My youngest son asked for a strawberry cake for his birthday and this cake is what came of that. He also requested dinosaurs baked inside it but I know my limits.

roasted strawberries and strawberry syrup

The only strawberries I could find at the time were a bit under ripe so I decided to roasted them to deepen the flavor. I simply cut the tops off and cut them in half, spread them on a pan with parchment paper and roasted in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes. Let the berries cool a bit and then blend into a puree and set aside to use in the cake.

You can use this method for any berries. I used frozen berries for my berry cake below. I did not roast them but just thawed and pureed them.

strawberry syrup

I saved the tops of the strawberries to make a strawberry simple syrup. To make the syrup combine equal parts of sugar and water and add the strawberry tops. Cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved and then let simmer without stirring until the mixture is a thick syrup like consistency. Strain the strawberry tops and discard. Let the syrup cool while you make the rest.

You will see below I also did a berry cake version and made a blueberry syrup to drizzle over it. You can make basically any syrup using the ratio above.

cake batter ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature (3 sticks)

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks (save whites for another use like magic frosting)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup whipping cream or half n half

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 lb fresh strawberries, washed and cut in half (see roasted strawberries above)

cake batter method

This cake uses the standard cake mixing method:

cream butter and sugar

add eggs one at a time (or a little at a time) and mix until thoroughly incorporated

add flour and liquid in an alternate pattern beginning and ending with the flour. finish mixing by hand with a spatula.

So for this cake I used the strawberry puree, which came out to about 3/4 cup and added 1/4 cup of whipping cream and a little lemon juice as my liquid portion. I added cornstarch to the flour mixture to give it a lighter texture.

After the cake batter is mixed divide into your prepared pans (butter or oil and flour) and bake at 350F starting at 30 minutes or until cake bounces back in the middle when touched with your finger. If an indent stays, leave in for another 5 minutes and check again.

Let the baked cakes cool completely before removing from the pans. Run butter knife or offset spatula around the edges of pan and then invert onto a cutting board or counter.

If I am frosting immediately, I will put the cakes in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. So usually while I am making the frosting(s). Then I wipe the crumbs off the edges and start assembling and frosting. If I am making these ahead, I will wrap tightly and store in the freezer until I am ready to frost and decorate.

berry cake

For the berry cake variation I used berry puree made from thawed frozen berries. The decoration is a magic frosting I use to make some cute piping details as well as large and small white sprinkles, and obviously fresh berries. I made a blueberry syrup for this one that I drizzled on top to drip over the edges.