Strawberry Lemonade Cake (doctored cake mix)

The tartness of the lemon cake. The sweetness of the strawberry. The tang of the lemon curd. The delicious balance of strawberry preserves and fresh strawberries. And, on top of it all–homemade whipped cream, stabilized with lemon pudding. Yes, please! This Strawberry Lemonade cake is visually stunning and (truly) one of the best cakes you’ll ever put in your mouth.

Light, fluffy. . .chiffon.

Let’s start by talking about how to turn any boxed cake mix into a chiffon cake. It’s really very simple. Most mixes call for three eggs, 1/2 cup oil (or butter) and 1 cup water.

To “chiffon” a cake, hold off on the eggs until you’ve already added the water and oil. Then, instead of adding three eggs, whip the whites of FOUR eggs separately and then fold them into the batter. Don’t over-beat or you will knock the air out of the cake. Bake as normal.

What You’ll End Up With

A light, fluffy cake, airy and billowy. And, as we discovered in an earlier post (How to Tier a Cake) this is a layered cake, not a tiered cake.

You’re going to end up with an icing that’s light, fluffy, airy, and billowy.

And Lemony.

It’s hard to express the love that most of us have for lemons. Sure, they make us pucker, but when you sweeten them up in cake form, they taste like a delicacy. And let’s face it–most everyone loves the combination of lemon and strawberry. (Makes you want to reach for a big glass of strawberry lemonade, doesn’t it?!) With the addition of that lemon, this is a particularly great summer cake.

Here’s what you’ll need to make Strawberry Lemonade Cake

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE STRAWBERRY CAKE:

• 1 strawberry cake mix
• 4 egg whites (large eggs, room temperature)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water

FOR THE LEMON CAKE:

• 4 egg whites 
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla

FOR THE FROSTING:

• 4 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 box lemon pudding (instant)
• 1-2 drops yellow gel food coloring

FILLINGS:

• Jar lemon curd
• Jar strawberry preserves (or real strawberry puree)
• Sliced strawberries

Basically, you’re making two separate chiffon cakes and alternating the layers. So, let’s break it down.

Here’s how you make my Strawberry Lemonade Cake:

MAKE THE STRAWBERRY CAKE:

Add strawberry cake mix, oil, and water to your mixing bowl and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl whip egg whites until light and fluffy. Fold into batter and split between two 8″ pans that have been greased and floured.

MAKE THE LEMON CAKE:

Follow the same process! Add cake mix, oil, and water to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until incorporated. In a separate bowl whip egg whites until light and fluffy. Fold into batter and split between two 8″ pans that have been greased and floured.

Bake all four cakes in a preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until they pull away from the edges of the pan and spring back to the touch. Remove from oven and cool, then turn out onto wire racks to cool.

MAKE THE ICING:

• Pour the whipping cream into a clean, cold mixing bowl.
• Whip cream until soft peaks form
• Add powdered sugar, lemon pudding mix and food coloring.
• Combine until incorporated.
• Place in piping bag(s) with 1M tip.
• Refrigerate until use.

TIME TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE!

You’ll see from the pictures that I’ve done this cake multiple times. It doesn’t really matter which flavor you start with on bottom, but for the sake of this tutorial let’s say we’ll put the lemon cake down first. The point is to stagger the strawberry cake layers with the lemon to add layers of flavor.

Start by leveling all four cakes with a cake leveler. This will be very important.

• Place a lemon cake on the board.
• Spread a thin layer of lemon curd on top of the leveled cake.
• Pipe stabilized whipped cream over the lemon curd.
• Place a strawberry cake on next.
• Pipe a ring of whipped cream around the edge. (I do rosettes or another pretty design.)
• Fill the center with strawberry preserves and fresh strawberries.
• Add lemon cake, lemon curd, lemon whipped cream.
• On the top of the cake add preserves, berries, and whipped cream.
• You’ll notice I left the sides of the cake bare to show off the lovely pink and yellow colors.

TO DECORATE THE CAKE: 

I usually frost only the top of this cake, leaving the sides mostly “naked” so that their variation in colors can be seen.

The Inside is Lovely, Y’all!

Check it out! Who doesn’t love a fruity cake? This is the perfect cake to impress your guests and particularly great on a hot summer day when you’re looking for a cool, light cake.

Variations on the Strawberry Lemonade Cake

• Sometimes the lemon cake goes down first, sometimes the strawberry.
• Sometimes I use all lemon cake with strawberries and strawberry preserves between every layer.
• Sometimes I marble the strawberry and lemon cake together. (I feel like the flavors merge a bit too much in this variation and you lose the distinction of lemon and berry.)
• I’ve even covered this cake in lemon buttercream instead of whipped cream!
• Strawberry lemonade cupcakes are divine but don’t “chiffon” them first. I’ve learned that they turn out so light and fluffy that they are hard to get out of the cupcake wrappers. (NOTE: Did you know that cupcake batter should be slightly thicker/more dense than cake batter? It’s true!)

I’ve Done Many Strawberry Lemonade Cakes and Cupcakes

Check out three different variations of this strawberry-lemonade cake below. See if you can notice the differences.

Other Things to Try

If you love strawberries and lemons together, you might enjoy my DIY Cupcake Trifles. It would be fun to use both flavors of cake in a large trifle bowl or even individual trifle cups.

And why not try my Strawberry Lemon Creme Scones? They’re easy and yummy.

Learn more about cheesecake mousse fillings here. They’re similar to stabilized whipped cream, but with the addition of softened cream cheese.

This strawberry-lemonade pie from Southern Living looks yummy.

So does this Easy Lemonade Smoothie Recipe from Southern Home Express!

Check out this Paleo version of Strawberry Lemonade Cake from my friend Morgan at Five Monsters Paleo! (Yum!)

And y’all! Check out this video I stumbled across on YouTube for a puff pastry cake. I’d like to try a lemon-strawberry version. Doesn’t that sound yummy?

If you love fruity cakes, you’ll go crazy for my Pineapple Upside Down Cake! My recipe is so easy to make and starts with a boxed mix!

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