Satisfy your cravings with this delicious Strawberry Velvet Cake recipe from LorAnn Oils. This super-moist cake is loaded with fresh-strawberry flavor, and paired with a sparkling wine and strawberry compote, and a silky-smooth cream-cheese flavor buttercream.

Red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting have become a popular favorite with couples at weddings. The biggest issue, of course, is that cream cheese is not very shelf-stable, and in the hot 90 degree summer days, it’s a recipe for disaster. That’s where LorAnn oils come to the rescue, their delicious cream-cheese flavoring and emulsion allow you to transform a shelf-stable buttercream into a delicious cream-cheese flavor frosting! If you’re a cottage baker, then you’ll know that cream cheese is a no-no, so this easy-to-use emulsion is an absolute life-saver. We tried the LorAnn Cream Cheese Bakery Emulsion and their delicious Sparkling Wine Flavor to create a recipe PERFECT for the summer. This pretty strawberry velvet cake, with sparkling wine compote and cream-cheese flavor buttercream, is divine!

We used ground freeze-dried strawberries, buttermilk, and a touch of the cream-cheese emulsion in the cake batter, it added that perfect sour-tang that you’d expect from a velvet cake, and the strawberry flavor was over-the-top! We added a healthy dose of electric pink to the batter to really boost the color! The results were quite spectacular!

To really up the strawberry flavor, we made a fresh strawberry compote. The sparkling wine flavoring from LorAnn really gave the compote an added wow factor.

Recreating the classic cream-cheese frosting flavor was a cinch with the LorAnn Cream Cheese Bakery Emulsion! We used butter, powdered sugar, and milk to make a classic American-style buttercream, and then added a healthy dose of the bakery emulsion and a little vanilla extract too. Delish!!

Assembling the cake is the best part because you get to taste the off-cuts!! We trimmed the cake layers to make sure they were perfectly level, before layering with the buttercream and compote. Piping a dam of buttercream around the circumference of the cake tier will make sure the compote doesn’t bulge out of the sides.

To achieve those super-sharp edges, we used two cardboard cake rounds. One for the base and one for the top. Simply cut a circle of parchment to fit one of the rounds and adhere with some vegetable shortening. Spread a generous layer of buttercream on the top round and place on top of the cake before filling in the sides with buttercream and remove the excess with a bench scraper.

Place the cake in the fridge to firm up before removing the top cardboard layer, it should come away easily and leave the parchment behind. When you’re ready to finish the cake, simply peel away the parchment to reveal a perfectly level cake!

The presentation is everything, so we decorated the cake with a pink chocolate drizzle and some gorgeous pink meringue kisses!

The best part of the cake is serving it! Just look at how vibrant and pretty it is inside- a perfect summer surprise!

Recipe: Yields 3 6-inch rounds

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick of unsalted room temperature butter
• 1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbs LorAnn Cream Cheese Bakery Emulsion
• 1 packet of freeze-dried strawberries (ground finely)
• Pink gel color

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.

In a jug, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and gel color.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter, alternating with the wet ingredients and mixing in between each addition.

Divide mixture between the pans and bake in a 350 degrees pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool completely!

Strawberry White Wine Compote

• 1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
• tbs lemon juice
• 2 tsp sparkling wine flavor
• 1 cup sugar

Place all the ingredients into a heavy-bottom pan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Allow the compote to boil rapidly until thickened. Pour into a jam jar and cover. Allow to cool completely before using.

Cream Cheese Flavor Buttercream

• 2lb unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3lb powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbs LorAnn Cream Cheese Bakery Emulsion
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pink gel color

Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy, turn the mixer to medium-low and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes. Add in the flavorings and milk and continue to beat.