I flavored the cake and buttercream with strawberry preserves but you can make a fresh reduction if you have some spare fruit and a few extra minutes. This cake is a TOTAL crowd pleaser so be forewarned, you might need to double or triple the recipe as people will be going in for seconds!
I partnered with Wilton, who sponsored this post, showing you how to make this beautiful strawberry birthday cake! Part of the reason I call my blog Preppy Kitchen is the belief that you can make anything if you’re properly prepared, and that starts with having the right tools for the job. Wilton makes great products so I was happy to eat up with them and share some of my favorite products!
If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
Some Tips and Tricks
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or even make your own. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- If American buttercream is a bit sweet for you whip up a batch of Italian meringue buttercream!
- To pipe the two-tone frosting you fill one bag (1/2 way full) with yellow frosting, one bag with pink frosting and then put both bags in a third piping bag. No need for a tip, just snip about an inch off each bag.
Can I put strawberries in cake mix?
You can add fresh strawberries in cake mix but they need to be washed, hulled and cut into small pieces. I dredge them in flour to help them float in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom. For this cake you could add 1/2 cup fresh strawberries.
Adding strawberries to the batter also decreases the shelf-life of of your cake so there is a tradeoff for all that delicious flavor.
What icing goes with strawberry cake?
Lemon buttercream goes well with Strawberry cake but you have lots of options. Add strained strawberry jam to American, Italian, or Swiss meringue buttercreams. You can also pair it with a plain vanilla frosting or a mascarpone whipped cream icing.
Steps to Make Strawberry Cake
How do you make a homemade strawberry cake?
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. Warm and strain the strawberry preserves. Some will be used for the buttercream. Zest a lemon. Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.
- In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (including lemon zest). Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. Add a few drops Wilton Color Right Base Pink food coloring until you reach a desired hue.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake pans. Add damp Wilton Bake Even Strips to pans to get flat layers with fluffy edges. Bake for about 30 – 38 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest. Add salt. Separate into 3 batches. Add in 1 tbsp of strained strawberry preserves to one batch. Mix until combined.
- Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring to the strawberry batch. Add lemon juice to the other batch and mix until combined. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring until you reach a desired color. Leave the last batch plain white. Save about a cup of the plain for the roses and set aside.
- Transfer the plain buttercream to a Wilton Disposable Decorating Bag and snip off the tip. Transfer the pink and yellow to piping bags fitted with Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle, this will be used to pipe a beautiful two-tone interior swirl.
- Add Wilton Color Right Crimson and Wilton Color Right Base Red Food Coloring until you reach a desired saturation for your red roses.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton Master Decorating Tip Set 104 tip. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail. Pipe a swirl around the base.
- Pipe petals until you reach a desired rose look.
- Pipe the Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle in between each layer. Fill in gaps on the outside of cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper. Transfer to the fridge to chill. Pipe a layer of white buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper and offset spatula. Chill in the fridge.
- Pipe a layer around the edge of the cake.
- Transfer roses and small strawberries to the ring to create a wreathe.
If you’ve tried this strawberry cake out then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Strawberry Cake
A moist and fluffy strawberry cake filled with strawberry and lemon buttercream and crowned with strawberries and buttercream roses.
Ingredients
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour 205g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1 tsp baking powder 4g, heaping
- ¼ tsp baking soda 1g, heaping
- ¼ tsp kosher salt 1g, heaping
- ¾ cup butter 170g unsalted, room temperature or melted
- ¼ cup whole milk 60ml warm
- ¼ cup strawberry preserves 80g strained, warmed
- ½ cup sour cream 120ml, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL
- 3 egg whites large
- 3/5 cup fresh strawberries 70g, chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring
For the American Buttercream:
- 1-2 lb confectioners sugar, depending on taste 454g-908g
- 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter 226g room temperature
- 1 tbsp strawberry preserve strained 20g
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt 1g, heaping
- Lemon juice
- Wilton Color Right Red food coloring
- Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring
- Baby strawberries
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS:
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6-inch cake pans.
Warm and strain the strawberry preserves. Some will be used for the buttercream. Zest a lemon.
Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.
In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (including lemon zest).
Combine wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined. Add a few drops Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring until you reach a desired consistency.
Add damp Wilton Baking Strips to pans. Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake pans.
Bake for about 30 - 38 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean.
Leave the layers to cool in the pans for about 4 minutes, then dump out onto cooling racks.
For the American Buttercream:
In a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy.
Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest. Add salt.
Separate into 3 batches.
Add in 1 tbsp of strained strawberry preserves to one batch. Mix until combined.
Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base pink food coloring.
Add lemon juice to another batch until combined. Add a drop of Wilton Color Right base yellow food coloring until you reach a desired color consistency.
Leave the last batch plain white. Save about a cup for the roses and set aside.
Transfer the plain buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip. Transfer the pink and yellow to piping bags fitted with Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle.
For the Roses:
Add Wilton Color Right Crimson and Base red food coloring until you reach a desired rosy color.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 104 tip.
Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail.
Pipe petals.
For the Assembly:
Pipe the Wilton Color Swirl piping nozzle in between each layer. Fill in gaps on the outside of cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper. Transfer to the fridge to chill.
Pipe a layer of white buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth out with a bench scraper and offset spatula.
Chill in the fridge.
Pipe around the edge of the cake.
Transfer roses and small strawberries to the ring.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or even make your own. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- If American buttercream is a bit sweet for you whip up a batch of Italian meringue buttercream!
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT!
Beautiful cake! When you say strawberry preserves, do you mean jam? I have a jar of Bonne Maman strawberry jam I would love to use for this recipe! Thanks!
Dawn,
Yes, I used bonne Mamamn strawberry jam for this cake too! It’s a great preserve for any dish that requires strawberry! Hope you enjoy!
John
Can I use fondant with this buttercream? Thanks!
Heidi,
Yes, you can use fondant on this cake but make sure to chill it before!
John
Can I use whole egg?
Hi Grace,
You want to use an egg white because the egg yolk will turn your cake a little bit more yellow! I hope you enjoy!
hey, this cake looks awesome and damn delicious. may i know how can i make it vegan or eggless? thank you so much
Abeer,
I haven’t tried flax eggs in my cakes, but if you give it a try let me know how it turns out!
John
Hey John, this looks great. I always enjoy your videos and I have a question. My experience with strawberry cake is that they are heavy and dense, which is not to my liking so when you say this cake is moist, is it moist or heavy dense and almost wet? Thank you for your honesty in advance, as I don’t want to waste ingredients.
Hey Lynn,
Thank you so much.
This cake doesn’t use fresh strawberries for that reason. I hope you enjoy it!
Best,
John
What would be the bake setting and time for cupcakes? And would it make 24?
Hey Dawn,
I would bake them at 340 degrees F. for about 15-20 minutes. You should be good to make 24 but I would double it to be safe. Having extra cupcakes can never be a bad thing!
Happy Baking!
-John
Thanks John! I’ll have to give it a go!
When I made this recipe for cupcakes I baked at 350 for about 25 to 30 mins. 15 to 20 mins left the centers undone.
Hi Savannah,
Sometimes that happens since everyones ovens are different. Did they still turn out great?
Best,
John
What if i am wanting to just do 2 9 inch pans instead of three? Do i just double?
Hi Angel,
Yes, that should work.
Enjoy!
-John
Hi John,
In the video, you say to use 2 pounds of confectioners sugar in the buttercream, but the written recipe calls for 1 pound – which is correct? I’m thinking of making this bad boy for Fathers Day here in Australia.
Hello!
Thats a great idea!
I apologize for the confusion. Depending on taste, you can use up to 2 pounds.
Best,
John
Wonderful, thanks John!
I am a beginner! First time attempting to decorate and all from scratch. I got everything however… I DO NOT have a standing mixer, only a hand mixer. Will that work?
Hey Summer,
Welcome to the sweet side. 😉 I’m very excited for you! A hand mixer will work. Let me know how your cake turns out!!
Best,
John
Does the recipe works the same with cupcakes?
YUP!
I made this cake but I made some alterations. I dammed the cake and used strawberry preserves in the center on each layer. Since the red roses were a bit challenging, I used fresh strawberries on top of the cake and piped the cake with American buttercream and drizzle of chocolate in between the strawberries.
Hello!
That still sounds good to me! How did it taste? Strawberries are so beautiful alone so I bet it still looked great!
Best,
John
Hi there! Could I make this a day before it’s to be eaten? Would it still taste fresh? Or would it harden? Dumb questions I know! Thanks the cake looks beautiful btw. Xx
Hi Raquel,
Yes you can! I would place it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.
Best,
John
Ciao John,
I’m writing from Italy.
I think this recipe is super wow. I just wanted to ask you something. I wanted to use a 12 inch round cake tin so that I can get 20 servings out of it. Do I just double the original recipe for the 6 inch cake tin or ?
Obviously the cake won’t come out that tall because I will be using a 12 inch cake pan, but that is fine.
Thanks for your help.
Ciao,
Luisa
Hi Luisa,
Since this recipe makes three 6″ layers you will be fine leaving the recipe the same to bake one 12″ layer!
I hope you enjoy the cake!
Best,
John
Where is your recipe for plain white american buttercream???
Enough to frostning and decorate cake please …. im using 8 inch pans.
Hi Jasmin,
Search “buttercream frosting.”
Best,
John
Did you use black in the roses? Love your videos!
Hi Zane,
I added the color crimson.
I’m glad you enjoy the videos!
Best,
John
I want to Thank you so much for a beautiful cake, I loved the way you decorated the cake and everybody was impress with my results, thanks for a beautiful, simple yet elegant way of decorating a cake. I wish I could share a picture of it with you, you would be proud of me as a student. Lol
Hi Carolina,
Aw thank you so much. That’s very nice to hear. I’m sure the cake turned out beautifully!
What will you bake next?
Best,
John
Hi John!
You mentioned to double the recipe for 8 inch pans. Would that be for 3 pans or 2 pans? Since your recipe is for 3 6 inch pans.
Thanks!
Adriene
I made this recipe and the cake was very delicious and the layers came out very evenly. My friends loved it. Now I’m your fan and I want to make more cakes!
Thank you very much!!