Strawberries and Cream Vertical Layer Cake

This Vertical Cake made with a strawberry and cream filling, is not only delicious but beautiful also! This unique dessert is not only visually stunning, but the perfect twist on the traditional layer cake. Guests and family alike will love it.

I love cake pretty much anytime, from a simple Italian bundt cake to a Tiramisu layer cake. But some of my favorites are made with fresh fruit, from a Strawberry Cake to a Homemade Angel Food cake. Needless to say, this cake makes the perfect summer fresh fruit dessert idea, made with fresh whipped cream and berries. You can’t go wrong!

What is a Vertical cake?

Instead of stacking the cake layers horizontally, a vertical cake is made by stacking cake layers vertically. This creates a cake that is tall and thin, with each layer visible from the outside.

Ingredients to make a Strawberry Vertical Cake

• Eggs – room temperature large eggs separated
• Water
• Flour – all purpose or cake/pastry flour
• Sugar – granulated sugar
• Vanilla – vanilla extract
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Jam – strawberry jam

Cream filling

• Gelatine – powdered gelatine
• Cream – whole, heavy or whipping cream with at least 30% fat content
• Sugar – powdered sugar also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar
• Mascarpone – mascarpone cheese

How to Make Homemade Cake Flour

For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb.

Why use room temperature ingredients?

Room temperature ingredients help to produce light tender baked good, in this case a cake. The ingredients will come together smoother with a lump free batter. Room temperature egg whites beat up fluffier. Using cold ingredients could deflate the stiff egg whites or solidify the butter.

How to make a Vertical Cake (watch the video above)

In a medium bowl or stand mixer on medium speed beat the egg whites and water until stiff, add the sugar and vanilla and beat to combine.

In a large bowl beat egg yolks for 2 minutes add the egg white mixture and beat to combine.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into egg white mixture.

With a frosting spatula or palette knife spread the batter as evenly as possible on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake until the tooth pick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, immediately dust with powdered sugar, cover with a clean dish towel and roll let rest until cool, carefully unroll.

Spread with a good layer of jam, top with some of the cream filling. Cut 4 strips as even as possible. Roll up one of the strips and place it cut side up on a large clean plate, wrap the remaining strips around it. Cover with remaining filling, top with fresh berries. Refrigerate until serving.

One thing about roll cakes is and yes it happens to all of us, the cake may break or crack in some places, but don’t worry, it all gets covered up with some frosting and nobody will know the difference.

Here are two ways to make the filling

For the filling you are going to want to use a stabilized whipped cream, because you want a firm filling that is going to hold up, so you can do in one of the following ways.

1.  Using gelatine.
2.  Adding some mascarpone.
3. Buying it in liquid form at the grocery store and then whipping it at home.

What do I prefer? Actually I use all three when I need to. I made this cake a couple of times just for testing and photos, the first time I used the gelatine mixture and for the second I used the mascarpone I had in the fridge.

We have a pretty good store bought here, so once in awhile I will use that too. But to tell the truth I prefer mascarpone, it makes a nice thick filling, and with that creamy taste you can’t go wrong.

Stabilized whipped cream

In a medium bowl whip the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form, continue beating add the gelatine, whip on high until stiff.In a small pot combine gelatine and cold water, let stand for approximately 10 minutes or until thick, place over low heat, stirring constantly just until gelatine dissolves. Remove from the heat.

Mascarpone Cream filling

Whip together the mascarpone cheese and cream (if you wish you can add a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar) until thick peaks form.

Other fillings you can use?

If you prefer you can use your favorite cream cheese frosting or even a buttercream or Swiss meringue frosting would all work well.

If you prefer you could also use blueberries, blackberries or even raspberries instead of strawberries.

How to store the Vertical Cake

Cover any leftover cake tightly or place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator, it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.

So if you’re looking for a new layer cake idea or you want to impress your friends and family with a stunning dessert, consider making a vertical cake. With the endless flavors and decoration possibilities, this unique cake recipe is sure to become a new favorite. Enjoy!

Updated from May 17, 2017.