A from-scratch Strawberry Cake Recipe! This is a moist, flavorful, strawberry flavored cake flavored with real strawberries, filled with a fresh strawberry jam, and covered with a whipped cream cheese frosting. There are a few steps involved but I’ll walk you through them and include a how-to video!
Today one of the oldest recipes on my blog gets a complete and total makeover. I first shared a strawberry cake on the blog over six years ago, and I was completely smitten with it.
However, over the years, it failed to live up to my standards. The fresh strawberries, while flavorful, weighed down the cake, and while they made it moist they almost made it too moist. It just wasn’t working anymore, and I buried it behind other favorites like my carrot cake and tres leches cake. At one point, I eventually took the recipe off of the blog entirely, leaving behind a disclaimer that I was no longer happy with the recipe and would eventually do a complete overhaul.
Well here we are. Today I have a fresh strawberry cake recipe that I’m proud of. It’s flavored with real berries, filled with a fresh jam, and coated with a whipped cream cheese frosting that’s light and airy and not too sweet. I think you’re going to love this one.
Journey to the Best Strawberry Cake
So, how does this cake achieve its flavor (with no Jello or artificial flavors!) without being weighed down by the berries?
I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy and took a lot of attempts to work out.
It turned out that the pulp from the strawberries was weighing down the cake, making it overly moist (wet and spongey, in a very bad way). So, the first step was to extract the flavor and leave the pulp behind. To do this I separated the pulp from the juice by pureeing the berries in a food processor and straining the juice through a fine mesh sieve (first photo, above). I didn’t want to waste any of the berries, though, so we’ll hang on to those to make our strawberry jam filling.
The strawberry juice contained a lot of water, which can actually dry out the cake and diluted the strawberry flavor. To concentrate the flavor, I cooked the berry juice in a saucepan until much of the water was evaporated and the remaining juice was more of a concentrated paste. This was mixed with milk (which creates a much moister, softer cake than using the water would have) and then because strawberries aren’t a great natural dye I added food coloring to brighten the pinkness of the cake. This is completely optional, but it makes for a pretty cake.
Because egg yolks could weigh down the cake here, I took a page out of my incredibly moist and fluffy white cake recipe and whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks separately before folding them into the cake batter (photos above).
Remember the strawberry pulp we reserved from earlier? We’ll use this to make a berry jam to go in the center of our cake to enhance the strawberry flavor. Use your frosting to make a dam around the outside of the cake and fill the center with your jam.
Tips
- Almost all of your flavor for this cake comes from the strawberries. Because of this, the more ripe, juicy, and flavorful your strawberries are, the better and more strawberry-like your cake will taste. Store-bought berries in the middle of December will work, but they will not yield as tasty of a cake as finger-staining, sun-ripened berries you picked yourself. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP I CAN GIVE YOU.
- Fresh or frozen berries will work with this recipe, but remember my tip above.
- If using food coloring, I strongly recommend using gel coloring. I used Americolor deep pink. If you use liquid food coloring you will need to use red, and quite a bit of it.
- This recipe has a lot of steps. The jam and frosting can both be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The cake could be made a day in advance as well; allow to cool completely then wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Don’t store the cake in the refrigerator as that will dry it out.
- Make sure your cake is cooled completely before decorating, otherwise the frosting will melt.
- Looking for a different frosting option? Try my standard cream cheese frosting, buttercream frosting, or Swiss meringue buttercream!
Enjoy!
More Recipes You May Like:
Are you more of a visual learner? Check out my YouTube channel where I show you exactly how I make this cake step-by-step in my own kitchen.
Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 1/4 lbs strawberries remove stems and quarter (570g)
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil 118ml
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened (57g)
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar 350g
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups cake flour¹ 330g
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg whites² room temperature preferred
- Food coloring optional (I use two chocolate chip-sized drops of americolor gel “electric pink” food coloring).
FILLING
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 70g
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
FROSTING
- 2 cups heavy cream 475ml
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 190g
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (226g)
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8” round cake pans by spraying with baking spray and lining the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place quartered strawberries in blender and puree until smooth. Run through a fine mesh sieve over a measuring cup until you have 1 - 1 ¼ cups of juice. Do not discard berry pulp, set this along with any remaining pureed berries for the jam filling.
- Pour strawberry juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to ⅓ cup (pour into a measuring cup to check, if it’s not reduced enough, return to the saucepan and continue to cook until it is). This usually takes about 10 minutes.
- Once reduced, add ⅔ cup milk to the strawberry reduction and whisk together. If using food coloring, whisk that in here as well. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer or in a stand mixer, beat together oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until completely combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- With mixer on low speed, gradually alternate adding the flour mixture and strawberry/milk mixture, stirring until just combined after each addition. (I start and end with the flour and add the flour mixture in 4 parts and the milk mixture in 3 parts.)
- Place egg whites in a separate clean, dry bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Using a spatula, gently fold egg whites into cake batter until completely combined (don’t use your electric mixer at this point or you will over-beat the batter). Divide cake batter evenly into prepared pans and bake on 350F for 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edges to loosen cakes from pan and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely. While cooling, prepare the jam filling.
JAM FILLING
- Combine remaining strawberrry pulp, ⅓ cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a small saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and the whisk leaves a trail through the jam (this takes about 5-10 minutes).
- Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-proof bowl, and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare your frosting.
WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- Combine cream cheese, ½ cup powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until creamy and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine remaining (1 cup, 125g) powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- With mixer on low speed, stir together the cream cheese and whipped cream until completely combined.
ASSEMBLY
- Once cake and jam are completely cooled place one layer of cake on serving tray. Use a piping bag fitted with a round tip (I use an Ateco 808) to pipe a dam around the layer. Fill with your jam filling.
- Top with second layer of cake. Cover the entire cake with frosting.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
- Cake will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
Recipe originally published 06/12/2014. Photos, text, and recipe have all been drastically updated/improved and a video will be added.
Milagros says
Can I use the same recipe to make a pineapple filling?
Sugar Spun Run says
Yes, that should be fine. 🙂
Madi says
Can I keep the cake together with frosting and all as a whole for one night?
Amy says
Hi. Came across your recipe and excited to try it. When it make the strawberry purée do you leave it to cool before adding the milk and is it best to make the purée the day before so it has more flavour when cooled and added to cake batter? Thanks
Sam says
Hi Amy! As soon as you get your puree reduced enough you can add the milk then set it aside to cool. I’m not sure making the puree a day in advance will help much with the flavor here.
Amy says
Ok thanks for getting back to me. If the purée is still warm can it be added to the cake batter?
Sam says
It can be added to the milk warm, then it will cool down enough to be added to the batter when needed 🙂
Maricar says
Made it tonight into 2 6” pans and about 12 cupcakes. I had to play around with baking time 16-17mins for cupcakes and 25-27mins for 6” cakes (I also used baking strips) Cakes came out perfect! I haven’t made the frosting but I plan to make it tomorrow. OMG! It’s the best strawberry cake recipe. My new favorite cake! Thank you for all that you do
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that it turned out perfectly for you and that you enjoyed them, Maricar! Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Edna says
I live in a country where strawberry fruit is very expensive!
Can I use Stawberry Jam to make this recipe
Sam says
Hi Edna! It won’t work in the actual cake because you need that juice from the strawberries. I’m sorry. 🙁
Madi says
I need to make the cake on a Friday to serve on a Sunday, is that okay? What modifications do I need to make?
Sam says
Hi Madi! That will be just fine. If you can, I would recommend making all three parts, cake, filling, and frosting then storing them separately. Wrap the cakes and leave them at room temperature. Cover the filling and the frosting and store in the refrigerator until you need them, then assemble it all on the day you will serve it. 🙂
NS says
Hi,
I want to halve the recipe. So my question is would the strawberry pulp (which would be half cup or so for half the amount of berries) be less than 1/3 cup when reduced on the stove top? What would be the appropriate amount?
Thanks
NS says
A follow-up question, the weight of the berries is that before removing the stalk and quartering?
Thanks
Sam says
I weigh before removing the stalk and quartering but the difference shouldn’t be significant.
Sam says
You will want the pulp to be proportional so if you are cutting everything in half you will want the strawberry juice, after cooked to be about 2.5 tablespoons. 🙂
Celeste says
Hi! I’m wanting to use this recipe, but I would like to use 6” round pans instead of 8”. I was thinking of using 3, 6” pans. Will that work? Any suggestions on baking time/temp differences?
Sam says
Hi Celeste! This recipe should make enough for 3 6″ pans. The temperature will remain the same but I am not quite sure what the baking time would be. I would just be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t over-bake. 🙂
Niki says
Hi can you do cupcakes instead of cake and still do the jam filling?
Sam says
Hi Niki! You can make it into cupcakes. If you want to add the jam still I would hollow out the center of the cupcakes when they are done baking and stick it in the center. 🙂
Brenda Mancha says
I am planning on making this recipe using a 9×13 pan and splitting it in half. If I double the batter, will this work?
Reason is, I made the above recipe using one 3″ round pan and I split in half, and it worked great.
Sam says
Hi Brenda! This strawberry cake should make enough batter to fill the 9 x 13. 🙂
Grace says
Hi! I made this cake and it is delightful. I am wondering about the frosting. You mention not refrigerating the cake, but the frosting has cream and cream cheese in it. Can you give me any thoughts on this?
Sam says
Hi Grace! The frosting will be fine for a day or two at room temperature. Much longer than that and I would stick it back in the refrigerator. 🙂
avery says
i love this recipe my family loves it to
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Avery! 🙂
Lillian says
Hi Sam,
I only have one 8 x 3 inch pan. Can I bake the cake in this pan then cut into layers? If so, how long do i bake it for and what at temperature?
My mum is not a fan of cream cheese, so i was thinking of making whipped cream frosting with no sugar (or very little sugar). Do you think just plain whipped cream frosting would work for this cake? Please let me know what other adjustments i would need to make if i use whipped cream to frost the cake.
Thank you so much!
Lillian says
Hi Sam,
I have another question. I want to do a sugar syrup in the cake, so I would probably need to reduce the sugar in the cake batter, is that right? How much should I reduce the sugar to?
Sam says
There really is no need to use a sugar syrup with this cake. You can if you’d like but cutting the sugar is a personal preference here. 🙂
Sam says
Hi Lillian. You can bake this in a different pan. I’m not sure if that 8 x 3 pan you are referencing is a loaf shaped pan or if it is a 3 inch deep 8 inch round pan. Either way you can use that pan but make sure not to overfill the pan. I am not sure what the baking time would be. You could use a whipped cream frosting but I am not sure how it would turn out with no sugar in it.
Milena says
Hi,
I was wondering about your warning to not store the cake in the fridge. Normally recipes recommend to put cake in the fridge before frosting for easier handling. Is this particular cake different, ir do you typically cool your cakes at room temperature? Why do you think the fridge will dry them out if wrapped in plastic? Thanks!
Sam says
Hi Milena! It is necessary to cool the cakes at room temperature. If you pull the cake out of the oven at the right time it will still be slightly underdone and will finish baking out of the oven. It’s not necessary to store it in the refrigerator which is why I don’t recommend it. It’s better to not take the risk of drying the cake out in my opinion. 🙂