Strawberry Cornmeal Layer Cake

I know I’ve said this before, but truly, one of the hardest parts of baking is how more times than not, it falls apart right at the end. No matter how many times this happens, it’s always a gut punch…and this, if you can’t tell already, is foreshadowing my experience making the Strawberry Cornmeal Layer Cake.

I had been looking forward to making this dessert for a while, as strawberries are one of my favorite foods. The ingredients were all very easy to find, in fact I think I already had all of it in my kitchen.

After making a few of the cake recipes in Dessert Person that involve multiple cake pans, making the cornmeal cake was a breeze. I buttered a springform pan and cut a piece of parchment paper to a fitted circle for the bottom of the pan, then buttered the paper once it was placed inside. I stirred the cornmeal, buttermilk and vanilla together in one bowl. In another, I whisked the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Then in the stand mixer, I meshed the lemon zest and sugar with my hands so it felt sandy. I added the butter and mixed it until it was very fluffy and smooth. After scraping the sides, I slowly added in the eggs and kept mixing until the batter was pale. Finally, I added some of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk mixture, more flour, the rest of the buttercream, and the rest of the flour. I was left with a delicious, bright cake batter when it was all evenly combined.

In a springform pan, I baked the cake for about 45 minutes. It came out perfectly, and I let it cool for about 45 minutes. While it was cooling, I trimmed the five largest strawberries I had to similar heights. Then I cut the rest of the strawberries into skinny slices and tossed it all with sugar and lemon juice.

I beat heavy cream in the stand mixer until I had whipped cream with soft peaks. Unfortunately, I did not have as much heavy cream as I thought, but I did have leftover Cool Whip in the fridge. Can’t say I’m proud to have used a store-bought cream in one of Claire’s intricate desserts, but sometimes you just have to go with what you’ve got.

I wasn’t too nervous about slicing the cake in half horizontally, since I had already done this one with the Preserved Lemon Meringue Cake. Plus, my cake did not sink this time like many others have in the past! I created a small line around the cake with my serrated knife and cut through like Claire directed.

I had no issues setting the bottom layer on the cake tier. When I placed on the five large strawberries, I quickly realized they were still too high for the amount of whipped cream I had to work with, so I halved them again. I scattered about half the berries over the bottom layer and then added the Cool Whip on top. All was going smoothly until this point.

I was eager to complete this dessert as I carefully grabbed the top cake layer; but just as I placed it over the whipped cream, it crumbled into several pieces in my hands. I tried to make the most of it by placing it together again on the cake, but the more I tried, the more it looked like absolute garbage. I was so bummed, swearing up a storm as my husband tried to comfort me from the couch. Honestly, I was close to tearing up being so close to completing this vibrant dessert.

In moments like this, it’s extremely important to stop and take a breath. More times than not, there is a solution (even if you’re not happy with the plan B). Did I want to do this dessert all over again? No—this dessert was too easy in terms of understanding how the components worked together to spend time on it again. I decided I would take off the crappy, broken top and settle for Strawberry Cornmeal Layer Cake Minus the Layer.

In terms of appearance, it still looked nice with the rest of the whipped cream and strawberries drizzled on top. It just didn’t have the height I wanted. Most importantly, it tasted delicious. I loved the cornmeal cake flavor, which was just a tad fluffier than cornbread. With strawberries and whipped cream, it’s essentially a glorified pound cake. And if you’re wondering, the Cool Whip didn’t taste bad, but the homemade whipped cream was way better! If I did make this one again, I would instead use an 8” cake pan so I could get more height for cutting it in half.

Sometimes, desserts just don’t turn out how you anticipated, but you have to trudge on! Yes, it’s frustrating, and can definitely make a baker shed a few tears. Failure is just a part of baking, but learning how to prevail is what separates true bakers from the rest! At the end of the day, whether something turns out great or not, you’re already ahead of the game by forcing yourself to learn something new.

Claire has not made a YouTube video of for this dessert yet, but she did make a video on three other easy strawberry desserts. If you ask me, you can never have enough strawberries!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyOHD1W4XIU