I’ll go ahead and answer all of your questions now.
- Yes, this cake was amazing.
- Yes, it was devoured in about three seconds flat.
- Yes, I believe that a lot of baked goods might benefit from a small hit of Amish Friendship Bread starter love. This one certainly did.
This Strawberry Limeade Amish Friendship Bread Cake, adapted from a recipe in Country Living, is the perfect springtime dessert. Airy and flavorful, it’s a promise of what’s to come as the winter months warm up. The only bummer, if you could even call it that, is that this isn’t a one-bowl recipe. There are a few extra steps (and extra mixing bowls) that make this recipe a little more work than we’re used to with Amish Friendship Bread, but it was worth it.
You’ll start, of course, with fresh strawberries if you can get them. If not, thawed frozen strawberries (drained) work just as well.
Run it through your food processor (I use and love a Zyliss manual one) to make a puree with a few small chunks here and there.
I bought three limes for the zest and juice. If you’re a fan of citrus, I’d add a fourth. It’s also good to have a spare lime on hand for garnish.
This recipe uses three 8″ cake pans to make a simple layer cake. Kitchen Tip! Don’t throw your butter wrappers away — save them to grease your cake tins. One wrapper can easily cover one tin and more.
The recipe calls for cake flour, which yields a finer, lighter crumb. If you don’t have any on hand, all-purpose flour is fine or you can make a simple cake flour substitute by replacing four tablespoons of the all-purpose flour with four tablespoons of cornstarch.
I made a Strawberry Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. I frosted each layer individually and then placed them on top of each other. If your kitchen is warm or your frosting is a bit runny, you’ll want to let the frosted cakes set up individually in the fridge first.
Stack the cakes on top of each other and then let the entire cake set up in the fridge. If your layers feel loose, fold a long strip of plastic wrap in half lengthwise and wrap it around the cake before placing it in the fridge.
I had been thinking about just frosting in between the layers but my kitchen was warm so I ended up frosting the whole thing.
Once the frosting had set, it was time to add a little garnish. A good paring knife makes it easy to transform a whole strawberry into a flower bloom. Start at the bottom making downward notches, getting smaller (and narrower) as you get to the top. Leave the green tops on!
I sliced up one of the limes on my Oxo mandoline and then used the paring knife to cut from the center to the rind to one side. Then give the slice a little twist.
I loved the way everything turned out and while pretty is nice, this cake tasted amazing with just the right amount of Amish Friendship Bread tang.
Strawberry Limeade Amish Friendship Bread Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter
- 2 cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 small box vanilla instant pudding
- 1 pound strawberries chopped, plus extra for garnish
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- Strawberry Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
- Grease three 8-inch round cake tins.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pudding mix in a mixing bowl.
- Puree strawberries in a food processor, leaving a few small chunks.
- Whisk starter, buttermilk, and 1 cup of the puree in another bowl. Reserve any excess puree for frosting.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add vanilla and lime zest.
- Reduce speed to low and alternate adding the starter mixture and the flour mixture until flour is incorporated.
- Divide batter into prepared cake tins.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
Strawberry Limeade Amish Friendship Bread Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter
- 2 cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 small box vanilla instant pudding
- 1 pound strawberries chopped, plus extra for garnish
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- Strawberry Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
- Grease three 8-inch round cake tins.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pudding mix in a mixing bowl.
- Puree strawberries in a food processor, leaving a few small chunks.
- Whisk starter, buttermilk, and 1 cup of the puree in another bowl. Reserve any excess puree for frosting.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add vanilla and lime zest.
- Reduce speed to low and alternate adding the starter mixture and the flour mixture until flour is incorporated.
- Divide batter into prepared cake tins.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the bread loosens evenly from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
>> Have you tried this recipe? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
Do you think this could be baked in a 9×13 inch cake pan?
This cake jumped to the top of our favorites. It was much better the second day after it had been refrigerated over night.
At the very bottom of ingredients it has…1 tablespoon lime zestStrawberry Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. Not sure what this means. It looks like part of the cake but there isn’t any frosting recipe. Can’t imagine adding 1 T of frosting to the cake.
Hi Charlotte,
I wondered the same thing.
I found it under one of the pictures of the cooked cake layers.
Hi Charlotte! LOL, that is a typo! Thanks for catching that. Yes, the recipe is on the site (and linked in the post): https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/strawberry-lime-cream-cheese-frosting/
How do you think this could be adjusted for a Cherry Limeade cake instead?
Hi Sheila! You’ll have to experiment, but we would imagine you can substitute the strawberries with pitted cherries without having to adjust the amounts very much! Have fun!
Do you use line juice and zest in cake recipe or just frosting?