Vanilla cake with strawberry frosting

Made this cake for hubby's birthday and it was quite a favorite! It was moist and just rightly sweet. The recipe for the cake is from my trusted source KAF and for the frosting is from here. I felt the frosting could have been a little less sweet - it could be that our strawberries were very sweet. Will try to lower the amount of sugar next time. Even then it tasted awesome!

For the cake

Ingredients

2 cups (241g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour   

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (397g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (14g) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (227g) milk (used 2%)
• 4 tablespoons (57g) butter, cut into pats
• 1/3 cup (67g) vegetable oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. The recipe calls for using round pans. I didn't have two round pans of the same size. I used one 9x13 pan and then divided the cake into two so that I had two layers.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters, whisk, or paddle.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl and mix — by hand or on low speed of a mixer — just enough to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix again briefly, to fully incorporate any residual flour or sticky bits.
5. In a saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave, bring the milk just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and oil, stirring by hand until the butter has melted.
6. Slowly mix the hot milk-butter-oil mixture into the batter, stirring on low speed of a mixer until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and mix briefly, just until smooth.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-48 minutes.

For the frosting

The frosting was a tad less for this size of the cake but still manageable. Increasing it by 10-20% would probably help.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp water, if needed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Puree the strawberries.
2. Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium hear. Allow the mixture to boil, stirring consistently to avoid burning. Reduce to almost half the quantity.
3. Cool the mixture.
4. Add butter to a large bowl and beat until smooth.
5. Add about half the sugar and beat till well combined.
6. Add the vanilla extract and the remaining powdered sugar until smooth.
7. Add additional milk, if required, to reach desired consistency.