We have a new favorite homemade Strawberry Cake recipe to share! We have fallen in love with this moist and flavorful scratch Strawberry Cake recipe. If you’ve been searching for “the one”, this is it! The search is over ;0)
Frostings that Taste Great with Strawberry Cake
This strawberry layer cake is bursting with wonderful strawberry flavor, and tastes oh so good with our Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting recipe! Our Classic Cream Cheese Buttercream would be a great choice also, and is a bit softer.
If you’re looking for a double dose of strawberry, keep our Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe in mind! This recipe is super easy to make and tastes fantastic, and is great for piping! We also have a delicious Strawberry Whipped Cream Cheese Filling that is so light with the perfect balance of cream cheese & strawberry flavor!
A Strawberry Cake Recipe with Frozen Strawberries
Not only do I absolutely LOVE the flavor of this strawberry cake, I also love that it calls for frozen strawberries!
This means you don’t have to wait for strawberry season to roll around in order to enjoy a delicious homemade strawberry cake. You can make it year-round, and you should!
Thanks to Mom (our BeBe) for making sooo many versions of strawberry cake until we found our favorite. I have to admit though, it was fun sampling all of those different versions of strawberry cake along the way!
Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
*This cake calls for the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing, for a moist & tender cake. The ingredients are added in a different order than the traditional creaming method, resulting in a slightly tighter crumb and velvety texture. We explain the steps in our recipe instructions, but you may find it helpful to watch our free video tutorial on the Reverse Creaming Method, which you can find here: The Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
Doctored Cake Mix Version of Strawberry Cake
If you prefer a doctored cake mix recipe, we have a great one for you: Strawberry Cake: Doctored Cake Mix Recipe.
A dressed up version of Strawberry Cake
If you REALLY want to dress things up, consider our Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake recipe! We’ve used our delicious scratch strawberry layer cake, frosted in Strawberry Buttercream and drizzled it with a decadent ganache drip. I love the drama of a chocolate drip, and who doesn’t love chocolate covered strawberries! This strawberry cake would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and more!
My Cake School- Sharing Our Best Cake Recipes and Cake Tutorials!
Don’t miss our full collection of favorite cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! We also have a huge Free Cake Tutorials Section if you’re interested in learning sweet and simple cake decorating techniques.
Finally, if you’d like to access our full collection of hundreds of cake decorating video tutorials, we would love to have you as a member of MyCakeSchool.com! Find all of the joining details here!: MyCakeSchool.com Membership Information
Thanks for stopping by! We hope that you’ll give this fantastic scratch strawberry cake recipe a try soon!
Strawberry Cake from Scratch
This moist and flavorful Strawberry Cake from scratch is a favorite year-round!
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, room temperature ( can warm the eggs by putting in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
- 1 1/2 cups (340 g) strawberry puree ......I used frozen strawberries that were lightly sweetened, you could also use fresh.....puree the strawberries in food processor or blender
- 1 teaspoon (4 g.) vanilla
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) strawberry extract
- 2 to 3 drops AmeriColor Pink or your pink coloring of choice (optional but makes for a prettier shade of pink)
- 3 cups (342 g) cake flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon (14 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 1/4 cup (50g) vegetable oil
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) (113 g) unsalted butter, cut butter into small pieces so it can be added slowly during mixing process. I cut mine into 1/2 to 1 inch slices onto waxed paper on the countertop, letting it soften only about 5 to 6 minutes.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (This recipe uses the reverse creaming method.)
- Grease and flour three 8 x 2 inch round pans
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, strawberry puree, vanilla, strawberry extract, pink coloring (as desired). Blend together with a fork.
- In the bowl of your mixer, hand whisk the dry ingredients (cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt) for 30 seconds to combine. With your mixer on low to medium speed, add the pieces of butter, a few pieces at a time, also add the oil at this time. Mix until the dry ingredients form moist crumbs that look like coarse sand.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Method is important when using Reverse Creaming, so with the mixer on LOW speed, SLOWLY add 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, increase the mixer to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will be thick and fluffy.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating 20 seconds after each. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and pour into prepared pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 10 min. then turn out.
- Makes 7 1/2 cups batter IF USING FONDANT: If using fondant to cover the cake, our first choice is to cover the cake in ganache for a nice firm shell before laying on the fondant. You could also use all butter buttercream, that is well chilled to firm it up before the fondant.
- Cupcakes: This recipe will work for cupcakes, they will have only a slight dome**We frosted our cake with this Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe. (I piped spirals of frosting in varying sizes with my Wilton star tip 21.)
Just wanted to jump in here and say this is the best strawberry cake ever. I get so many request for this cake. It’s just great!!
Hi Karen, Thank you so much for posting your nice comments, it made our day!!
WOW. OMG! That’s what I said after tasting this cake. I’ve been searching for a strawberry cake recipe that uses fresh s’berries, no box mix, and no jello for a long time. I came across this recipe last year, but was apprehensive about trying the reverse creaming method so I moved on. I tried a few recipes, but was always disappointed, as they weren’t very clear about how much purée to use, and it always turned out too mushy, and didn’t have a fluffy cake texture. I kept searching but kept seeing pictures of this cake online, and they looked so good that I kept coming back to this website time and time again. On my first attempt I figured I’d halve the recipe and finally decided to give it a try. Well, my search is over!!! This cake tastes amazing!!! I followed the instructions for the traditional creaming method given in the comments, as that’s what I’m familiar with as a novice baker. I made it tonight while my husband and son watched the SuperBowl. The smell of strawberries in the air drew them to the kitchen. The cake is sooo light and fluffy, and we all agree it’s deeeelicious!!! Thanks for all of the work you put into figuring out the perfect combination of ingredients for a perfect fresh s’berry cake. To all who review this recipe I urge you to try it and you will be very glad that you did. I can’t wait to make the full cake for our next family gathering. On behalf of my family who will enjoy this delicious cake many times going forward…thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Oh! Next time I’ll include a picture.
Hello. I couldn’t find pink coloring anywhere.. all I have is red.. will 1 drop be fine to use??
Hi Shameka, The strawberries will color the batter a little bit, but not enough in our opinion. You can add your red coloring just a tiny bit at a time to control the depth of color. It takes a lot of red coloring to make your cake red, so I think you should have no trouble making pink.
Hello I only have jumbo eggs would I need to use 2 or 3 instead??
Hi, regarding the strawberry puree. I understand from another response that the puree is not cooked or reduced before using. If I reduce the strawberries for a thicker consistency, should I use the same amount (340 g)?
Hi Deb, The pureed strawberries are the main liquid ingredient in the recipe. I think if you want to cook and reduce the strawberries, you will still need 340 grams. Have you already reduced the strawberries and don’t have enough for 340 grams. If so, then add enough milk to the strawberries to give you the 340 gram weight. Hope you will enjoy the cake.
I decided not to reduce the puree and followed the recipe as written. The flavor is amazing, and the texture is perfect! I have tested several strawberry cake recipes looking for the best combination of strawberry flavor and light texture. This recipe has a very pronounced strawberry flavor and the layers are light and fluffy. My husband even commented on the flavor and is literally eating the cake as I’m typing this (without frosting). I will definitely make this again.
Hi Deb, Thank you so much for posting your thoughts on the recipe. Also, thanks to your husband for his taste test and review. We are so happy that you like it!
I have never made a cake from scratch, so excuse me if this is a stupid question! (Perhaps i missed this step in the directions) Is the picture just for show or am I supposed to add something between the cake layers? And if so, please explain:))
Hi Jo Jo, There is frosting in between the cake layers as well as the outside of the cake. Melissa used the Classic Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe for this cake. In the beginning of her post on this cake Melissa list other frosting recipes that could be used. They are in bold type and you can click on the recipe to view. They recipes are also listed in the recipe section of mycakeschool.com. If the frosting becomes too soft while you are decorating, just refrigerate for 8 to to 10 minutes and it will firm up. Also, since you have never made a cake from scratch and this recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method, it would be a good idea for you to watch a video of that method. Let us know if you have other questions.
Below is a link
link to mycakeschool.com
Can I use regular flour in this recipe? No cake flour in my store
Hi Carolyn, You can make cake flour using this substitution. Using all purpose flour…..for each cup of flour you will remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups flour so you will measure or weight out 3 cups all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons flour and replace with 3 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend and proceed with the recipe. Second option…..if you do not have cornstarch, after measuring our 3 cups flour, just remove 6 tablespoons and proceed with the recipe.
I’ve been baking a LOT during these crazy days. I’m making this amazing looking cake today. One question – you don’t specify in the recipe what attachment you use for the mixer. I’m assuming the paddle, but you mention whisking right before. I don’t think I’ve ever done reverse creaming, so it’s a bit of a mystery. Thanks!
Hi Michael, I do use the paddle attachment for mixing the cake batter. When blending the dry ingredients I used a hand held whisk, but maybe I should have written……with the mixer on low speed, blend the dry ingredients approximately 30 seconds to combine before you begin adding the butter. Either way would be fine. Hope you enjoy the cake. Below is a link to Melissa’s video on the Reverse Creaming Method if you would like to watch it.
link to mycakeschool.com
Thanks for the info BeBe – the video was exactly what I needed. I’m not sure how I missed that reverse creaming method after years of baking, but it was easy to do. The cake turned out perfectly – moist, perfect crumb, tender, full of flavor. I used fresh strawberries, but didn’t use strawberry extract (the cake has great strawberry flavor so I’m not sure it’s necessary). I also used two 9” inch cake pans. I thought that would increase baking time but it was prefect at 30 minutes at 340 convection. Last thing – thanks for putting weights in this recipe. I wish more recipes used weight instead of volume (like the British recipes do) it is so much more accurate. When I measured out my 3 cups of cake flour it was about 80 grams over what the recipe said! I thought about it and decided to go with the weight specified (342 grams) instead of the volume, and it turned out perfectly (don’t know why I have such heavy flour!!!) I highly recommend a kitchen scale which are quite cheap now (I paid less than ten dollars for mine), and you’ll find yourself using it all the time. Thanks again! Great cake…
Hi Michael, Thanks so much for posting your thoughts on this recipe. I am so happy all went well and you enjoyed the cake! I am not sure why your measured flour weighed 80 grams more than needed. Some possibilities are……when filling a measuring cup, you should spoon the flour into the cup, slightly over filling, then level off with the back of a knife. If flour is measured by scooping the flour out of a container then leveled off, the flour will be packed in and weigh more. Also, if the container of flour has been sitting for a long time it is good to stir and loosen it up before spooning into a cup.Since you have baked for years this probably does not apply to you, but the information could help others who might read this. You are so right about using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. It would be a great tool for every baker to have. Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try.