Strawberry Lady Cake

John's mom's birthday is on May 5, so today is her family birthday party. I was asked to bring a cake, and instead of making the standard cake mix with buttercream cake, I decided to make this Strawberry Lady Cake from Katie at Good Things Catered. I saw this awhile ago and thought it looked GOOD! It's pretty and should be tasty!


Lady Strawberry Cake
By: Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. cake flour
3/4 c. strawberry puree, room temperature (homemade or you can find store bought in form of a good quality strawberry daiquiri mix as well)
1/4 c. milk , at room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened (not melted)

1 c. shortening
8 Tbsp water, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tiny pinch of salt

2 c. fresh strawberries
1/2 batch ladyfingers, piped about 3 1/2 - 4 inches in length

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Line outside of two 8 inch pans with heavy duty foil or bake even strips and spray inside with baking spray with flour.
-In small bowl, combine strawberry puree, milk, egg, vanilla and whisk until combined well.
-In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine.
-Continue beating at slow speed and add butter.
-Mix until combined and mixture resembles moist crumbs.
-Add liquid ingredients and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined.
-Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds.
-Divide the batter evenly among pans and smooth tops.
-Place pans into oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
-Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks.
-Let cakes cool completely, about 2 hours.
-To make buttercream: in bowl of stand mixture add shortening, 4 Tbsp water and vanilla.
-Stir on low, occasionally scraping down paddle and sides, to combine -- this takes a few minutes. Be patient and do now beat faster than the low setting or you will add air to the buttercream.
-Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine powdered sugar and salt and whisk to combine.
-Once shortening mixture is relatively homogeneous, add sugar mixture and stir on low to combine. You will probably need to scrape down the bowl and paddle a few times here. Again, do not increase mixing speed.
-Slowly add additional water to obtain desired texture. You are looking for a classic thin consistency here.
-When cakes are cooled, level tops.
-Pipe medium consistency icing 1/4 inch from the edge of one cake.
-Fill border with a thin layer of buttercream.
-Remove tops from strawberries and slice all but one small strawberry (which you will keep whole)
-Top layer of buttercream with unattractive or small end pieces of strawberries, keeping the uniform sized ones for the top.
-Top strawberry layer with second cake.
-Dollop about 3/4 of the buttercream mixture onto the top of the cake and using a spatula, spread icing over the top and down the sides.
-Use additional frosting to ice the sides and fix any mistakes.
-Place lady fingers around the sides of the cake, pressing lightly into the buttercream to stabilize.
-Cut a piece of ribbon, if desired, and tie a bow to decorate.
-Working from the outside in, lay remaining strawberry slices in concentric circles on the top of the cake until you reach the middle.
-Place the one small whole strawberry in the middle and serve.