This strawberry chamomile cake has moist chamomile-infused cake layers, whipped cream frosting, and fresh strawberries. It’s floral and delicately sweet, making it a perfect warm-weather dessert to enjoy with your tea.
Excited to introducing to you all today this strawberry chamomile cake recipe! It’s a tender, tea-infused vanilla sponge layered with fresh strawberries and whipped cream frosting. The strawberries get tossed with some sugar and honey, which really brings out their sweetness and flavor. This recipe makes a 6″, two-layer cake.
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Chamomile Cake
- Chamomile flavor comes through nicely in the cake via tea-infused milk.
- Reverse creaming results in cake layers that are extra tender and moist.
- The whipped cream frosting is light and easy to make.
- A perfect Spring or Summer cake for any occasion
Key Ingredients and Notes
- All-purpose flour: for the best results, measure flour using a digital food scale.
- Chamomile tea: for best results, pick a bagged chamomile tea that you really like.
- I made this cake with the Celestial Seasoning’s Chamomile, but some other favorites are Puka, Taylor’s, and Teapigs.
- Whole milk: for the best results, use whole milk and do not substitute. If you want to reduce the fat, you can use 2% but avoid skim milk.
- Large eggs, at room temperature: to quickly warm eggs, soak them in a bowl of warm water for
- Sour cream: sour cream adds moisture and richness to the cake.
- Butter, softened: butter provides the primary source of fat for the cake
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract: vanilla and chamomile are a great flavor pairing
- Heavy whipping cream: for the whipped cream frosting
- Cream cheese: use plain cream cheese from a block, not a tub
- Fresh strawberries: I would not recommend substituting frozen strawberries, as they become too liquidy when thawed and are not great for eating raw.
- Honey: honey is mixed with the strawberries to bring out their sweetness and also pairs well with chamomile.
What is Reverse Creaming?
I use the reverse creaming method to make the chamomile cake batter. This technique involves beating both the dry ingredients and sugar into the butter, rather than just the sugar. The butter wraps around the flour, creating a protective layer that prevents gluten development. The result? A more tender, foolproof cake that is velvety, moist, and has a tighter crumb than cakes made with the traditional method.
Reverse creaming is very forgiving as it reduces the risk of over-mixing the batter (which leads to tough cake) and creates a stronger emulsion to prevent the batter from splitting. Despite its scary sounding name, it’s super easy to do and one of my go-to methods for making cake layers these days!
Tips for Moist and Tender Cake
Use room temperature ingredients: to ensure that the ingredients incorporate together well, make sure they are all room temperature and not cold when you start baking. This includes the eggs, sour cream, and milk. Soak the eggs in hot water to warm them up. Use the microwave to give a quick zap to the sour cream on medium power.
Measure flour correctly: flour is notoriously easy to over-measure. The most accurate way to do so is by using a digital food scale. If you do not have a scale, then use the spoon-and-level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and use a knife to level it off. Do not pack it in.
Bake the cake to just the right level: there are two ways to test if the cake is done. The first is the classic toothpick method, where you stick a toothpick through the middle and check if it comes out clean. The second is to gently tap the top of the cake near the center. If it bounces back, then the cake is done.
How to Store Leftovers
This cake is best enjoyed on the first day, as the whipped cream frosting doesn’t last as long as buttercream. However, if you have leftovers make sure to store them in the fridge. Tightly wrap slices of cake in foil or keep them in an airtight container. They will keep for 1-2 days.
Pin & Save for Later
Not ready to bake yet but want to come back to this recipe? No problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (or tap on mobile) to save this recipe to your favorite baking Pinterest board.
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Strawberry Chamomile Cake
This strawberry chamomile cake has moist chamomile-infused cake layers, whipped cream frosting, and fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
Chamomile Cake
- ½ cup (118ml) milk
- 3 chamomile tea bags
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (180g) flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (112g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into slices
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 cup (236ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- 4 oz (113g) plain cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberries
- 12 oz fresh strawberries (or more if desired), thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
Cake Layers
- Heat the milk in the microwave for ~1 minute, or until it is simmering. Add the tea bags into the milk and let them steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and let the milk cool down to room temperature. You can put the milk in the fridge to cool it down faster, but ensure that it does not get cold.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 6" round cake pans and line with parchment rounds.
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until well combined.
- While continuing to run the mixer, start adding the butter, one slice at a time. Continue beating until the mixture for around 3 minutes or until it resembles sand or cornmeal.
- Beat in the eggs on medium speed, one at a time. The mixture should now look like a paste.
- Whisk the chamomile milk, sour cream, and vanilla together. While running the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in this mixture, making sure to not add it to quickly since you're forcing the liquid into a thick paste.
- Mix until all the milk is added and you have a smooth batter.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 28-32 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool down completely.
Frosting & Strawberries
- Chop the strawberries into thin slices. Toss them with the honey and sugar and set them aside.
- In a clean mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together using the whisk for 30 seconds - 1 minute.
- Making sure that your heavy whipping cream is cold, start streaming it into the bowl until it's all in. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating until you have a fluffy cream that forms stiff peaks.
- Assemble the cake by spreading ¼ of the frosting on top of one cake layer, followed by half the strawberries, and then another ¼ of the frosting.
- Stack the second cake layer on top. Spread the remaining frosting on top followed by the remaining strawberries. You can use more or less frosting depending on your preferences.
- While this cake is best enjoyed same-day, you can store leftovers tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Notes
Reverse Creaming: The steps outlined to make the cake layers follow the reverse creaming process. This is when you beat butter with both flour and sugar instead of just sugar.
Strawberries: Use fresh, not frozen strawberries. Frozen strawberries are too liquidy when thawed and don't have the same texture as fresh.
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