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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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How can I make this cake into chocolate
I’d use this chocolate cake.
Hi Lindsay,
I would like to make this cake with rectangular tins, 23x30cm (around 9.06×11.8inches) for my daughter’s birthday.
Should use 2 tins or 3?
Double the recipe?
How long should they cook in the oven?
I really appreciate your input and time.
You shouldn’t need to double the recipe. The number of pans would depend on how many layers you want. 2 or 3 should be fine. I’m really not sure of the bake time at that size and with multiple layers. I’m guessing that if you did 2 layers, it’d be around 20 minutes, give or take. If you do 3 layers, it’d be a bit less. I hope that helps!
This was our wedding cake because we loved it so much
What a great compliment! So glad you enjoyed it!
This in cupcake form is my husband’s absolute favorite cupcake and my go-to recipe. I’d like to use it for a simple wedding cake. If I switch the vanilla for almond do you think it’ll still come out good?
I love this recipe. I am looking to make it as a 9×13…is that possible?
Hi, ❤️
I prepared this recipe but the texture of the cake was very liquid! Is that okay
How many days in advance can I make this and have it sit in the fridge for? Would it be better to freeze it? Can you even freeze a whole cake like that and still taste good after it thaws
I often make cakes the day before I serve them, so that would be totally fine. You could maybe stretch it one more day but I probably wouldn’t do more than that. I don’t typically recommend freezing full cakes, in part because when they thaw, condensation can form and it’s hard to know how that will affect the texture of your cake and fillings. But plenty of people do it, so you could certainly try it. If you do try it, I would recommend thawing the cake completely in the fridge.
I’ve made this cake several times and is always amazing. My question – Is it possible to make this cake as the bottom tier to a 3-tier cake?
So glad you enjoy it! As for tiered cakes, I would think it’d be fine as long as it’s properly doweled, but I don’t really make tiered cakes, so maybe there’s something I’m not considering.
I have a lot on plate throwing a 50th wedding anniversary for my parents a few days after Christmas. Could I use a jam, jelly, or preserves instead of making the fresh berries?
You can, but I really find the flavor to be very different. I think it would be fine to make the filling ahead of time and freeze it, if that would be helpful.
Can I make the berry filling ahead of time? How long will it stay good in the fridge?
Yes, it should be fine stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Can I reduce the amount of sugar in the cake?
I mean yes, but it’ll probably change the results, depending on how much you reduce it. Sugar not only adds sweetness but it also adds moisture and affects the texture of the cake.
any suggestions to how to covert this recipe to a three tiered wedding cake? I volunteered to make this delicious cake and now I’m trying to figure out the amount of ingredients.
I’m not sure what size cake tiers you want. If you’re doing a 6 inch, 8 inch and 10 inch – you could cut the recipe in half for a 6 inch, use this recipe for the 8 inch and then double it for the 10 inch.
I love the frosting recipe! Unfortunately, the store here has quit carrying mascarpone cream cheese. Could I use regular cream cheese instead?
Yes, you can.
Dear Lindsay,
Could you please tell me how tall is this 3-layered cake?
Thank you,
Marie
It should be 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall once everything is layered and done.
Thank you for your reply Lindsay.
By the way, I have only two 9-inch spring form pans. Do I need to adjust the measurements?
I will try to make this and give you an update on how it turns out.
You could make just two layers, but your cake won’t be as tall. You could try one and a half recipes worth if you’d like it to be taller. Also, keep in mind that this is a very thin cake batter. If your cake pans leak at all, the better may leak out.
Hi Lindsay,
I am excited to make this a birthday cake for my son. Did you ever try to colour the frosting? Any tips, how to not spoil it, if you I should try to do that? Thank you.
It’s basically whipped cream, and you can certainly color it. You just have to be careful with whipped cream because if you over mix it, it can start to deflate. So if you want to color it, definitely use gel icing color. If you’re looking for really vibrant colors you’re not going to want to have to add a little bit of color at a time because you will deflate the frosting over each addition. I would try to get it right after one or two additions of color and fold it gently. I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for the tip. I will be making this only in December, but will for sure let you know, how it went.
Hi Lindsay. If I use 2 9” baking pans, how long should I bake it for? I will be making this on the 22nd of this month for my friend’s birthday.
The baking time should actually be similar. Even though they are larger pans, they will have about the same thickness of batter in each. If you’d still like to have a taller cake, you could try one and a half recipes worth in three 9 inch pans.