Strawberry Shortcake Layer Cake

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 recipe yellow cake baked in 9” rounds

* 1 pound strawberries

* 1 4 pound tub Wilton decorator icing (medium consistency)

* Wilton Color Right Red optional

* 8 ounces (225g) cream cheese

* 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar

* 1 ½ cups (356ml) cold heavy whipping cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

Bake cakes in 9-inch round pans as directed on box or in recipe. Let cool.

Set aside 6-8 strawberries for garnish. Wash, hull, and dice small enough to make 1 cup diced (about 6-8 berries, depending on size).

Place 2 cups of the decorator icing in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the diced berries. Add one drop of red food coloring, if desired.

Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Frost with the strawberry icing. Top with second cake layer. Chill 1 hour.

Using more of the decorator icing, frost the outside and top of the cake with a thin layer. I chose to leave the cake naked on the outside, but you can do a thicker layer of frosting if desired. Chill to set the crumb layer

Make the whipped cream topping: beat cream cheese and sugar with a hand or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then run the mixer while adding the heavy whipping cream. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Decorate/frost the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream frosting. I used a Wilton 1M tip to pipe swirls over the top of the cake. Top with berries.

Store in refrigerator for up to 2 days.