Ingredients
Method
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 9-inch cake pans by greasing and flouring them, or by using a non-stick baking spray.
- Combine buttermilk, fresh strawberries, and freeze-dried strawberries in a blender to prepare the strawberry mixture.
- Blend until smooth, then set aside.
- Separate eggs, discard yolks, and allow the egg whites to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine, then set aside.
- Whip butter for 30 seconds using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.
- Add sugar and beat until combined.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Add room temperature egg whites and beat for 3 minutes until the batter is pale and light.
- Add one-third of the blended strawberry mixture, then one-third of the flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Repeat this process with the remaining strawberry and flour mixtures.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans. Gently shake the pans to level the batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Frosting
- Whip butter and cream cheese together using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and coconut extract.
- Beat until smooth.
- Add about a tablespoon of frosting to the cake plate to secure the cake.
- Place one cake round on the plate. Smooth a thick layer of frosting on top. Add the second cake layer and frost it. Repeat with the third layer.
- Smooth frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the top with shredded coconut and press coconut into the sides. Top with fresh strawberries.
Nutrition
Notes
Make Sure to Fully Cool. The cake layers need to be cooled all the way before you begin to frost it or it may melt and slide off the cake.
Use Room Temperature Egg Whites. You can set the eggs out on the counter for about an hour before you start to mix.
Don't Over Mix. When you begin to add the flour only mix long enough to incorporate the ingredients.
Prep Your Pans. Either grease or butter the pans and then dust with flour or use a cooking spray that's formulated for baking.
Use the Right Size Pans. This recipe makes three layers and you will need 3 - 9" cake pans.
How to Separate Eggs. Crack your egg and open it over a bowl. Let the yolk settle in one half of the shell. Carefully pour the yolk back and forth into the other half of the shell, letting the white drip into your bowl. Repeat this until all of the white is removed from the shell. Pour the yolk into a separate bowl.