This Chamomile Strawberry Layer Cake has soft vanilla bean cake layers filled with chamomile buttercream, fresh strawberries and lemon curd.
This cake is also topped with fresh chamomile flowers, which was the inspiration for this cake. I have been seeing these flowers everywhere on my Instagram feed, adorning cakes, pies and even cocktails.
I was wondering if folks were growing them or buying them, because I had not seen them in stores before. Until last week when I spotted them at my local Trader Joes! I was so excited to use them in my baking adventures.
How to make chamomile buttercream
However, the particular flowers I found were labeled as not safe for human consumption, so I knew I had to use them only for decoration and look elsewhere for the chamomile flavor. So I used chamomile tea bags to flavor the buttercream instead. This worked so well! The buttercream has such a lovely, delicate (and safe!) chamomile flavor.
To add chamomile flavor, I steep chamomile tea bags in the milk before I add it to the flour and sugar to make a pudding-like mixture that is added to softened butter. I used three tea bags and steeped them for about 10 minutes. This resulted in a very delicate chamomile flavor in the final buttercream. If you like it stronger, I suggest adding more tea bags and/or steeping for longer.
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Chamomile strawberry layer cake recipe
My chamomile strawberry layer cake recipe starts with my tried-and-true vanilla bean cake as the base. This is my favorite vanilla cake recipe because it is so moist, even days later. It is adapted from Recipe Tin Eats.
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The cake is filled with chamomile buttercream. This is an invention all my own. I start with my basic ermine buttercream recipe, which is also called a “boiled milk frosting”, and flavor it with chamomile tea.
I also filled the cake with lemon curd and fresh strawberries. I love lemon curd and felt like it would pair nicely with the subtle chamomile and sweet strawberries. I found myself craving even more lemon curd while eating a slice, so feel free to have some extra on hand as a bonus garnish for serving.
Here's what you need to make this cake:
If you have strawberries, chamomile tea and lemon curd (or the ingredients to make your own!) then you most likely already have everything you need on hand:
- flour
- baking powder
- eggs
- granulated sugar
- unsalted butter
- whole milk
- vanilla bean paste or extract
- vegetable oil
- chamomile tea
- cream cheese
- strawberries
- lemon curd
Tips for chamomile strawberry layer cake
The buttercream’s flour milk mixture can be made ahead of time, but do not make the frosting as a whole until the day of. It pipes better fresh.
After putting on the top layer, I put the cake in the fridge to firm up before decorating the top. I would recommend storing this in the fridge if you are planning on serving this at an outdoor event where it will be warm.
This cake will stay moist for 3-4 days. You could make the cake ahead of time and just make the buttercream fresh, if desired.
📖 Recipe
Chamomile Strawberry Layer Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla bean cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (115g)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 3 teaspoon vegetable oil
Chamomile buttercream
- 12 oz whole milk
- 3-5 chamomile tea bags
- 10.5 oz granulated sugar (300g)
- 2.25 oz all-purpose flour (65g)
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 12 oz butter (3 sticks) softened
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling and garnish
- fresh sliced strawberries
- lemon curd I used store bought to save time
- chamomile flowers
Instructions
Do ahead
- The flour milk mixture for the buttercream can be made ahead of time as it needs to cool completely before being added to the butter.
Make the cake layers
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x12 rectangle baking pan and line with parchment.
- Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder until thoroughly combined and set aside.
- Crack eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the eggs on medium speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly stream the sugar in.
- When the sugar is completely in, turn the speed to high and beat for about 7 minutes. The mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Combine the milk and butter in a saucepan and gently heat until completely melted. Do not let it overheat or simmer. Set aside but do not let it cool off too much (do not do this ahead of time).
- Add the flour mixture in three parts to the egg mixture just mixing until almost combined. If you still see flour, finish mixing by hand by folding the batter with a rubber spatula.
- Add vanilla and oil to the milk-butter mixture and whisk to combine.
- Remove two large spoonfuls of batter and add it to the milk-butter mixture and whisk to completely combine. This tempers your milk mixture so that it does not cook your egg mixture.
- Pour the milk mixture into the rest of the egg mixture with the beaters running on low. Continue beating just 10-15 seconds more until combined.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool completely.
Make the frosting
- Warm the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Turn off the heat and add the chamomile tea bags. Let steep for at least 10 minutes.
- Combine flour and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk and cook for about 2 minutes to toast the flour.
- Slowly add the chamomile tea milk, whisking to combine, and turn heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking continuously until it is thick and pudding-like. Once simmering, cook for an additional minute.
- Transfer to a heat-proof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that it is touching the surface without any air bubbles in between to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. Alternatively, Spread the mixture onto a sheet pan (covered with plastic) and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to cool it down faster. Ensure the mixture is completely cool, otherwise it will melt the butter.
- Add the room temperature butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on high until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese with a whisk or hand beater for a few seconds to get out any lumps. Add it to your butter and whip on high until incorporated.
- Add the cooled flour mixture gradually, by the spoonful, while still beating. Incorporating the mixture slowly ensures a smoother consistency.
- Add vanilla and salt, and mix until fully incorporated.
Assemble the cake
- With the long side towards you, slice the cake in thirds. Each section should be 4 inches wide.
- Put a small dollop of buttercream on a serving plate or board (this will help the cake stick and not slide around). Place the first layer of cake on top.
- Cover the top of the first layer with a thin layer of buttercream with an offset spatula. Then pipe a border around the edge. I used a large star tip.
- Remove a bit of excess buttercream in the middle to make room for the strawberries.
- Place a single layer of strawberries in the middle of the cake. Spoon small dollops of lemon curd over the strawberries. Smooth the curd into the cracks with a small offset spatula.
- Place the second layer of cake on top. Repeat the previous steps for filling.
- Finally, place the third layer of cake on top. This time, pipe the border of buttercream first, then pipe a straight line of buttercream down the middle. Add a few dollops of lemon curd. Make swoops and swirls with a small spoon or with the end of the offset spatula.
- Top with strawberry slices and chamomile flowers, if using.
Can I use a hand-held mixer for this recipe? And also, what is the difference between vanilla bean paste and extract?
Hi Abby! Yes, you could totally use a hand-held mixer for this recipe. Vanilla bean paste is just a thicker vanilla paste with real vanilla bean seeds in it (black specks) and vanilla extract is just a liquid vanilla. Either will work for this recipe! Happy baking. 🙂
Sorry, one more question, what temperature should the lemon curd be?
I used a jar of lemon curd that was in the fridge! So room temp or cooled would be perfect. 🙂
I love the way my cake came out, the frosting I was really excited for, but I did have an issue with it. It came out really clumpy, almost the texture of cottage cheese. I've tried twice with the frosting, but I couldn't get it as smooth as it should be. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi, Mariana! Thank you so much for letting me know. Are the clumps in the frosting specks of unincorporated butter? Or something else? If they are specks of butter, your butter may not have been room temperature enough or you may have not beat it long enough to get it smooth before adding the pudding mixture. If the clumps are from the pudding mixture you may need to whisk more aggressively during the flour toasting process and/or when you add the milk. Let me know if that helps or if you have more questions. And thank you again so much for taking the time to give feedback!