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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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I never leave a comment but for this I must!! Made this cake over the weekend and I must say AMAZING!!! Cake was moist and frosting was light and delicious!!! I am so glad I stumbled over this website:) thank you for posting such a great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Oh to be able to bake like this. I bet I’d have red fruit stains on everything but the cake. You are fabulous and make it look so easy.
I made this yesterday and followed the recipe precisely, except that I had difficulty finding marscapone so I used cream cheese. It was DELICIOUS! We loved it. The berry filling is the best part. I used 1 cup of raspberries and 1/2 cup of strawberries. It was divine!
I didn’t have any issues with my cake. It was moist, light, and cooked perfectly. I sprayed my 8 inch cake pans with an olive oil spray (because I didn’t have baking spray) and I put parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pan. They came out just fine! My icing was a little lumpy but it tasted wonderful. Next time I’ll put the cream cheese or marscapone in the bowl first and mix it by itself to get some of the lumps out and then I’ll add the other ingredients. I think that would help.
I will be saving the recipe and making this again. The flavor was great! The berry filing makes it really special.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
looking delicious!!! Nice Foodography also!!
Love this cake! My family’s favorite. How long will the berry filing be good for after it’s been made and refrigerated?
I’m so glad to hear that! I haven’t tested it to be sure, but I’d think it’d be fine for at least a week or two.
I just made this cake, and I was so excited, but it just didn’t turn out. Okay, so my cakes did, but the frosting was a complete goopy mess. I even added extra powdered sugar to try to thicken it, and nothing. THe cakes just kept sliding off each other after attempting to frost and fill. Any ideas? It all went in the trash. Super bummed.
I would check out this post that talks about that whipped cream frosting specifically. It sounds like the mascarpone cheese might have been too warm.
I made this cake for my sisters birthday. Wow! This was so good. I got so many compliments on the cake. Best frosting I have ever made.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks Angela!
what is the purpose of having the water and the milk? Can additional milk be substituted for the water?
Milk has fat that water doesn’t have. Water adds moisture without the additional heaviness of more fat. If you swap out the water for milk, you will change the texture of the cake. But you can do it, if you like.
Thanks for the response. That helps me to understand! Will try recipe as written. Thanks again.
I love to make cakes from scratch. I have been searching for a moist yellow cake, that doesn’t dry out as soon as it cools, as well a a whipped icing that holds up. I made this cake and have to say it was everything I hoped it would be. Super moist yellow cake and a hearty whipped frosting that doesn’t mush out when layered. Love, love, love this recipe!!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Going to make half that batter for 12 cupcakes. How many mins at what temp?
You can find the cupcake version of this recipe here.
This cake was so good!!! I’ll be making it again for sure. Question – if I made the cake in a 9×13 pan, how long should I bake for?
I believe it’d be around 30 minutes.
Hi Lindsay! Me and my daughter had something similar when we ate at an Italian restaurant. It was a Triple Berry Tiramisu. The restaurant has since closed but I have never forgotten how yummy the tiramisu was. Your cake sounds very similar to what we had so I want to try it this summer. So I’m a fan of mayo cakes. I make all of my cakes with 1 cup of mayo. What are your thoughts on replacing the vegetable oil with mayo in this particular cake?
I honestly haven’t ever made a cake with mayo, so I really can’t say. It’s something I should probably try at some point.
Hi! This recipe reads like a dream for my husband’s birthday cake. I was wondering if I halved the recipe, what size cake pan do you recommend using?
I’m not really sure – maybe a 6 inch?
This looks delicious, I can’t wait to try it! Could I use frozen berries and leave out the water for the filling? Or would it make the sauce too runny?
You could try frozen – just be sure to pat them dry to remove water, as you mentioned.
I made this for Mother’s Day and it came out fantastic. Thanks Lindsay!
So glad to hear it!
I made this for my son’s birthday party and it was a huge success! This is honestly one of the best cakes I have ever made and the frosting is my new favorite! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!