This Strawberries & Cream Graduation Cake combines layers of fresh strawberry cake, whipped cream and sliced strawberry filling with a little graduating giraffe on top, of course!
She did it!!
I can’t believe my baby has graduated from high school. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of graduation hoopla. We finished the craziness off this past weekend with a beautiful graduation party and this was the untraditional cake that I made for her!
My daughter likes to do things a little differently and she didn’t want a traditional graduation cake so I combined her love for giraffes with her school colors (green and white) and this is what I came up with!
I made this cute little giraffe cake topper from gumpaste and gave him a little graduation cap to keep with the whole graduation theme.
The cake tiers were covered with fondant and I hand painted the giraffe spots with gel food color thinned with vodka.
The green and white tiers were airbrushed with green air brush food color and the final touch were leaves cut out of fondant for the trim.
The cake tiers were a combination of chocolate cake filled with Chambord ganache and fresh raspberries and Strawberries & Cream Cake per my daughter’s request.
My friend helped me pass out slices of cake. She said every time she offered someone a slice they started to say no thank you but once they saw what was on the plate they quickly changed their mind and said, “Oh…I definitely need to try that!”
Strawberries & Cream Graduation Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 Cups All-purpose flour
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 3 teaspoons Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Sticks Unsalted butter ,softened
- 1 Cup Sour cream
- 2 Large Eggs + 4 large egg yolks ,room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 1 1/2 Cups Pureed fresh strawberries ,about 25 strawberries depending on size, stems removed and hulled
- 1/8 teaspoon No taste red food gel ,optional
For the whipped cream filling
- 1/2 Cup Heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 3-4 Tablespoons Confectioner sugar
- 4-5 Strawberries ,stems removed and sliced
Buttercream frosting
- 2 Sticks Unsalted butter ,softened
- 1/2 Pouns Shortening
- 2 Pounds Confectioner sugar
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 (8 inch) cake pans with oil, line bottom with wax paper cut to fit. Spray wax paper and sides of pan with more oil and dust with flour. (This will definitely prevent the cake from sticking. It's the method I almost always use when baking a cake.)
For the cake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment sift together flour, sugar, baking powder,and salt.
- Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and strawberry puree to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides to make sure all the flour is incorporated. Mix on medium speed for another minute.
- Divide batter evenly among cake pans and bake for 20-30 minutes on middle rack of oven.
- Let cool completely before filling and frosting.
For the whipped cream filling
- In a medium bowl combine heavy cream and cream of tatar and mix on high until soft peaks form. Add confectioner sugar and mix until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside.
For the Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and shortening for 3-5 minutes. Add confectioner sugar and pour milk and vanilla over it. **Place a dish towel around mixer
- to prevent a cloud of sugar covering your kitchen. Turn mixer on low speed and mix for 1 minute then turn to high speed and mix for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Put cake together
- Remove cooled cake from pans. Pipe around outer edge of bottom layer with buttercream frosting to create a dam so that your whipped cream filling and strawberries don't get squished out when you add your top layer. Add your whipped cream filling and layer with sliced strawberries. Place next cake layer on top and frost with buttercream.
Nutrition
Congratulations!
Can’t wait to see all the great things you will do in college and beyond!
This Strawberries & Cream Graduation Cake was the perfect summery treat especially now that strawberries are in season.
My Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes {with Chambord Ganache Filling} recipe are a smaller hand held version of the chocolate cake that the other tiers of this cake were made of. Click on the picture below for the recipe.
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What an amazing cake! I am in awe!
Thanks Michelle! 😉