A cake topped with frosting and sliced strawberries on a plate
Photography, Stacey Brandford

Strawberry Bourbon Cake

This bourbon butter cake with syrupy strawberries and cream is what summer dreams are made of.

The clearest sign of summer is an overflowing basket of strawberries straight from the farmers’ market sitting on our tables. This season, we’ll be enjoying the fruit paired with bourbon – an underappreciated duo if we’ve ever seen one. The sweet ripe strawberries play well with the caramel and vanilla notes in the bourbon, making this pairing perfect for a decadent dessert.

A cake topped with frosting and sliced strawberries on a plate

Strawberry Bourbon Cake

We've paired sweet ripe strawberries with the caramel and vanilla notes of bourbon in this summery dessert recipe.
Course Dessert, Snack
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

Cake

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 2 tbsp bourbon
  • ½ cup 35% cream
  • 2 tbsp vanilla simple syrup

Whipped Cream and Strawberries

  • 2 cups sliced strawberries
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 cup 35% cream
  • 1 tbsp vanilla simple syrup

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper.
  • In bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In large bowl, using electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating between additions. Add bourbon and cream. With mixer on low speed, make 2 additions of flour mixture until just incorporated.
  • Scrape into prepared pan. Bake until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean and top is set and springy, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes; invert onto cooling rack and let cool completely. Invert cake and brush top with 2 tbsp vanilla syrup to moisten.

Whipped Cream and Strawberries

  • While cake cools, stir together strawberries and sugar in a bowl and let sit until syrupy, 30 minutes. In bowl, using electric mixer, beat cream on medium speed until soft peaks form; beat in 1 tbsp vanilla syrup.
  • Place cake on a serving plate and top with spoonfuls of whipped cream and strawberries.

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