Not only was Saturday Sara’s bridal shower, but it was also just a couple of days after a big birthday for her mom. So, in addition to fun pick-up desserts, I wanted to make a birthday cake.

Usually I’d stay safe with a vanilla or chocolate cake for a crowd, but I wanted to make something more special. Given that the bride loves pink and it was a girly event, strawberry cake with a bright pink hue sounded perfect. I used this strawberry cake recipe. To keep it simple, I filled and iced the cake with a rich and creamy white chocolate buttercream. The cake itself had a strong enough strawberry flavor that strawberry icing would have been over the top, and a plain buttercream just didn’t seem as exciting. The white chocolate recipe I use is just so silky that it made a wonderful addition to the cake. Plus, I’ve made that frosting before and knew that it would hold up well, even if the room got warm.

The cake recipe looks like a lot of work, but once you get past pureeing the frozen strawberries it is a pretty standard cake recipe. (Warning: I almost broke my mini blender with the super frozen whole strawberries.) Get the cake recipe here and see the photos below as a reference.

This buttercream recipe is very easy; combine the white chocolate and whipping cream in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat, stirring continuously

Remove mixture from heat and stir in milk

Refrigerate for a half hour

When white chocolate mixture is cool, finish making the buttercream

Using the whisk attachment of a mixer, beat the butter until creamy

Beat in confectioners’ sugar until butter and sugar are light and fluffy

Now beat in the cooled white chocolate mixture until buttercream is creamy and light

The buttercream may get lumpy at first, just keep beating it at high speed

Once cake has cooled and buttercream is ready, ice the bottom cake layer with about 1 cup of frosting

Place top layer over top of that and press down lightly

Cover top and outside of the cake with remaining buttercream smoothing it out around the edges and on top

I forgot to use the trick of putting a piece of paper or cardboard under the edges of the cake to keep it clean!

Serve cake with a couple of strawberries for decoration

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Note: Cake can be frozen up to 3 weeks if wrapped tightly[/print_this]

*I recommend this recipe from Sweetapolita

What flavor would you pick for your birthday cake?