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This Fresh Berry Vanilla Layered Cake is light, fruity and the perfect dessert for sharing! It’s also easy to make and with the red and blue, it’s prefect for the Fourth of July!
This post is sponsored by Driscoll’s Berries, but all opinions are my own.
Summer is one of my favorite times of year. There are fresh berries galore and they’re all on sale! I love getting them not only for snacking, but for desserts. Berry-filled desserts are easily some of the hubs and I’s favorites. And I always know that Driscoll’s is a great brand of berries that I can trust to be delicious!
So of course I was excited to join them in sharing Driscoll’s Food Art and creating the picture perfect plate. I’ve mentioned before how fruit is nature’s art and that could not be truer than with berries. There are so many fun ways to use them to decorate food. Such a great thing to do with kids too.
In the case of this cake, I used strawberries and blueberries and made a big beautiful berry flower on top of the berry-filled cake. I was totally in love with the look of it. So bright, beautiful and summery.
One of my favorite looks for a cake is the naked look. I love being able to see the pretty layers and being naked, it’s even easier to put together, since you don’t have to worry about icing it.
For the layers of this cake, we’ve got a light vanilla cake, whipped cream and fresh Driscoll’s berries. And to take it up a notch, holes are poked into the cake layers and then strawberry and blueberry puree is poured over them. It adds even more berry flavor to every bite and makes the cake layers extra moist! Plus, it adds some extra color to the inside of the cake when you cut into it.
And don’t be intimidated by the big fruit flower on top. That’s probably the easiest way you could decorate a cake. Strawberries are sliced and placed around the outside of the cake in three rows, then the center of the flower is filled in with blueberries. The effect is striking, don’t you think?
This is a great cake for sharing with a group of friends. It makes a statement of it’s own and it’s a light treat that’s perfect for the warm weather. My parents have friends over every July 4th for dessert and if you’re anything like them, I know this cake could be the perfect dessert to share.
Also, if you are looking for other fun berry desserts, you can check out Driscoll’s recipe page. And if you have a love of berry fruit art, be sure to enter the Driscoll’s sweepstakes. Just create your own treat, upload a photo and tag it to win.
More berry-filled treats:
Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake Icebox Cake
Triple Berry Trifle
Strawberry Cream Pie
Fresh Berry Vanilla Layered Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 26 minutes
- Total Time: 56 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Fresh Berry Vanilla Layered Cake is light, fruity and the perfect dessert for sharing! It’s also easy to make and with the red and blue, it’s prefect for the Fourth of July!
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) sugar
- 3/4 cup (168g) salted butter, room temp
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (173g) sour cream
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
STRAWBERRY PUREE
- 1/2 cup (120ml) strawberry puree (from about 6 medium-large Driscoll’s strawberries)
- 5 tbsp (75ml) water
- 4 tsp sugar
BLUEBERRY PUREE
- 1/4 cup (60ml) blueberry puree (from about 2/3 cup of Driscoll’s blueberries)
- 2 1/2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp sugar
WHIPPED CREAM AND TOPPING
- 2 1/2 cups (600ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/4 cups (144g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- additional strawberries and blueberries for flower on top*
Instructions
*You’ll l need a total of 1 pint of blueberries and about 1 1/2 pounds of strawberries for the full cake – the puree, fruits layers, and fruit flower topping
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 581
- Sugar: 48.3 g
- Sodium: 138.6 mg
- Fat: 30.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 70.4 g
- Protein: 9.2 g
- Cholesterol: 160.2 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
Love this recipe but do you whip the egg whites before putting them with the butter?
I don’t. If you want to try that, you’d have to fold the whipped egg whites in at the end.
My son requests this cake every year for his birthday. Perfect for my July boy!
Wonderful! So glad he enjoys it!
Hi I’d like to ask about washing the fruit. How do you ensure it is completely dry before using on the cake
I dry it with a paper towel.
Could you do this cake is a 9 by 13 pan?
Possibly, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it.
Do you or anyone tried or knows if you can add blueberries directly to the cake batter?
Excellent recipe thank you! If wanted can we use this recipe to make fresh cream cupcakes?
I’m sure it’d be fine as cupcakes.
I wanted to know if you can use a 8 1/2 in. X1 5/16 round cake pan
I’m confused. Not sure of the pan size you’re referring to.
We made this last night. Well my 14yr old did. It tyrn out so good but the whipped topping we added gelatin too for stabilizing. The cake is amazing and the puree on the cake is so yummy!!!
This was an AMAZING recipe!!! I made this cake for my mom’s bday and it was very easy but so dang beautiful and delicious! I highly recommend this and I will be making it way more often now!
Question: if doing two layers would the bottom layer have all the strawberry purée and the top has blueberry? Cant wait to make this cake! Much love!
Yes, I would probably do it that way.
Hi! Amazing recipe!!! I loved making this cake. It’s a perfect balance of moist vs sturdy where it doesn’t crumble. And tastes great after refrigeration too! I’m curious if you tried a chocolate cake version of this recipe w sour cream and butter, maybe replacing 6 egg whites to 3 eggs? Like your chocolate piñata cake (but with sour cream ibseatd). Please share! Thank you 😊
I had a question about the recipe! If you wanted to make the recipe with two layers in mind would you just 2/3 the entire recipe or go for thicker cakes?
That’s totally your call. Either way should be fine, but two layers with the same amount of ingredients will be slightly denser cakes.
Alright thanks so much! I shall update when I make it! <3
Made this recipe for my mom’s birthday and it was a hit! I used two 8 inch square pans instead of the three circular pans and it was enough batter for that. Texture was like a pound cake, the purée was delish, especially since it soaked into the layers! Poking holes with a straw made a huge difference, I’ll definitely be using that trick in the future!
I tried this cake and came out really great! Thank you for a such a detailed post!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Lindsay, I’m hoping you’ll see this as I’m making the cake right now! I only have one 9-inch pan that I’ll use 3 times. How high should the batter be?
Would you be able to make the cakes the night before and add cream and berries the next day? And could the cakes be left at room temp overnight
Definitely. Just store the cakes in an air tight container.
Could I do this recipe with cupcakes instead of a cake ?
Sure, you could. You could make cupcakes and add the fruit drizzle with whipped cream topping. I might suggest something like these Berries and Cream Cupcakes though.
Hi. You say you prefer to say the dry ingredients, what weights do you use? Thanks
I’ve updated the recipe to show the weight measurements.
I was obsessed with the concept of this cake when I discovered the recipe, but I just made it and it was a complete fail 🙁
My cake, although I followed the recipe step by step, did not rise and so the ‘naked cake’ didn’t work out for me. My cake is very spongy.
And the whipped cream, doesn’t look as fluffy as yours in the photos, although I followed recipe step by step. Wonder what I did wrong with both the cake and cream!
There could be a few reasons for the cake not turning out correctly, so it’s hard to say for sure. Things that typically affect the rise are not creaming the butter and sugar together fully, over mixing or using old baking powder.
As for the cream, whipped cream is typically pretty straightforward. You may have needed to whip it longer. Also be sure you were using heavy whipping cream or heavy cream. Regular whipping cream has less fat and won’t whip quite as thick. I hope that helps.
Hi Lindsay, loved this recipe. It’s a perfect moist vanilla cake! And stayed moist after being in/out of the fridge! Thank you for this. Do you think this can be a good base to be decorated by fondant too? It moist but nice and solid also!
Do you also have a way to make this recipe into half to make a smaller cake? Just wondering if you have tried that? Please share. Thanks so much!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! I haven’t worked with fondant all that much, so I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask. Based on my limited experience I would think it would be fine. And I haven’t made a smaller version of this cake, but here is the newer cupcake version, which is the recipe cut in half. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/favorite-vanilla-cupcakes/
Hi, would love to make this!!
Can blueberries and strawberries be purchased 3 days in advance or should these be purchased on the very same day that the cakes being prepared?
Thanks
As long as the berries are fresh enough, they should be fine.
This was a great idea in theory, but simply did not meet my expectations. I followed the recipe exactly and was surprised when serving the cake by the blueberry layers leaking into all the cake in an unappealing way. It looked moldy. I would not try this cake again. I highly recommend people to do the recipe without the blueberry syrup.
I also did not love the cake taste. It was too sweet. The whipped cream was also too sweet.
My oven doesn’t go up to 350 degrees. Is this 350 Fahrenheit? I am in Australia so will I need to convert this to celsius?
Yes, Fahrenheit.
Is the recipe for the fresh berry vanilla layered cake in your cook book, Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes?
No, the cookbook is primarily made up of new recipes that are not on the blog.
I was planning to make this for months and bought everything and was just about to set everything up and the recipe no longer shows! Help i got a birthday in 2 hours! I’ve been hyping this cake up for awhile
I’m so sorry for the trouble! There was an issue today that affected thousands of sites – mine included. It looks like it’s been resolved, so you should be able to access it here now. Sorry about that!
Will a cake like this keep in the refriderator? Or should it be served immediately? I have a recipe for a fruit cake as well and worried if I make it and don’t serve for a day that the berries will make the cake layers soggy..
Serving the cake fresh is probably best because of the berries, but you could maybe get away with making it the night before.
This cake is SO GOOD. I love it. The only thing I do differently is change the amount of powdered sugar in the whipped cream to a scant cup because I like it less sweet. Still, this cake is one of my favorites. I think the cake itself is going to become my go-to white cake recipe to use even with different kinds of frosting. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Love this cake. My husband made this for my birthday and it was awesome. Looking forward to the next post.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake!
Just made this and it was sooo good! Got rave reviews. I doubled the whipped cream and covered the entire cake with it because I’m a whipped cream fiend. I also cut up some leftover strawberries to serve on the side for those who wanted more.
I’m so glad you enjoyed! The strawberries sound like a nice touch!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! Yours’ looks delicious. Just made it, but each of the cakes are incredibly thin! Do you think you might have a typo on the amount of one of the ingredients?
Thanks, Jodi
No, the ingredients are correct. It’s hard to say from afar what could have caused the problem, but often it’s not creaming the butter and sugar together fully.
Hi, I was wondering if this cake can be with 9-10 inch pan and how much extra ingredients would need to be added. Thank you!!!!
A two layer 9 inch cake should be fine without any adjustments except maybe a few minutes here or there on the baking time. Not sure about a 10 inch.
Hi, i was wondering if this cake is stable and wont dome in or start sliding?
Not sure what you mean by “dome in”, but it shouldn’t slide as long as the cake isn’t moved around a ton. The whipped cream is stabilized with powdered sugar and will keep it’s form.
Beautiful cake! I just made the cake recipe, but haven’t assembled yet. My cakes turned out rather thin and seem dense…not thick and light like yours. Any ideas???
It can be really hard to say from a distance. I always say to be sure to fully cream the butter and sugar and be sure ingredients are measured correctly (I really prefer to weigh my dry ingredients).
Hi! I love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times and it always comes out delicious. I would like to try making it into cupcakes…any special suggestions for that? Or just standard recipe and shorter bake time?
So glad you’ve enjoyed it! Yep, pretty straight forward. I’d suggest trying 16-18 minutes on the cupcakes bake time.
When you say add egg whites in 2 batches, do you beat your eggs or do you mean 2 lots of 3?
I mean add 3 egg whites at a time and mix after you add them.
Hi I’m going to make this cake but instead of strawberries do u think blueberries raspberries and kiwi would work ?
As long as you like the flavors, I think it’d be fine.
Can I use the cake in the triple berry trifle.
You could try it. I find that angel food holds up better. The cake could get more soggy. But you could try it.
I’m just making this now, but my layers are quite thin. Like 1/2 inch. I did read the comments and I had creamed the sugar very well in a stand mixer.
Do you think it will be too dense ? I dont want to assemble it if will be too dense
It’s hard to say from a distance, but if it didn’t rise properly it might be quite dense.
Love your cake! I too am a fan of naked cakes. This cake reminds me of childhood. My grandma made my birthday cake every year and each ear I requested the same cake – white cake, with layers of strawberries and whipped cream. But it had to be homemade whipped cream. It’s a classically simple and so delicious cake. Love the addition of blueberries too! I didn’t like blueberries as a kid (so weird!) but I’d definitely add them now. Also, love your flower top ❤️
Hi there. Cake looks beautiful! I’m planning on making this for my son’s birthday. You think the whip cream and cake will hold up in the refrigerator over night? I would hate to make this the day before and have it flatten out overnight for the party.: Thank you!!!
Yes it should hold up fine. Just be sure to use all the powdered sugar listed in the whipped cream. It’s a stabilizer for it.
Hello there, I was looking through the directions of this cake recipe and was wondering what the height of the 8 inch pan is that you used for this cake.
Thank you,
Madeline
It’s 8×2 inches.
Can you use Light sour cream?
That should be fine. The lower fat content should be ok.
Hi!! This cake looks amazing, I just finished making the cake part. Unfortunately my edges did not brown beautifully like yours, all the cakes are super pale all around. Any advice to fix this?? Since frosting won’t be covering the edges I want it to look pretty! (I did also use cake strips around my pans while baking to keep the cakes level, this may have had an effect…
The cake strips could be the reason. Since not as much heat reaches the sides of the pan, they may not brown as much.
Just to clarify, does the blueberry purée have sugar, too? I wasn’t sure as directions say add blueberry purée and 1 tsp blueberries. Planning to make this for my moms birthday. Thank you!
Gosh, I’m surprised nobody has pointed that out before! Yes, that should be sugar. I’ve updated it. Thank you!
Wow! Can I substitute plain yogurt for sour cream?
And if I used unsalted butter, how much salt would I need to add to the cake? And when would I add it?
You’d use 1/2 tsp of salt and add it in with the dry ingredients. Enjoy!
I think people do that with success. I usually find that it alters the texture and moisture of cakes a bit, but you could try it.
Hey Lindsay , love love your website!!!!
You have a talent for making food look like an art piece , this cake is so beautiful it belongs in a art gallery. I would love to make this cake for my 23rd birthday, quick question for the purees can you use frozen and thawed fruit instead of fresh?
Thanks Courtney
Hi Courtney! Thank you! Yes I think frozen fruit would be fine. Just try to drain as much of the water from the frozen fruit as you can. Happy Birthday!
This is gorgeous Lindsay!! I love Driscoll’s, the perfect berry!
I never comment on blogs or recipes but this cake and the lemon cake was amazing and a huge hit with my boys and my family. I can’t wait for more from you.
Thank you so much Holly! I’m so glad you enjoyed them both!
So much beautiful fruit! What a gorgeous dessert. I just adore layer cakes!
This is the perfect way to enjoy a cake in the summer time!
Hi Lindsay. I love your site. I attempted my first try at your recipes this evening. We are celebrating our grandaughter’s first Birthday and I opted to make the cupcakes. I made the lemon blueberry and the fresh strawberry cupcakes. Unfortunately they did not turn out for me. I combined everything together and mixed it but my butter did not marry up too well with the rest of the ingredients resulting in my cupcake cups saturated with melted butter. Was I supposed to mix the butter with the sugar and then add the balance…..wet and the dry? Also, the blueberries did not sit on the bottom, they were throughout. Heeeelllppp! I love your recipes and I have many more to try, but I need to know where I went wrong. Thanks Lindsay!
Hi Gina, I’m sorry you had trouble. It’s hard to diagnose a problem from afar, but you could try melting the butter before adding it to the batter to help get rid of the lumps.
Hey I’m going to make this cake for my friend’s birthday. I want to cover it with fondant. Is it a good idea? I’m worried that the fondant will melt and it will ruin my cake but I’m not completely sure.
I don’t really work with much fondant, but I probably wouldn’t suggest using a cake that has a whipped cream filling for a fondant cake.
Hi is it 350 Celsius or Fahrenheit please
Fahrenheit
This cake is SO gorgeous! I love the naked cake look, too! 🙂
This looks delicious! Not clear though when and how the purees are used. Please clarify so I can make this for July 4.
Thanks for letting me know Marilyn. I’ve updated the instructions to make that clear. 🙂
That looks just perfect for the fourth of july! Fresh berry desserts are the best in summer 🙂
It’s July 4th perfection! Love how the fresh berries act as all the decoration you need!