This 100% from-scratch Strawberry Cake recipe has no Jell-O or artificial flavors! It’s a moist cake flavored with real strawberries, filled with a fresh strawberry jam, and covered with a whipped cream cheese frosting. Recipe includes a how-to video!
A Delightfully Fresh Strawberry Cake
I gave this strawberry cake recipe a makeover a few years ago, and I’m so excited to be sharing it with you again today! This cake is packed full of fresh strawberry flavor (none of that artificial stuff or Jell-O), from the cake itself to the jam filling. To finish, we’ll seal it all in with a whipped cream cheese frosting that’s not too sweet. Sounds heavenly, right?
I’ll give you a fair warning: this recipe requires quite a lot of steps and will dirty a few dishes. But it’s all worth it to get the BEST natural strawberry flavor (more on that below), a light, spongey texture (I took a few notes from my white cake for this) and a whipped, flavorful frosting (similar to what’s on my Chantilly cake!).
How Do You Get Strawberry Flavor Naturally?
So, how does my strawberry cake achieve its strawberry flavor without Jell-O or artificial ingredients? With fresh strawberries, of course!
If I’m being honest though, it’s not as simple as it sounds. In fact, it took a lot of attempts to get the flavor and texture of this strawberry cake just right.
Sure we could just blend our berries and add them to our cake batter, but too much pulp can weigh down the cake, making it too wet and spongey. To remedy this, we’ll take an extra step to strain out the juice from the pulp and use that in the cake instead. And we’ll even go one step further to cook down that juice to really concentrate the strawberry flavor.
However, there is still a lot of flavor in the pulp, and I didn’t want to just throw it away, so we’ll save it to make a homemade jam filling! We’ll spread this between our cake layers for an extra burst of strawberry flavor.
Side note: if you’re a total strawberry fiend, you could even try frosting this strawberry cake with my strawberry frosting–yum!
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients in today’s perfect strawberry cake recipe:
- Strawberries. 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!
- Milk. I recommend using whole milk for a perfectly moist and soft strawberry cake. Several of you have asked if non-dairy milk can be substituted, and I haven’t tried this myself, so I can’t say for sure. If you do make my strawberry cake recipe with non-dairy milk, please let me know how it turns out for you!
- Cake flour. Because the strawberries can make this cake heavy, I recommend using cake flour for this recipe. If you don’t have it, you can still use all-purpose flour–just use the instructions in the recipe notes.
- Egg whites. Since egg yolks could also weigh down this cake, we’ll use only egg whites and make sure to whip them to stiff peaks before folding them into the batter. Note that I’ve included some recipes to use up the extra egg yolks in the recipe notes below.
- Food coloring. This is optional, but it makes your strawberry cake look nice and pink when it would otherwise be pretty dull. If you’re using food coloring, I strongly recommend using a few drops of pink gel coloring. If you use liquid food coloring, you will need to use red, and quite a lot of it.
- Cornstarch. This will help to thicken our strawberry jam.
- Lemon juice. A splash of lemon juice brightens the jam and keeps it from being too sweet.
- Cream cheese. We’ll beat this with some powdered sugar and vanilla extract until it is smooth and creamy. This creates a flavorful base for our frosting.
- Heavy cream. After its whipped to stiff peaks, we’ll incorporate our cream with the cream cheese mixture to make a beautifully light, airy, and flavorful frosting.
SAM’S TIP: If you’re not a fan of the frosting I’m using here, you can always try my standard cream cheese frosting, buttercream frosting, or Swiss meringue buttercream. Whichever type you use, make sure your cake is cooled completely before decorating, otherwise the frosting will melt.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Strawberry Cake
- Blend your strawberries, strain them, and cook the juice until it has reduced. Save the pulp for later.
- Combine the strawberry reduction with the milk and food coloring. Cream together the oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla in a separate bowl, and combine the dry ingredients in another separate bowl.
- Gradually alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk mixture into the butter mixture. Stir on low speed after each addition until just combined.
- Whip your egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into your batter. Divide the batter between greased, floured, and lined baking pans. Bake for 28 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Whisk together the reserved strawberry pulp, ⅓ cup of sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens. Transfer the jam to a heat-proof bowl and let it cool completely in the fridge.
- Prepare your frosting by combining the cream cheese, ½ cup of the powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. In a separate (preferably chilled) bowl, whip your cream and remaining powdered sugar, then combine both mixtures until fully incorporated.
- Once your cake and jam have cooled, assemble your cake, using your frosting as dam to hold in each layer of jam filling. Top the assembled cake with your remaining frosting, decorate, and chill it in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy.
SAM’S TIP: This strawberry cake can be baked in 9 inch pans instead, but it will cook faster, so keep an eye on it if you use them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries here–but remember, almost all of the flavor comes from the berries you use, and there’s no telling how flavorful your frozen berries will be. I highly recommend using in-season, fresh berries.
This strawberry cake recipe will work as cupcakes, but just know they won’t have nice domed tops. It will also work as a 9×13 cake.
Yes! Because the icing has both whipped cream and cream cheese, this strawberry cake needs to be refrigerated. Make sure you keep the cake covered in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
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 it to cool completely then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and store it at room temperature.
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 ¼ lbs (570 g) strawberries remove stems and quarter
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- ½ cup (118 ml) vegetable or canola oil
- 4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¾ cup (350 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (330 g) cake flour¹
- 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
- ⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
FROSTING
- 2 cups (475 ml) cold heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened
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.1 ¼ lbs (570 g) strawberries
- 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.⅔ cup whole milk, Food coloring
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer or in a stand mixer, beat together oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until completely combined.½ cup (118 ml) vegetable or canola oil, 4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, 1 ¾ cup (350 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.3 cups (330 g) cake flour¹, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low speed, gradually alternate adding the flour mixture and strawberry/milk mixture to the butter 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.6 large egg whites²
- 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.⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 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 (65g) powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until creamy and smooth.1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar, divided, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- In a separate bowl (preferably a chilled metal bowl), combine remaining (1 cup, 125g) powdered sugar and cold heavy cream. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.2 cups (475 ml) cold heavy cream
- 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Chelsea
I made this cake for my daughter’s 6th b-day and it turned out amazing. She wanted a strawberry cake, and I wanted something that wouldn’t be too sweet and this completely fit the bill. It was a lot of work but I can honestly say it was the best strawberry cake I’ve ever had. When it came to straining the berries I realized that my seive wasnt fine enough so i used muslin tea bags instead, pouring the berries in the bags and squeezing the juice out. It only took me 10 minutes to reduce them on the stove, as the recipe states. I followed the recipe ingredients exactly, weighing and sifting the flour. When it was finished I frosted and cooled it in the fridge, then decorated it will buttercream rosettes on top of the whipped cream frosting. Everyone at the party was blown away with this cake. I will definitely make it again!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review, Chelsea! We are thrilled to hear that the cake turned out so well for you, and we hope your daughter had a lovely birthday! ❤
Culinarysnob
let me tell you took me some time to prep for this deculant sweet wonder. do not pass this by! since the pandemic I can’t seem to get quality anything anymore. Thank you for sharing and having a video for reference. DO NOT SKIP THIS RECIPE!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed it so much ❤
Mary
Hi Sam, love all your recipes. I wanted to ask you what would happen if you used the entire egg in this recipe? I hate having all those egg yolks left over. LOL Especially six. LOL Thank you, kindly!
Sam
Hi Mary! The cake won’t work with full eggs. You need to be able to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and you can’t do that with whole eggs. I do have some links to recipes to use up those egg yolks throughout the post. 🙂
Gris
Would have been 5 stars if it didn’t take me so long to reduce the juice to 1/3 cup! Besides that, best scratch cake I’ve ever done. Definitely making it again 🙂
Andi
Hi Sam.
Help! I’m not very experienced with baking cakes. But this cake looked delicious … and your detailed video inspired me to give it a try. However, I had some snags. First, when I added my strawberry reduction to the milk, it was still quite hot and I curdled the milk. I didn’t have enough strawberries to make another reduction so I stirred the strawberry milk really well, said a little prayer, and proceeded. I thought making the rest of the recipe went smoothly. But when my layers were baked, I turned them out onto a cooling rack where they proceeded to “melt” through the metal squares of the rack. Although I carefully pulled them off the rack, I still left behind many little chunks of cake. They sort of look like waffles now. Can you tell me if this was the result of the curdled milk? Or did I go wrong at another point in the recipe too. The taste is “off” too. Thank you for any advice you can offer to a new baker. I do intend to try this recipe again soon.
Sam
Hi Andi! I haven’t ever experienced the milk curdling. If it was sticking to your racks too much it may have been slightly underbaked. I hope this helps. 🙂
culinarysnob
Greetings. You can temper your milk next time by pouring in a lil hot berries to milk and whisk fast… then for your cake problem cook use parchment paper for bottom and butter side walls. Blessings hope this helps.
Sue Davidson Griffore
thank you so much for the videos! if making this as cupcakes, do you think the puree that is left would be ok to fill the cupcakes or would that make the cakes wet? I have never used dried strawberries for your other icing… is the given weight before or after they are processed? some people say that you lose some into dust? thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sue! That should work fine. The weight is before processing 😊 Enjoy!
Aarya
Hi Sam,
I am a beginner so this basic question…your recipe says 1 tbsp of baking powder for 3 cups of flour … Usually they say 1 tbsp of baking powder for 1 cup… Can u pls clarify.. wanted to check before I try
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Aarya! Typically the ratio is one teaspoon (not tablespoon) per one cup of flour, so three teaspoons or one tablespoon for 3 cups of flour is correct. Hope that is helpful! 😊
Bruce
I just made this as cupcakes again, and they’re as great as they were last June. I think I over eat the egg whites, so it was difficult to fold them into the batter. As a result, I got only 17 cupcakes, instead of the 21 1/2 I got last year. As before, I used the egg yolks to make German buttercream, which goes very well with these cupcakes. Fill the cups nearly to the top and bake 19 minutes at 350°.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Bruce! Thanks for the feedback on baking time as cupcakes. 🙂
cristina
Will the heavy cream whip into peaks? I’ve had bad luck with that so usually buy whipping cream.
Sam
Hi Cristina! It definitely should whip into stiff peaks. 🙂
Megan
Do you think there is a way to alter the measurements and use strawberry jam instead? I can so i have lots of that around, I’d like to use it if possible. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Megan! Honestly I haven’t played with it to know for sure how it would work. I think it would take a little bit of experimenting to get it just right.
Patricia
Hi there u mentioned in the recipe that cake flour is needed to make this strawberry cake where would I buy it
Sam
Hi Patricia! You can typically find it in the grocery store near the other flours. If you can’t find it or don’t have it, there is a note below the recipe that tells you how much all purpose flour to use. 🙂
Demi
Hi Sam, I found your recipe after a ton of searching for a fresh, moist but actually light cake, and I want to make this for my son’s 3rd birthday in 3 days time. I was hoping to connect before I bake as I have some questions.
I noted that fresh strawberries yield a better flavour but this isn’t an option in January in Canada. So I’ll try frozen strawberries and I am thinking I should add some strawberry emulsion. Have you done this and if so how much would you use?
I’ve also never had luck with using cups instead of weighing the ingredients. Can you confirm if the weight in your recipe is your own tried and tested weight or system generated?
Have you ever used a stand mixer for this recipe (except for the part you note should be done by hand)? If so were the results the same and what speeds did you use?
I am also baking in a thinner cake pan (it is in the shape of number 3) so I am thinking it will bake up somewhere between cupcake and round pan times. Have you baked these in cupcakes and have a timing or any suggestions for my pan?
Thanks and sorry for all the questions. I only have one shot to get this right so I am hoping to trouble shoot before I start. I will post what I do re ingredient weight, emulsion and baking time once baked. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Demi! I’m happy to help with all of your questions!
For the strawberries, yes I would add an emulsion here for best flavor. As far as how much, I can’t say for sure how much as I haven’t tried it.
These are my tried and tested weights. I lovvvee baking with weights so I always bake using weights as opposed to cups. 🙂
I have not used a stand mixer with this recipe, my hand mixer is always sufficient. That being said, a stand mixer could make whipping the egg whites a bit easier. You’ll want to be careful when stirring in the flour to not over-mix with the stand mixer as well and definitely fold the egg whites in by hand.I hope you love the cake!
Linda
I made this cake just the other day for the first time for my daughters 3rd birthday however I used whip cream instead of your buttercream icing. We all loved it! Including my husband ..who is NOT a cake person he would much rather have pie over cake.. he said to have this cake would be the first time he request a cake for his birthday, because it was on another level!
In a rating of 1 to 5 stars this cake would take a 10!
Also note: if making this for six inch pans divide recipe by 4 and for two six inch pans make a half a recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cake so much, Linda! 🙂
Valarie Hayes
Tried this cake for Mother’s Day. An absolute gorgeous cake. The process with the strawberries takes much longer than described. I had to cook the juice about 45 minutes to cook it down to the 1/3 cup as required. Jam was easy to make and came together quick. But the finished cake itself is very dry. I love the frosting on this cake. So light. It is perfect. I don’t know what the cake needs to make it more moist, more oil or butter or maybe some egg yolks. I won’t make it again.
Sam
Hi Valarie! I’m so sorry to hear the cake turned out dry. It ought to be a very light and moist cake, I would not recommend making any additions to the recipe as written, from the sound of it I would guess one of two things happened, either: 1) the cake was over-mixed. Overworking the cake batter can result in a dense/dry cake, especially if you over-mix once you are combining the wet and dry ingredients (never use an electric mixer for this step!). Or, 2) the cake was over-baked. Unfortunately this is a common culprit when cakes turn out dry, especially if your oven is running a bit hot (and many ovens do not run true to temperature, unfortunately! My first oven ran 15 degrees hot and I had to account for that every time I used it). If you don’t think the batter was over-mixed I would try just baking it a bit less time and I think you’ll get the soft, moist results that you should 🙂
Cynthia
Can I use olive oil or avocado oil instead?
Sam
Hi Cynthia! Those both have a discernible taste and you’ll end up tasting the oil in the final product. If you are ok with that then they will work fine. Personally I don’t recommend it.
Donna
Is there any way to make this cake gluten free?
Sam
Hi Donna! Unfortunately I am not very familiar with gluten free baking so I wouldn’t be able to advise on the best way to do that. If you do try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Jen
Hello! I made this cake for a birthday party and everyone loved it! Now I’m wondering if it’s possible for this recipe to be converted into mini cupcakes.
Sam
Hi Jen! I haven’t tried it but I think it should work out just fine. I’m not sure on a bake time. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Lori
Love the cake & that it uses all natural ingredients. The only problem I’ve had with the 2 times I made it is that both times the cake was dry. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Sam
Hi Lori! I would try taking it out of the oven a few minutes earlier next time. It may be over-baked if it’s dry. I always like to use the toothpick test to ensure it’s done properly. 🙂
B Dorris
Made this for my daughter’s birthday. Everyone loved it!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We’re so happy it was a hit. Hope your daughter had a lovely birthday ❤