substitution below (296g)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (54g)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (12g)
Easy Strawberry Mousse Filling
- ¼ cup strawberry puree Approximately 6 strawberries, liquified in blender or food processor. We used a small bullet blender. We did not cook the puree to reduce.
- **You will also be using another ¼ cup puree for the frosting if you'd like to prepare both at the same time.
- 1 small box instant Vanilla pudding 3.4 oz (96g) we used Jello Brand pudding. We sift our pudding to filter out any larger granules of sugar.
- 1 ¾ heavy cream or whipping cream (406g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon strawberry extract the amount depends on how flavorful your strawberries are Adjust amount to your liking. *See notes for substitution
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar (690g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- ¼ cup pureed strawberries add more to reach your desired spreading consistency- This is approximately 3-5 strawberries depending on size.
- 1 teaspoon strawberry extract (optional) use if the buttercream needs more strawberry flavor (4g)
Miscellaneous
- Additional strawberries for adding in between layers optional and decorating the cake.
- Pink coloring gel- Add to mousse and buttercream to achieve desired shade of pink.
Instructions
- Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8×2 inch round pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid). After the last addition, mix just until combined. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes and turn out.
- Strawberry Mousse Filling
- Chilling the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) will shorten the mixing time. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with whisk attachment, or you can whisk by hand.
- Combine the dry pudding mix, heavy cream and ¼ cup pureed strawberries in a mixing bowl. Begin on low speed until everything is well combined. Add a little pink coloring gel if you'd like, and strawberry extract (optional). Increase speed and mix until the mixture is thick.
- If mixing by hand, simply whisk rapidly for a couple of minutes or until mixture is thick. Refrigerate until ready to use. Cakes with this filling should be refrigerated until 1 to 2 hours before serving.
- Filling can be made up to two days in advance and refrigerated.
- Strawberry Buttercream
- Cream the softened butter until smooth.Gradually add the powdered sugar and pureed strawberries, mixing at medium speed until blended. (Add strawberry extract if needed.)
- Add a little pink coloring gel if you would like. Continue mixing on medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally
- Slow down the mixer to very slow (#2 on a KitchenAid) and mixing another 1 to 2 minutes. This will eliminate air pockets. The buttercream will become very smooth. If the buttercream is too thin add more powdered sugar, if too thick add more puree or a bit of milk.
- Assembling the CakePlace the first cake layer on cake plate or pedestal. We piped a buttercream dam around the top edge of the cake layer (about ¼ inch from the edge) using a piping bag with the tip snipped away. (We use dams when working with soft fillings).
- Spread a layer of strawberry mousse within the dam.
- Top the mousse with a single layer of strawberry slices (however many you like- this step is optional).
- Top with the second cake layer and repeat the above steps for filling. Then top with the third cake layer.
- Fill in any gaps between the layers with buttercream. Crumb coat (thin coat) the sides and top of the cake with frosting. Chill the cake for 10 minutes in the freezer or longer in the refrigerator to firm everything up. (This is optional but helpful).
- Add the second layer of frosting and decorate to your liking. I smoothed around the sides with a hot metal bench scraper and added a braided buttercream top border with a large star piping tip (1M).
Notes
If you do not have strawberry extract, and you feel that your mousse or buttercream needs a little strawberry boost (on top of the puree in the recipe) you can also use strawberry jello powder dissolved in very hot water.
I would start with dissolving 2 teaspoons of strawberry jello powder with 1 teaspoon very, very hot water. Stir to dissolve. Then, add to the recipe as needed.