Blood Orange Strawberry Shortcake! It's citrus season! And what better way to use up all of those blood oranges than with making a Blood orange strawberry shortcake?!
I kept seeing so many beautiful pictures everywhere of those muted red tones and all of the citrus fruits perfectly placed in the sunlight. I said to myself "you need some of those beautiful blood orange sunlight photos!" but in typical fashion, I decided to do something a little different.
Last week, my friend told me that one of her favorite cakes is strawberry shortcake. Now, I've never made strawberry shortcake before, but her birthday is tomorrow and I decided that I would make her one. Earlier this week, I had SEVERAL cooking fails. I almost walked out of the kitchen and just sat down in the dark for a few hours... but I didn't and realized how dramatic I was being. LOL
BLOOD ORANGE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
I tried making macarons and when I tell you they are one of the most difficult things I've ever made, this is an understatement. I went through 2 dozen eggs and 32 oz of almond flour before I actually got the desired result... ya know, something pretty that tasted good. I'm telling you this because in learning how to make macarons (still need more practice), I started playing around with flavors. I made lemon macarons with blackberry and buttercream filling and they were amazing.
So, this ties into the blood oranges. I started thinking of how I could mix up more citrus fruits and I thought of the blood oranges! This morning I picked up a few from Whole Foods and strawberries for the shortcake... I thought " PUT THESE TWO THINGS TOGETHER!" and oh...my...goodness.
The first attempt failed YET AGAIN. HOWEVER, the second attempt made my entire week of baking fails all worth it. I am overjoyed at this creation and the merging of these two flavors. It's a tangy, sweet, and bright flavor that has the decadence of a pound cake and the fluffiness (is this a word?) of whipped cream.... Okay, enough of me trying to sell you on this recipe with these metaphors - the cake is just straight good. If you make this, let me know how you feel about it. It's for sure going to be a hit tomorrow and I couldn't be more proud.
Blood Orange Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
- 3 sticks salted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 blood orange
- 1 cup blood orange juice (around 3-4 blood oranges, juiced)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4-5 cups Strawberries, halved
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing
- 2 sticks 2 sticks of butter
- 5 oz. mascarpone
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp strawberry syrup (from bottom of the bowl of strawberries, see below)
Directions
- Ensure that butter, cream cheese, and buttermilk are at room temperature prior to starting. Slither about 3 cups of strawberries and put them in a bowl and pour 1 cup of sugar on top. Let sit. These will get a bit watery/syrupy.. SAVE the liquid!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a stand mixer, add butter, sugar, and zest of blood orange. Mix until smooth. Then add blood orange juice.
- Add eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to mix in thoroughly prior to adding in the next. Add in flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, sour cream, and buttermilk and mix.
- In 3 non-stick 9 inch pans, grease and flour the pan and tap off any excess flour. Fill each pan just over halfway. Take 8 halved strawberries and place them on top of the cake and sprinkle sugar on top. Like pictured above.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, until a knife/toothpick comes out cleanly when poked.
- While cakes are baking, let's make the filling. Combine cream cheese, 1 stick of butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 tsp of vanilla, and ¼ tsp salt into a mixer and mix until fluffy.
- When cakes are done allow them to cool completely for about 45 minutes to an hour. Coat the top of the bottom layer in the filling and then lay the strawberry slithers flat across the top of the cake and cover them fully with the filling. Repeat for the second layer and add last layer on top. Do not cover the top layer.
- Let this sit for 4 hours or overnight so that the cakes can settle.
- Once the cakes have settled, make the icing. In a skillet, add 1 stick of butter and toast until brown. Set aside.
- Add the other stick of butter, mascarpone, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tbsps of the strawberry syrup (from the bowl that the strawberries were sitting in) to a stand mixer. Mix until all ingredients are mixed together. Then add the browned butter and continue to mix until fully incorporated.
- Ice the cake!
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