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This Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake has layers of fluffy vanilla cake, fresh berry filling and mascarpone whipped cream frosting! It’s light, fruity and perfect for spring!
Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake
I never really realized how much of an effect caffeine has until I stopped drinking it recently. As part of the IVF process, caffeine isn’t really recommended so I’ve been doing my best to not drink it. Since soda has less caffeine than coffee, I’ll have a little if I’m desperate. I’d rather have coffee though. 🙁 Much more yummy.
Point is though – the lack of a picker-upper is brutal! And the tiredness is making me crave a way to increase energy so now I just want to eat all the carbs and sugar, which I’m also avoiding. Sometimes I feel like I just can’t eat anything. It’s not a good situation. I’ve gotta find a way to muster up some energy!
My go-to move right now is to play some of my favorite music and dance around while working. Gets the blood flowing and pumps me up. 🙂 Yay for 90s music! That’s my era.
And this is my cake.
Boy, do I love this cake! Fresh berries are some of the best things ever and we’ve had them galore for the last month or so. I can’t get enough of them! Especially the blueberries and strawberries. I just want to eat a carton at a time. And I can eat fruit – yay! 🙂
How to Make Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake
This cake starts with a moist and easy vanilla cake. The batter is so easy to put together, you could simply use a whisk to combine everything if you wanted. I always love a good stand mixer – it takes the work out of it for you – but you could do it by hand. Just combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add them all together with a little water. Done! Plus, the ingredients are all nice and straight forward. Rock on.
Then there’s the berry filling. You could almost think of it as a homemade jam, but not quite as thick. I used an even mix of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, but you could use whatever combo you like. The berries are purred in a food processor, then cooked over heat with some sugar and cornstarch. The heat reduces the liquid a bit and the cornstarch helps thicken everything. Once it’s cooled, you’ve got the perfect berry filling!
The mascarpone whipped cream frosting is used both to add to the cake filling and to frost the cake. I love how light this frosting is! You basically make whipped cream and add mascarpone cheese to it. The mascarpone flavor is lighter than a more straight forward mascarpone frosting, but this version runs much less risk of getting a super soft mascarpone frosting. Just be sure to add the full amount of powdered sugar to make sure the frosting stays stable. It makes a great addition to the cake and keeps things light and fresh!
The final cake is perfect for spring, Easter and all through the summer! It was a huge hit!
Watch How To Make It
SHOP THE RECIPE
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Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 26 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 11 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake has layers of fluffy vanilla cake, fresh berry filling and mascarpone whipped cream frosting! It’s light, fruity and perfect for spring!
Ingredients
VANILLA CAKE
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) water
BERRY FILLING
- 1 1/2 cup (240g) mixed berries (I used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
- 3 tbsp (45ml) water
- 3/4 cup (155g) sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
WHIPPED MASCARPONE FROSTING
- 2 1/2 cups (600ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1 1/2 cups (173g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 16 oz (452g) mascarpone cheese, chilled
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare three 8 inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit, so I strongly recommend the parchment paper in the bottom.
2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.
3. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
5. Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Remove the cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit so jiggle them a bit to loosen from the sides of the pan before turning the cakes out to cool.
BERRY FILLING
8. To make the berry topping, add the berries and water to a food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about 2/3 cup puree.
9. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berry puree.
10. Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.
11. Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Refrigerate and allow to cool completely.
FROSTING AND ASSEMBLY
12. Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.
13. Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. It will happen fairly quickly.
14. To assemble the cake, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes.
15. Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round. Pipe a dam of frosting around the outside of the cake. I use Ateco tip 808 for the dam so that it’s tall.
16. Spread half of the berry filling evenly on top of the cake layer, inside the dam. It should fill the dam about half way full.
17. Add some additional mascarpone frosting to the top of the berry filling and spread into an even layer to fill in the remaining dam space.
18. Add the second layer of cake and repeat the filling layer with the remaining berry filling and additional mascarpone frosting.
19. Add the final layer of cake on top, then smooth out the frosting around the sides of the cake.
20. Frost the outside of the cake, then use an icing decorator (I use this Ateco Icing Smoother ) to add a striped pattern to the sides.
21. Finish off the cake with some swirls of frosting and fresh berries.
22. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Cake is best for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 678
- Sugar: 53 g
- Sodium: 216.6 mg
- Fat: 40 g
- Carbohydrates: 74 g
- Protein: 8.7 g
- Cholesterol: 118.4 mg
Enjoy!
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Just wondering if this cake will hold up if made a day ahead of time? How stable is the frosting? Thanks!
Yep, as long as you use all the powdered sugar (which stabilizes it), it should be fine. Mine help up perfectly for several days.
Thoughts on coconut oil in place of the vegetable oil??
Hard to say without trying it. I haven’t tried it.
I made this cake and it came out delicious. It was light, flavorful and moist. It was well-balanced with tartness and sweetness. The mascarpone frosting was also very flavorful except I did have some small pieces of mascarpone that didn’t seem to fully mix in. I scooped it directly out of the container so im not sure if i should have stirred it beforehand. However, I would definitely make this again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Maybe try whipping the frosting a little longer to try and get rid of the lumps? I also added mine directly out of the container. There could be differences between brands though. Another option would be to let it soften just a bit. Not too much though, since mascarpone can get too soft very easily.
Like other comments, I followed the recipe exactly except I used two 9” pans instead and my cakes weren’t flat, but I’m not sure if they’re as tall as they should be. I had to cook them for longer and it didn’t seem to be just due to the 9” pan. I didn’t even attempt to make them flat and pretty because I feared at their consistency, I’d make them look worse. They were mostly ok to begin with. I used raspberries and strawberries for the filling. When using the specified heat, my berry mixture came to a boil far earlier than 8 minutes. It was more like 3 or 4, so I called it done at that point rather than risk scorching it. It turned out fine. My frosting also definitely didn’t get hard enough to form any kind of shape, so I spread it out over the assembled cake and sides with my aim being to just cover the whole cake- without being artful about it. . I haven’t tasted it as a whole yet, but I think it will be good. We’ll see when I cut it. Maybe it will end up in a parfait cup instead of attempting to be a piece of cake. 🙂
Can almond milk be substituted?
I haven’t tried it. It should be fine, but almond milk has different a fat content than regular milk, so it will alter the texture a bit.
I used almond milk both times when I made this. Nobody even knew and the cake held up just fine ☺
Great to know! Thanks Leanne!
Hi! I have made this cake before and absolutely love it. I want to make it for my niece’s third birthday. Can I make the cake into two layers that are approx 9 x 13 each? I would double the recipe if need be but just want to know if anyone has made it this way and got good results?
It bakes well as a 9×13. You don’t necessarily need to double it, unless you want a quite tall cake. I’m glad to hear you enjoy it!
Is there a way to save the videos for future and also to send them to a friend who isnt on FB?
I’m not sure that there would be a way to save them outside of Facebook. I do have a page where you can find the posts/recipes with videos and will soon have a video gallery where you can view them all and that should include some options for viewing your favorites.
Can I use cake flour instead of regular flour?
I haven’t tried it before with this particular cake. I’m guessing it’d be fine, but can’t say for sure.
The recipe says 2.5. cups or 325g of flour. The sugar is only 2 cups yet 414g? Is there an error on the quantities?
Nope, it’s correct. Flour and sugar weight differently.
Looks awesome and sounds delicious! Will try it this month and post the results! Thank you.
The cake is beautiful and i wanna make this soon! 🙂
Can you pls tell me where did you get that scraper? Thank you!
Thank you – I hope you enjoy it! You can find the icing smoother here.
Hi, I’ve made this cake several times and loved it. This time, I was wondering if I could do half cream cheese, half mascarpone cheese for the frosting. Do you think it’d work?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes half cream cheese and half mascarpone cheese should work just fine.
For some reason, my cake layers didn’t rise..I definitely put in the baking powder, so not sure what was up. It was delicious nonetheless.
The recipe for the cake layers of this cake sometimes just don’t seem to work for people and I’m not really sure why. If you’d like to try a different recipe for the vanilla layers, check out my moist vanilla cake. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/moist-vanilla-layer-cake/
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I only have 9 inch pans. Do I need to change anything?
You just won’t have as tall of a cake. I might just do two cake layers so they aren’t too thin.
Can I use melted butter instead of vegetable oil in this recipe? Can use buttermilk for the milk part of the recipe?
I don’t think the butter would produce the same result, but you could try it. I also haven’t tried the buttermilk. If you’d prefer a butter-based cake, you could try the cake layers from this cake.
Hi Lindsay,
I made this cake for my son’s birthday & people loved it! Planning to do the same cake this year too. Do u know if I can stick fondant decorations to the sides of this cake? Any tips on how to stick them?
Also I can planning to do a tier cake this time. 6 inch tier over a 8 inch tier. Do u know how I should downsize the recipe for a 6 inch?
Thanks
Ramya
Fondant decorations should stick to whipped cream just fine. As long as they’re not too bulky or heavy. As for the smaller size, I don’t really make any 6 inch cakes so I’m not sure. I’m sorry!
Would love to make this cake but only have 1x 10″ cake tin. Could you please tell me, would I be able to double the recipe and make it in one 10″ cake tin, then slice it into 3 layers. Also any idea of cooking time. Many thanks
I haven’t made a 10 inch, so I’m not sure about that size. Also, I wouldn’t bake all the batter at once. It usually ends up being dense and unevenly cooked. You’d want to bake at least two separate layers.
Beautiful cake. I was wondering: I really enjoy tall cakes. Do you know how tall or how many cups of batter your recipe makes? Can this recipe be easily doubled? Thank You.
This cake should be around 3.5 inches tall. I haven’t doubled it before, but I’d think it’d be ok.
I actually measured the batter to make sure my 3 layers were even; and it makes roughly 6 cups.
Hello I can cook the cake in one go and the cut after? Because I am only one mold I can cook one by one the three cake the preparation will always be good?
Ii wouldn’t suggest one big layer. You could get by with two though.
Hello I can cook this cake in a mold instead of three and the cut after? I am only one mold so the preparation of your cake can wait for the other cake cook if I made 3 cupcake?
I wouldn’t suggest baking it all in one pan. I’d do at least two layers.
I absolutely LOVE all of your cake recipes!! So far I’ve made this (it was amazing!) and I’ve made your Nutella Cake that everyone went crazy over! I look forward to making more and more of your desserts!! I was wondering instead of milk could you use buttermilk in this recipe? Does it change the taste or texture? I will be making this for Easter today! So excited!
Hi Lindsay!
This cake looks absolutely gorgeous! i’m planning to make this particular cake for my birthday since berries are in season in California! I was just wondering if you measured your ingredients by weight when you made this cake or any recipe of yours in general. Also, is there any mascorpne cheese alternative cause it seems like the stores near me don’t sell them :/ I’m a long time subsciber and can’t wait for your new recipes!
P.S. The videos that you make are short and easy to watch! You should start a youtube channel to upload these fantastic videos 🙂
From,
Katelyn
Yes, I always weight my ingredients for the ones where weight is indicated. You can substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone, if you’d like.
Thanks for subscribing! I’m so glad you enjoy everything! I will soon have a custom video gallery that will function much like youtube. Stay tuned – I’ll announce it when it’s live. 🙂
Hi! Can I make the cake ahead of time? Like I’ll bake it Thursday and then frost Friday and serve Saturday. I am afraid the cake will not be fresh by Saturday. I usually make this Thursday and serve Friday. Thank you!
Wow Lindsay! What a gorgeous cake! How ever do you keep your cake layers from getting too brown? I love just how light they came out! What’s your secret? I love your book, by the way. Best wishes with your IVF!
I don’t usually have an issue with browning. They’ll get a little golden on the sides, but that’s pretty normal. I don’t do anything special. I do use light colored pans. Darker pans can produce more browning.
I’m so glad you enjoy the book! And thank you for the good wishes! 🙂
The recipe calls for one cup of water when adding to the batter slowly it’s still looks a little watery is that expected
Yes, it’s a fairly thin cake batter.
Hi! I can replace mil for buttermilk?
That should be fine.
Looks soooo good! Have you ever made the cake batter into cupcakes? Just curious how they would be might just have to try it out 🙂
Yep! You can find the cupcake recipe here. 🙂
Hi Linsey!
Can I make the cake and leave it outside for the night? I don’t want it to get the fridge smell and dry out!
Nadia
I wouldn’t suggest it with this cake. The filling and the frosting should be refrigerated, especially the frosting.
This is my 2nd time making this cake. The first was a year-and-a-half ago for my daughter and her husband’s wedding cakes which was amazing. I’ve already have a posted picture of them. This morning I made a two layer 9-inch cake with the recipe for their birthdays because his is Christmas and hers is January 3rd. The cake turned out beautiful one more time.
Such a gorgeous cake! I can’t wait to make it! The cake recipe reminds me of your moist vanilla cupcake recipe, which I LOVE so much.
Yes – same recipe in cake form. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
I tried.. I don’t know what happened but my frosting curdled as I mixed it. I’m going to use as a filling over fruit but will make another type of frosting to cover cake. I tried to frost a piece of the cake I had cut off top and the frosting slid off my knife. Help. I followed recipe to a T. Before I added the cheese it was making nice soft peaks. When I started mixing it after it looked like cottage cheese without the limps. Very tasty though. I used vanilla bean paste and it is yummy.
Did you give it a stir with a spatula after mixing? It can look a little lumpy or so when mixing, but should be fine. Sounds like it may have been a little thin – did you use the full amount of powdered sugar? Also, not sure if you used a hand mixer or stand, but I find the stand produces a firmer whipped cream frosting.
Good day Lindsay what is the purpose of the water can I just use 2 cups of milk, I don’t get the water part
Water and milk have different fat contents. You could try using just milk, but it will change the texture of the cake.
Does it matter which % milk should be used then?
I used 2% milk.
What size pan did you use?
Three 8 inch pans
I would like to make this cake but square instead of round, Would I need to make any changes in the recipe?
Square pans should be fine. I would make sure they are about the same size as the 8 inch cake pans. I hope you enjoy!
I just made this cake for Mother’s Day and it was a huge success! Beautiful cake, there wasn’t a piece left after the party was over. Great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this cake for Easter and my family of 7 inhaled it! Making it, again, today just because 😀
So glad you enjoyed it!
I love this cake, so tasty..have baked it many times. I find it a bit hit and miss…Sometimes even when baked much longer, the top is golden, but the base of the cake still seems slightly stodgy/uncooked. Sadly, I can only tell this once cake is cooled and removed from tin. I tried your other vanilla cake recipe, but prefer the taste & texture of this one when it works out. Do you think it might help to reduce amount of water in recipe? Also batter is so thin, it often runs out the bottom of my tins…even when tightly lined. I’d love to get this recipe more reliable….any helping appreciated.
I wish I knew exactly why it was hit and miss for people. I’ve never been able to recreate the issue to test it. I’m sorry! You could try reducing the water, but I do believe that would change the final texture of the cake a bit.
All components were good but the frosting never got thick enough..it ended up sliding around and the whole thing turned out to be a big mess..I cut it up and made a trifle..very disappointing since I spent my whole day trying to make this perfectly ..I also think there tablespoons of cornstarch in the berries is too much..I had to thin it with alot of water to make work..my husband said it tasted great as a trifle I think I picked too hot of a day to try and make whipped cream frosting.
Hi! This recipe looks delicious and I would like to try baking it. I am new to baking cakes, and was wondering if there was any way that I could convert this cake into a 2-layered, 9″ round baking pan cake. Should I use less fruit filling so that I can still have 2 layers of fruit filling? And if I don’t have a pipe thing for the top decorations, can I just leave it flat and add a few berries? Also wondering how I would have to adjust all of the ingredients… I could always use any remaining batter and frosting for cupcakes I suppose? Just asking for ideas and help please!
Thank you!
-Samantha
Yes you can make two 9 inch layers without adjusting ingredients, you would just need to increase the baking time. You may want to cut the filling in half since you only be able to get one layer of filling. And yes, you can decorate the top of the cake however you like. I hope you enjoy it!
Can you use fondant over this frosting?
I don’t really work with fondant at all these days, but I’m going to guess that whipped cream is going to be too soft to hold up well underneath it.
Unfortunately every single element of this recipe was a fail, even though I followed recipe to a t. The sponge was increadibly dense, almost raw like, eveb though I cooked it for nearly and hour, it was just not cooking through properly. Jam was ok though way too sweet and mascarpone cream icing was runny and never set. Eventualy I set it with gelatine overnight, so the cake looked ok, but the taste of the sponge was just wrong. Im not an experienced baker, so not sure what went wrong, perhaps more experienced bakers can use this recipe. I do not recommend it for someone like me, who needs to be instructed every step of a way
Hi, I’ve made this a few times….absolutely delicioys…..always receive many compliments on it. Thanks for the recipe. Could it be used to make cupcakes do you know?