This vanilla cake recipe is the same as the vanilla cupcakes that I just posted. I've never found a vanilla cake recipe that I liked enough to make it again. I'm hoping this cake comes out as good as the cupcakes because they were not dry at all and were so good! I'm not making this full recipe today though - I'm just making the vanilla cake, but I wanted to post the full recipe because it sounds delicious! I love berries and mascarpone so this is definitely my kind of cake!
This vanilla cake recipe is for 3 8" round cake layers. You could also make it into 2 9" round layers or a 9x13" cake instead, which is what I made today. You just have to adjust the baking time.
The whipped mascarpone frosting sounds delicious, but unfortunately I don't have any mascarpone and it's snowing pretty heavily so I can't get to a store today. I'll be pairing my vanilla cake with this whipped frosting that I've made before and already have the ingredients for. It has cream cheese instead of mascarpone, but the general idea is the same. It's a light frosting that is so good paired with fresh fruit. Even though I'm making this in the winter, this recipe sounds perfect for spring or summer!
This is one of the easiest cakes to make. It doesn't have butter in it so you can make it last minute without waiting for butter to soften. The batter comes together so easily. I used my hand mixer for it, but you could even just use a whisk and spatula.
The bake time for my 9x13" cake was about 40-42 minutes. My cake had a big crack in it - I'm not sure why, but it will be covered with frosting anyway so it doesn't matter.
Update - I brought this to a big family celebration and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I think I've finally found a vanilla cake recipe that I will keep making!
Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake
Recipe from “Life, Love and Sugar” Website
This Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake has layers of fluffy vanilla cake, fresh berry filling and mascarpone whipped cream frosting! It’s light, fruity and perfect for spring!
VANILLA CAKE:
2½ cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup water
BERRY FILLING:
1½ cups mixed berries (I used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
3 Tablespoons water
¾ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
WHIPPED MASCARPONE FROSTING:
2½ cups heavy whipping cream, cold
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 ounces mascarpone cheese, chilled
CAKE LAYERS
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare three 8 inch cake pans
with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom. These cakes can
have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit, so I strongly recommend the
parchment paper in the bottom.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large
mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.
Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to
a medium sized bowl and combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat
until well combined.
Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed
until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure
everything is well combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans
and bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist
crumbs.
Remove the cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit so jiggle them a bit to loosen from the sides of the pan before turning the cakes out to cool.
BERRY FILLING
To make the berry filling, add the berries and water to a
food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about 2/3 cup
puree.
Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
Stir in the berry puree.
Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently until
mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.
Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Refrigerate and allow to cool completely.
FROSTING
Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla
extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.
Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. It will happen fairly quickly.
ASSEMBLY
To assemble the cake, use a large serrated knife to
remove the domes from the top of the cakes.
Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate or a
cardboard cake round. Pipe a dam of frosting around the outside of the cake. I
use Ateco tip 808 for the dam so that it’s tall.
Spread half of the berry filling evenly on top of the
cake layer, inside the dam. It should fill the dam about half way full.
Add some additional mascarpone frosting to the top of the
berry filling and spread into an even layer to fill in the remaining dam space.
Add the second layer of cake and repeat the filling layer
with the remaining berry filling and additional mascarpone frosting.
Add the final layer of cake on top, then smooth out the
frosting around the sides of the cake.
Frost the outside of the cake, then use an icing
decorator (I use an Ateco Icing Smoother) to add a striped pattern to the
sides.
Finish off the cake with some swirls of frosting and
fresh berries.
Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Cake is best for 2-3 days.
Yield: 12-14 Slices
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| Combine wet & dry ingredients separately |
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| Mix together |
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| Add water, mix again |
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| Pour in greased & floured pan |
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| Bake |
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| Frost & enjoy! |
