Berries & Cream Layer Cake
The kind of cake you want ice-cold for breakfast ☕️ A luscious, trifle-like cake made with HYC yellow cake layers filled with fresh berries and whipped cream
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F130a366b-d9d8-4455-8f1d-9a4278a7982e_1440x1800.jpeg)
I’m in Oregon visiting with my folks and my sisters and their families. We celebrated my sister Caitlin’s birthday with a shrimp Louis feast that my 87 year old mom made. I wouldn’t normally call out mom’s age, but she seemingly has the same amount of energy as she did 20 years ago. She’s a Master Gardener with a spectacular garden that she works in every day, and created the birthday feast…and I’m sitting here exhausted just from the 9-hour drive from San Francisco a couple days ago.
This mini vacation with a birthday celebration offered the perfect opportunity to revisit the HYC yellow cake. I made it in a Bundt pan the first time I posted it, but this time in 9-inch and 10-inch layers (only because those were the pan sizes available; the recipe below calls for two 9-inch pans). I split and filled them with tons of fresh raspberries and blueberries from my sister’s garden and layered them with lightly sweetened whipped cream. We also picked cherries from mom’s giant cherry tree which I made a purée from to moisten the cake layers.
This layer cake is soft, luscious, and creamy with bursts of bright, tart fruit—and, having had my fill of it two nights ago, I am eating it ice cold with my morning coffee for breakfast—it’s worth making just for this morning’s meal alone.
I wasn’t set up to make a video in Oregon, but I’ve added more instructional detail in the recipe below. Bundt cakes, due to the volume of batter in a deep pan, can sometimes not bake up as evenly as batter in a low, shallow pan. I took some shots of the split layer where you can see the nice, even crumb (I only chose to split one of the layers for my cake in the photo above).
The keys to success for this cake:
Make sure the eggs are at warm room temperature. Soak in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes if necessary.
Whip eggs and sugar to a ribbon: thick and pale, and when the beater is lifted, they should slowly fall back into the bowl.
A quick, deft hand is important when folding in the flour and milk additions.
Fold the hot milk mixture in until you don’t see any more streaks; you’re combining two mixtures that have very different consistencies, and the milk wants to sink to the bottom of the bowl (this is the #1 cause of problems with this kind of cake).
I’m off this morning to start our drive back to San Francisco. One last trip to the cherry tree for a snack and to tour mom’s garden. Does anyone have any tips for stops between Eugene and SF for the way home? Send ideas if you do! One can only eat so much In-N-Out, although our dog Harriet likes their “puppy patties”.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F727cf39f-87b9-4388-9db1-e8d3b50d79a1_5712x4284.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F80aff556-b0be-4ccc-9ed3-d825d8a98f9a_5712x4284.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8483cad-cadb-4ac0-9043-cad149069250_5712x4284.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8388eb7b-c363-406b-a655-a761f28a7e17_5712x4284.jpeg)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Liz Prueitt | Have Your Cake to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.