White Cake with Strawberries and Mascarpone Frosting

I scaled my go-to fluffy white cake recipe down to make a cute little two layer 6 inch cake that's perfect for a small group. This might be the easiest layer cake you could ever make - in less than an hour, you can make the cake layers; for the filling, all you need to do is slice up some fresh strawberries; and for the frosting, all you need are 3 ingredients and less than a minute to whip it up (literally). This cake would be perfect for a bbq party, Fourth of July, or just about any sunny summer afternoon!

For more summer cake recipes, try Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Cake, Lemon Blueberry Jam Cake, Small Vanilla Cake, and Graham Cracker S'mores Cake.

Ingredient Notes

• Cake Flour: Cake flour will make this cake perfectly soft, but if you're in a pinch you can use all-purpose flour. 
• Granulated Sugar: You'll need a little less than 1 cup of sugar for the cake and some for the frosting. 
• Baking Powder: You'll need 2 teaspoon of baking powder for the cake. 
• Unsalted Butter: Be sure your butter is room temp, not too cold but not too soft. I like to take a stick of butter straight from the fridge and microwave it for 10 seconds to bring it the perfect temperature. 
• Oil: Use any neutral oil, such as vegetable, canola, or light tasting olive oil for the cake. 
• Milk: Use whole milk for the best flavor. 
• Yogurt: Use whole milk greek yogurt for the best flavor and texture. 
• Eggs: You'll need two about egg whites whipped to stiff peaks.
• Heavy Cream: You'll need about 1 ½ cups of heavy cream for the frosting.
• Mascarpone: Mascarpone is what transforms normal whip cream into a super stable whip cream that is strong enough to use for decorating cakes! 
• Fresh Strawberries: You'll need about 8oz of strawberries or really as much as you would like for decorating this cake. 

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this white cake with strawberries and mascarpone frosting recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Base layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting over first cooled cake layer.

STEP 2: Pipe. Pipe a dam of frosting around the edge of the cake layer.

STEP 3: Add strawberries. Add 1-2 layers of strawberries on top of the first cake layer.

STEP 4: Pipe frosting. Pipe a second dam of frosting around the strawberries and add another layer of strawberries on top of the first.

STEP 5: Add more cake. Top the base layer with the remaining cake layer.

STEP 6: Crumb coat. Add crumb coat and chill for 30 min before decorating.

Expert Baking Tips

• Read my tips above for how to bake perfectly flat cake layers!
• If you'd like, you can make the cake layers the day before serving. Either freeze the cake layers overnight or keep them at room temperature. Make the frosting closer to when you will serve it. 
• Store leftover cake slices in the fridge. 

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x