Strawberry Lemonade Cake with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Category: desserts
By Bibi

Strawberries and lemonade say 'summer', don't they? Combining these flavors in a cake makes a tangy, sweet dessert or snack. Garnish with additional fresh strawberries and lemon slices.

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup frozen pink lemonade from concentrate, thawed
½ cup milk
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons strawberry extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 drops red food coloring, or more as needed  (Optional)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cubed
8 large fresh strawberries, stemmed, or more as needed
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 pinch kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon strawberry extract, or to taste
1 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar
1 (10 ounce) jar lemon curd

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans. Place cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt into the bowl of an electric mixer and stir to combine. Stir lemonade concentrate, milk, eggs, 2 teaspoons strawberry extract, lemon extract, and food coloring together in a separate bowl. Add 12 tablespoons cubed butter to the flour mixture, 2 to 3 pieces at a time, and mix on low speed until all butter is added and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Resume mixing at medium speed; add 1/2 of the egg mixture slowly and mix, about 20 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Resume mixing at medium speed; add remaining egg mixture in 2 batches, about 20 seconds after each addition, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Pour batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 28 to 33 minutes. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool on cooling racks for 10 minutes. Turn cake layers out onto the racks to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes. While cakes cool, place 8 strawberries into a small food processor or an electric blender. Blend to make 1/4 cup puree. Place 10 tablespoons softened butter and a pinch of kosher salt into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in 1/8 teaspoon strawberry extract. Gradually add about 1/3 of the confectioners' sugar to the butter while continuing to mix. Add 1/2 of the strawberry puree, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, and continue mixing. Add the next 1/3 of the confectioners' sugar, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in remaining strawberry puree. Sprinkle in the remaining confectioners' sugar and mix until desired consistency is reached, adding more confectioners' sugar or strawberry puree as needed. Place the cooled bottom cake layer on a serving plate and spread the top with lemon curd. Place the second layer on top of the first and frost with strawberry buttercream starting with the sides, then the top of the cake.

Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 1 hr 25 mins
Yields: 1 8-inch layer cake

Calories: 655.1
Fat: 24.5 g
Saturated fat: 14.6 g
Carbohydrates: 106.5 g
Sugars: 79.5 g
Dietary fiber: 0.8 g
Protein: 5.2 g
Cholesterol: 136.3 mg
Sodium: 264.6 mg