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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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Hi! If I wanted to make 1 10″ cake and 2 9″ inch, can you tell me how to adjust the recipe?
I’m really not sure how much batter you’d need off the top of my head.
This is my first comment on a Blog site – but this cake requires a comment! Absolutely DELICIOUS cake – followed directions to a tee, and it turned out just amazing. I made it for a friends birthday and it was so popular that it was asked for again for my sisters birthday, and my daughter just asked for it for her birthday! I have never made this type of frosting before, but it is a new favorite. If you want folks praising your bakery skills you need to make this cake! Thank you for making me look good!!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
the recipe didnt call for baking soda. is it correct? water mean boiling water or room temperature ones?
Yes, it’s correct. Room temperature water.
With so many reviews, you may not want anymore, but I just have to let you know… I LOVE this cake! I made this for my husband’s birthday. He’s so good in allowing me to try something new for his birthday, and this is what he chose. The cake was nice and moist and had a great crumb, which I was kind of surprised about, because the recipe calls for regular AP flour, instead of cake flour. The cakes domed so beautifully when they were baked. I also loved how easy and fast the cake was to prepare. For the filling, I only used raspberries and strawberries, since my husband isn’t a fan of blueberries. The recipe didn’t say to strain the seeds, but I did anyway (in your pictures it looked as if you did). After following the recipe, I had more than 2/3 cup of puree, but I used all of it, and it thickened just fine, and turned out great. The frosting is delish! I love that it’s a combination of a “cream cheese”-like frosting and a whipped cream frosting. It wasn’t overly sweet, and it’s great to pipe with. I’m just so pleased with how well this cake turned out and how delicious it was. Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe!
I also need to add that I used whole milk. I also used mascarpone straight from the fridge, and it whipped up just fine. I greased my pans, put down a circle of parchment on the bottom, greased the paper, and floured them. I had no problems with the cakes sticking to the pans. And I didn’t find the cakes too sticky to work with either.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hello! Could cream cheese be substituted for the mascarpone as it is hard to find where I am and pricey? Thanks!
Yes, it can.
Hiya – I just baked this cake and I have a few questions if you’re still looking at this post .
First off, I got a ton of compliments on it – the sponge texture was very light and fluffy, which was exactly what I was after and taste-wise it was perfect, although I think I added a bit too much salt – my fault!
The filling was just lovely – mine turned out a bit lumpy but I think I overwhipped it and I think my mascarpone may have been too warm. The one issue I had was that the cake was quite difficult to work with – it was sticky in the pans, as you said, so I lined with baking paper. It came out of the pans fine but when I peeled off the paper it ‘clung’ to the paper and in some cases the paper pulled off chunks of sponge. When it came to icing I found the icing pulled off some of the sponge as well. Do you have any advice to prevent this in future? I was thinking a crumb coat for the icing troubles, but for the baking paper removal do you have any advice? I tried to do it really gently and slowly but I’m wondering if something else could help!
When you say baking paper, do you mean parchment paper? I find that works best. You could try also spraying it with baking spray. I don’t remember having that issue with the icing and crumbs, but definitely a crumb coat would be a good way to prevent that in the future.
So glad you enjoyed the cake!
I just baked this cake, delicious, it turned out perfect like your pictured cake, this is a keeper, baked it in celebration of our granddaughter number 12 birthday on Easter Sunday!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I must say that I used my trusty white cake recipe for the berry mascarpone layer cake. That being said the frosting is devine and will be my new go to. It pipes beautifully and isn’t too sweet. The berry filling…delicious. My family loved the cake and can’t wait for me to make it again.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
This frosting was perfection and probably the easiest I have ever made. I have been looking for a stabilized whipped cream frosting forever and none of them stack up to this one. Could you play around with this recipe and make a chocolate version? Then share?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! For a chocolate version, you can sub some of the powdered sugar for cocoa powder. I’d try 1/2 a cup, or a touch more, depending on how chocolatey you want it.
I made the frosting today to put on my coconut cream cupcakes and it was absolutely perfect. I followed the recipe exactly as written, used cheap mascarpone from Walmart, used a kitchenaid to whisk it, and it wasn’t lumpy or grainy, it was perfect. Didn’t chill the mixing bowl or whisk either, and it tasted wonderful. 5 stars!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for replying, I’m going to give this one a try!
Making this for this weekend! What kind of milk did you use?
I use 2% milk. Enjoy!
Hi Lindsay,
This cake looks amazing! I would love to make it for a special family birthday coming up. Do you think it would work if I replaced the vanilla extract with lemon juice in the cake and icing recipes and added a little lemon zest? Thanks.
The cake would probably not bake correctly with lemon juice added. If you’d like a lemon cake, I’d try using the layers in this cake.
And also with the cream cheese .. if I use it instead of mascarpone cheese .. can I make it 3 days early and refrigerate it until I serve it?
Hey can I make cake like 3 days before the major event like if I get it ready on Wednesday and serve on Saturday? Will it be hold tyre icing and taste?
That far in advance would probably be a little more than I’d suggest for it to be optimally fresh, but it should be ok.
I’ve just made it and I loved it!! Very easy and jummy
Glad to hear it!