This strawberry cake recipe is such a delightful and pretty cake to make with fresh strawberries. If you’re like me and can’t get enough of strawberry season, but you’ve already made strawberry shortcakes and strawberry pie, make this recipe next! This scratch-made cake is packed with strawberry flavor and is a gorgeous shade of pink thanks to an easy strawberry reduction. No box mix or Jell-O is needed for soft cake layers and fluffy frosting.
When I developed this recipe, I took elements from what many readers love about two other popular cake recipes– red velvet cake (frosting) and vanilla cake (fluffy layers)– to make this the best strawberry cake! I tested this strawberry cake to include a luscious cream cheese frosting and the fluffiest cake layers, all packed with fresh flavor throughout.
Ronak left 5 stars and said: “Baked this cake for my birthday and it was an absolute hit! So moist and tasty. Thank you for doing what you do.”
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
You can find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below.
Strawberries — no need for strawberry gelatin in this recipe; use real strawberries instead! Frozen or fresh strawberries work very well to make the strawberry puree, so you get loads of natural strawberry flavor throughout (regardless of the season). If using frozen strawberries, thaw before pureeing and cooking the reduction. Because frozen fruit tends to release more liquid than fresh fruit, they will take 5 to 10 minutes longer to fully reduce by half.
All-purpose flour — during recipe testing, I opted to use all-purpose flour since it’s common in most pantries. While cake flour is sometimes ideal for a soft, fluffy cake, I wrote this recipe to bake up perfectly tender using regular AP flour, so you don’t need a special ingredient.
Leavening — both baking powder and baking soda are needed for the perfect rise and tender crumb.
Egg whites — egg whites help to make a light, airy, fluffy cake and you can save the egg yolks for my crème brûlée recipe! While you want the egg whites to be at room temperature when you make the batter, I recommend separating them fresh from the fridge. The yolks will be less likely to break when the eggs are cold.
Strawberry frosting — for the fluffy frosting, the key ingredients are softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and strawberry puree to give the frosting that dreamy pink hue. I preferred the tang of the cream cheese-based frosting to complement the berries. But if you want a more classic bakery-style strawberry cake, use my strawberry buttercream frosting! You can use the same strawberry reduction from this recipe in the frosting.
Why Use Strawberry Puree?
I love the fresh strawberry flavor that comes from pureeing fresh fruit. During recipe testing, I tried this with fresh strawberry puree and cooked puree to reduce it slightly. This strawberry reduction intensified the flavor of the fresh strawberries and made the cake taste so much better!
If you want to save time or don’t have sweet strawberries to use, I tested an easy swap out! Replace the puree with ⅓ cup of strawberry jam in the cake batter. You will also need to reduce the granulated sugar in the cake by ⅓ cup (66g) since jam has a high sugar content already. For the frosting, use ¼ cup of jam and reduce the powdered sugar only if needed.
Use My Tested Method For Baking Flat Cake Layers
By wrapping the outside of your cake pans with cake strips, your cake layers bake evenly and flat every time! Cake strips work by keeping the outside edge of the pan cooler to ensure the entire cake rises at the same rate, preventing the edges from setting first and a dome forming in the center. Check out my post on how to bake flat cake layers for more details and how to make your own cake strips!
If the tops of your strawberry cake layers do form a dome, use a serrated knife to trim off the top of the domes so you can stack them evenly.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
I highly recommend using a scale to measure your ingredients when a gram weight is given. Weight is the most accurate measuring method, ensuring your cake turns out the same every time. If you don’t have a scale, for dry ingredients like flour, fluff it up with a spoon and then gently spoon it into your dry measuring cup before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
If your strawberries aren’t very flavorful or you’d like a stronger strawberry taste, you can add up to 1 teaspoon of strawberry extract to the cake batter and frosting.
Make sure you alternate the flour mixture and wet ingredients when mixing the batter together. If you add the wet ingredients all at once into the mixer, you risk the batter separating.
Use room-temperature ingredients for a fluffy batter and frosting. Using cold ingredients can lead to a batter that is curdled or frosting that is lumpy. Set out the eggs and sour cream 30 minutes to an hour before you plan to bake. Butter and cream cheese need 1 to 2 hours to soften. If you’re short on time, follow my easy methods for how to soften your butter quickly. (You can use it for cream cheese, too!)
Let the cake layers cool completely before frosting. If the cakes are still warm, the frosting will melt, and the top cake layer is more likely to slide.
How To Make Strawberry Cake
1. After cleaning and hulling the strawberries, blend them on high speed until smooth before pouring them into a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir frequently to prevent scorching and cook down until reduced by about half. Let the strawberry puree cool completely before proceeding.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake and set the mixture aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a large bowl and an electric mixer), beat the softened butter just until creamy, then add the sugar and beat for about 5 minutes. Drop in the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
5. Add some of the flour mixture, then add some milk.
6. Spoon in some of the strawberry reduction. Continue adding the three components, alternating between the dry ingredient mixture, milk, and strawberry puree.
7. Divide the strawberry cake batter between 2 greased 9-inch round cake pans and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Whip up the dreamy strawberry frosting in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment by beating the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth and fluffy. Then, gradually add in the powdered sugar, alternating with a tablespoon at a time of strawberry puree, and beat until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Assemble and frost the strawberry cake and decorate as desired.
Strawberry Cake Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 2 9-inch cake pans
- Stand mixer or electric mixer
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
Strawberry Puree:
- 1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries thawed (450g)
Cake:
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour (330g)
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk room temperature (120ml)
- ½ cup fresh strawberry puree (120mL)
- Pink food coloring (optional)
Strawberry Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature (227g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature (227g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 6 to 7 cups powdered sugar sifted (720g-840g)
- ¼ cup fresh strawberry puree
Instructions
For the Strawberry Puree
- Hull the strawberries. Place them in a blender canister and puree on high for about 30 seconds until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until reduced by about half, 25 minutes for fresh and up to 45 minutes for frozen. (You should have 1 cup of reduction.) Let cool completely before dividing to use in both the cake layers and the frosting.
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, or spray with baking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. (You can wrap the cake pans with soaked fabric baking strips if desired.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed just until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the egg whites and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute or until well combined and very fluffy. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk and the strawberry reduction, mixing just until combined. Stop and scrape down the bowl as needed. If desired, mix in a drop or two of pink food coloring. Divide the batter among the two cake pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and starts to pull away from the sides of the pans. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack. Discard the parchment paper.
For the Strawberry Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add in the powdered sugar alternating with a tablespoon of the strawberry puree. Stop and scrape down the bowl a few times during mixing. Once all of the sugar is added, increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy. If the frosting feels too stiff and not silky, add a tablespoon or two of puree or milk.
For the Assembly:
- Place a cake layer on a cake stand. Spread about 1 cup of frosting on top of the cake. Top with the second layer. Spread the remaining frosting all over the outside of the cake and decorate as desired. The cake should be stored covered and will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- If you choose to add food coloring, I recommend using gel food coloring as the color is more concentrated and does not add additional liquid to the strawberry cake batter or frosting. This addition is totally optional!
Nutrition
How To Store
Leftovers: Cover the strawberry cake with plastic wrap or place it under a cake dome and store it at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also store the cake in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Freezing: You can freeze fully frosted or unfrosted cake layers for up to 2 months. Wrap the cake tightly in a layer of plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before freezing. Let the cake thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring it to room temperature before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can adapt this strawberry cake recipe into cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners with ¼ cup of batter and bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes. You can also try my strawberry cupcake recipe for cupcakes packed with chunks of fresh strawberries!
Absolutely! If you opt for raspberries, start with 2 cups of fresh berries to ensure you have enough puree. Follow the same method to make the reduction, though I would recommend straining the raspberry seeds since they are larger and have a more noticeable texture than strawberry seeds. While the reduction is still hot, press it through a fine mesh sieve using the back of a spoon, then discard the seeds and let the puree cool completely.
Yes! To make a 3-layer cake, grease the 6-inch cake pans and line the bottoms, following the same prep method outlined in the recipe. If you have them, wrap the pans with cake strips to promote an even rise throughout each cake layer. Divide the batter amongst the prepared cake pans and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
If you’ve tried this homemade strawberry cake recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Tim Jordan says
This cake was so good we couldn’t share with anyone . I always enjoy watching your videos when are you gonna be on TV next ?
Mildred says
This cake is wonderful. One complaint – the frosting instructions say to beat the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer for 5 minutes, this is not a good idea – the cream cheese starts turning to butter, going into chunky curds and releasing its water. I had to add a lot more icing sugar than the recipe needed to pull it back together, would have been better to gently blend butter and cream cheese with the whisk attachment until smooth. Other than that – amazing cake 5 stars!
Dora says
Hello!! I m in love with your recipes!!I want to make this cake for my daughter’s birthday!! Is it strong enough to decorate it with sugarpaste?she chose a cake with 2 floors. The first with sugarpaste and the second with sprinkles!should I go with an American buttercream instead?Thank you so much!!
Kayla says
I loved the way this caked turned out! It was so moist and fluffy and was the perfect texture, I would give 4.5 stars only because the flavor did not scream strawberry as I had hoped. It was still lovely, just not as strong as I would have liked. But that’s okay! The cake was still delicious and held together perfectly, overall a great recipe that I recommend.
rebecca morse says
So pretty, so flavorful. John, to kick up the strawberryness I pulverized 1/2 a cup of freeze dried strawberries in a blender in place of 1/2 cup of the flour. Ive been using the freeze dried fruits lately will great success; they, when turned into flour really add a lot of flavor. Of course you still need the white flour for the gluten. I may experiment with some gluten free mixtures as well. Ive made many of your cakes…all wonderful.
Mackenzie Chumley says
Will this cake recipe hold up with fondant on top of it? Looks so delicious and I’m baking a cake for a friend!
John Kanell says
It should, yes!
Ronak Mehta says
Baked this cake for my birthday and it was an absolute hit! So moist and tasty. Thank you for doing what you do
Brittany says
Loved the cake and the suggestion about cake strips! Amazing!!! I did the diy hack, but I’ll be purchasing some asap!
I definitely used fresh strawberries and I’m so glad I did! The cake was the perfect proportion of moist and dense.
I did use the American Buttercream icing and I have now learned that it’s not my favorite. Needless to say I’ll be trying some of your other icing suggestions soon!
Up next for me… Strawberry shortcake!
Michael says
This recipe is great
Delicious
Am shopping to prepare it now