Sweet

Strawberry Stack Cake

I like that this cake kinda looks like a super huge stack of pancakes. I like that there’s strawberry jam keeping it real between six layers of sugar cookie-esque goodness. I like that at the end I get to dust it with powdered sugar.

I really like the dusting with powdered sugar part.

It maybe doesn’t look like it here, but those guys are the same size. I weighed them all on my tiny scale to make sure none were getting more dough than their siblings.

This is a make-ahead kinda thing. After sitting in the fridge overnight or a couple days it slices like cake, and tastes like a cookie. Rumor has it that back in the day ladies would make this cake a day or two before wash-day, because on that day they didn’t have time to make a dessert. Dessert’s always been important.

Strawberry Stack Cake
Recipe adapted from Cook’s Country

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk*
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberry jam, approximately
  • 2 T confectioners’ sugar

* Substitute: pour 3/4 t of lemon juice in the bottom of a 1/4 cup measuring cup and top with milk. Set aside for a couple minutes, then use!

Directions:

  1. Make dough. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl or measuring cup. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined, then buttermilk mixture. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture gradually until combined.
  2. Shape rounds. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Pat each into a 5-inch disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350º and cut six 9-inch parchment rounds. Line 8 inch cake pan or pot with parchment paper and press chilled dough disk into bottom of lined pan (like below), in an attempt to get uniform 8 inch circles. (Mine weren’t so perfect.) Transfer round to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat, placing second round 1/2 inch apart. Repeat with 2 additional disks on second rimmed baking sheet. Bake until just golden round edges, 16-20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool 10 minutes on sheets, then transfer to counter to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
  3. Assemble.* Place 1 cooled cake round on serving platter. Spread 3-4 tablespoons of strawberry jam over cake, leaving a 1/2 inch border uncovered, then top with another round. Repeat with remaining strawberry jam and cake rounds, finishing with cake. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until cake has softened, at least 8 hours or up to 3 days. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve. *(If your cakes aren’t perfect circles feel free to trim the edges, like I did. I even trimmed the cake after it sat in the fridge for a couple days.)

Cookie-ish cake scraps.

9 thoughts on “Strawberry Stack Cake”

  1. This looks so pretty.. and I love the pictures you took.. with the cake laying on the fork so lazily..and going up and down it.. like a roller coaster. I also think the totally cut and displayed cake is lovely! It might AID in my quick healing.. come over and make one!!

  2. This cake reminds me a lot of vinatarta, a traditional Icelandic cake. Part of me thinks I’d like the strawberry better than the prunes in vinatarta.

  3. Dana – I’ve never heard of vinatarta. I’ll have to look it up! I certainly agree though, about the strawberries over the prunes… I’m not much of a prune lover.

    Thanks Sally! How was the birthday Banket? Did you put a candle in it?

  4. Kangli – Nutella would fabulous! Even strawberry jam and nutella every other layer? That sounds so tasty.

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