Our contributor, Tessa Huff, is sharing a new cake recipe today…
It’s finally here! Berry season, that is. Not only did my local Farmer’s Market open up for summer this past weekend, but I was able to walk away with a flat of the juiciest, reddest local strawberries. Just by looking at them, you could tell they were full of flavor. Albeit small, these little gems are like nature’s candy. And just like that, a whole flurry of recipe opportunities and berry-tastic dessert potentials came flooding in.
This Strawberry Thyme Cake boasts fresh, lively flavors and completely embodies the ease of summer. With its unfrosted, “naked” sides and a wreath of fresh thyme, it is simple yet dramatic. The addition of fresh herbs adds a bit of interest and a welcoming twist to otherwise basic flavors. I aimed to create a cake that could equally be shared at a casual picnic in the late-afternoon shade as well as something stunning enough and unexpected to bring to a summer dinner party under the stars, and this beauty certainly delivers.
The cake itself is light and fresh, and totally one of those cakes that could be served with just some freshly whipped cream, berries, and icing sugar. The use of ricotta cheese makes it extremely tender yet study enough to support the strawberry cheesecake filling I’ve paired it with in this combination. The strawberry “cheesecake” filling is a lighter version of the heavy, super-sugary cream cheese frosting that we are usually accustomed to. I’ve simply whipped in some softened cream cheese into silky meringue buttercream and stirred in some strawberry preserves. For extra sweetness, freshness, and an element that takes this cake to the next level, each layer was generously brushed with a lemon-thyme simple syrup. The cake was finished with only a thin crumb coat of frosting – allowing all the flavors to really shine and not be bogged down by too much sugar. Plus, how much are we all loving gorgeous, naked cakes these days?!?!?
STRAWBERRY THYME CAKE
a recipe by Tessa Huff
For the Lemon Ricotta Cake:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 6-inch cake pans and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add in the sugar and lemon zest. Beat on medium for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Stop mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Mix in the ricotta on medium-low.
- With the mixer on low, add in half of the flour mixture. Stream in the buttermilk.
- Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 26-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans.
For the Thyme Syrup:
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
5 to 8 springs fresh thyme
Place the water, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Add the thyme and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let cool, then strain out the thyme from the syrup.
For the Strawberry Cheesecake Filling:
3 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons strawberry preserves
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
- Place bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a double-boiler. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Carefully transfer the bowl onto the stand mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch and the meringue is fluffy, glossy and holds a stiff peak.
- Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium-low, add in the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix until incorporated.
- Turn the mixer up to medium-high and mix until silky smooth.
- Add in the cream cheese and mix until combined.
- Add in the strawberry preserves and mix until combined.
For the Assembly:
Generously brush each cake layer with the thyme syrup – allowing it to really soak in (an second pass with the syrup wouldn’t hurt either). Place one layer of cake on a cake board or serving dish. Spread on about 3/4 cup of the filling with an offset spatula. Top with the next layer of cake and repeat. Use the remaining filling to frost the top of the cake and give the sides a thin crumb coat. Decorate with fresh thyme and berries, if desired.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Strawberry Nutella Cupcakes
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Cake
10 Strawberry Desserts to Bake
So delicious cake,beautiful art.Thanks for sharing.
Looks really delicious, and looks like real.
just bought a flat of strawberries on sunday- couldn’t resist when they were so gorgeous! made strawberry panna cotta, and devoured a bunch, but will have to make cake with the rest!
Do you use bake right strips for even layers or do you cut off the domes! I have a lot of trouble with get a leveled cake! I am really looking forward to trying this recipe! Thanks for sharing!!
I personally cut off the domes, but both ways work! One of our contributors created this tutorial teaching how to stack and build a cake, perhaps it will help!
https://thecakeblog.com/2014/04/how-to-build-a-cake-like-a-pro.html
Could you please ask, how much ml is you cup? And degrees are in Fahrenheit system, in Russia we use ºC. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Here is a handy conversion calculator for you Marina! This will help you convert all of the ingredient quantities to metric units.
https://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking/
LOVE this cake! I’m going to make it tomorrow, do you think it will do OK in the fridge overnight so we can have it on Sat?
Sure, it will keep nicely in the refrigerator. Bring it out at least an hour before serving so that it can come back to room temperature – the flavors will be brighter at room temp.
Enjoy!
Those look even better than described! YUM! This will be the pefect valentine gift for my hubby 🙂
WOW! I love the combination of sweet and savory flavors for baked goods, and this was incredible. My filling was a little thinner than pictured, but when chilled it worked just fine. Also, did you double this recipe when you made your cake? I did 3 layers too but mine turned out much thinner than yours. Thanks for the recipe, your blog is such a gem and I’ll be back for more recipes!
Tessa baked this using three 6″ round pans, which are slightly smaller in diameter than a traditional 8″ cake pan. If you used an 8″ pan, this would result in thinner layers.
Glad you enjoyed the flavor combination! Thanks for your feedback!
Do you have any suggestions for making it dairy free? Thanks so much!
All 3 of my 6″ cake layers fell in the center:( The icing was REALLY thin. I have it in the fridge now trying to firm it up, but wanted to make this for a naked wedding cake. Not sure the icing will hold up. Any ideas?
Have you ever attempted to make this in a cupcake form? I need to feed a large crowd and would like to double it up and turn it into cupcakes. If so, what would you guess on bake time?
Hi,
This cake looks gorgeous:)
A question: can I use fresh strawberries instead of preserves?
Thanks!
Fresh strawberries have a higher water content than strawberry preserves. If you swap out one-for-one,your frosting will be on the runny side. If you have time for an extra step, you could reduce your fresh strawberries in a pan with a little sugar to thicken them. Let the reduction cool before adding to your frosting.
Can this cake be made ahead of time and frozen before assembling on the day?
You could bake the cake layers in advance. Individually wrap them in plastic wrap to freeze. Let thaw before assembling on the day.
I just finished making this cake. For some reason the buttercream filling became really runny and almost impossible to work with after I added the strawberry conserve. Next time I’ll use dehydrated strawberry powder instead so it doesn’t alter the consistency of the mixture.
If it sounds like no went wrong somehow, can you please explain how so?
Thank you 🙂
I put a longer comment with some troubleshooting tips below — maybe they will help you out Laura. 😊
This would be a great cake for valentines. This cake looks delicious.
– Gustavo Woltmann
I also had the problem with the frosting being too runny. I put mine in the freezer and stirred every ten minutes for at least a half hour and it still wasn’t a good consistency. The cake had a hard time standing up. In the fridge now hoping for the best. I do have the Layered cookbook and the ratio of sugar to egg whites for Swiss meringue buttercream she gives in the book is different than this recipe (that is to say add more sugar to this recipe by about a 1/4 cup/50 grams). Also, the amount of butter is a lot less than expected and I assumed the cream cheese would make up for this, but it did not. I would almost put in another entire stick of butter to get the correct consistency. Just my two cents…maybe it will help!
I’m trying this out for a baby shower cake, can’t wait!! How many people will this recipe serve?
Roughly 12, depending on how big you cut the slices. Enjoy!
Unfortunately I don’t have a candy thermometer. Is there any way of knowing when to stop heating the egg whites? Thank you in advance!:)
And also Iwould like to know if it’s really necessary to heat the egg whites mixture?
Yes, heating the egg whites not only kills off any bacteria present in the raw egg, but also melts the granulated sugar into the egg white. So unfortunately, you can’t skip this step. Most grocery stores sell inexpensive candy thermometers. My best advice is to grab one when you purchase the ingredients for this recipe. If you’d rather not have to purchase a candy thermometer, we have lots of other great buttercream recipes (that don’t involve eggs) that you could substitute. Enjoy!
How many people does this cake serve?
Roughly 12, depending on how big you cut the slices.
Also one more question. What size eggs are you using?
Large or XL are best for all things baking. 🙂
If I wanted to use three 8 inch cake tins, what would be the adjustments in the recipe.
Here’s a chart to help you play around with batter volumes and cake pan sizes:
https://www.wilton.com/cms-wedding-cake-data.html
This cake looks stunning! Do you think we could use feta cheese instead of ricotta cheese and get the same result?
We have not tested this recipe with feta, so unfortunately I cannot say for certain. Feta will have less moisture and more fat than ricotta and both of these properties factor into the final result. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
I’m making this cake for my daughter’s wedding after making two successful “test” cakes. The flavor and texture are amazing! For the actual wedding cake, it would be very helpful to make the frosting a day or two in advance. Your thoughts? Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Judy – I’m happy to hear your “test” cakes were successful! I think you’d be fine making the frosting in advance. Just keep it refrigerated. When ready to use, you’ll need to bring it back to room temperature and give it a low mix to get it nice and silky smooth again. If you’re concerned, a test run of the frosting could help you work out any kinks. Best wishes to your daughter!
I too would love to make this as a stacked wedding cake but am unsure about how much batter to put in my larger pans and cooking time. Example: do I double the recipe for the 9″ and 12″ pans and how long do they bake? Also how much frosting would I make for a three tier?
Gwen – here’s a chart to help you play around with batter volumes and cake pan sizes:
https://www.wilton.com/cms-wedding-cake-data.html
Do you think this would work with basil instead of thyme?
I think so! Strawberry and basil is a lovely flavor combination. I had a strawberry basil lemonade last summer that was SO delicious. Enjoy Patricia!
I’m sorry to hear that some of you are having trouble with the frosting being runny. This is one of Tessa’s recipes so I will do my best to help you troubleshoot.
I’m wondering if your egg/sugar mixture was too warm when you added the butter, cream cheese and strawberry? This can cause the butter and cream cheese to literally melt and then you’ll definitely have a runny mess. If this is the case, refrigerate the frosting for 20 to 30 minutes or so. Then whip it again. Because the frosting will now be cold, it will break and separate when you first start mixing but will come back together once the emulsion rebuilds.
The other possibility is a difference in cream cheese? I’m not sure where you’re located but we’re in the USA and use block style cream cheese like Philadelphia cream cheese. I’ve learned from other readers over the years that cream cheese in other countries is very different and tends to be problematic in our frosting recipes.
The other possibility is that there is more liquid in your brand of strawberry preserve vs the one Tessa used. A preserve will be thicker than a jelly or a jam. Alternatives would be to use less of the strawberry, use a strawberry reduction instead, or dried strawberries. You can check out another one of our strawberry buttercream recipes here. It’s not a Swiss meringue recipe but is delicious as well.
I hope this gives you a place to start. Best of luck friends!