We have a new favorite homemade Strawberry Cake recipe! We have fallen in love with this moist and flavorful scratch Strawberry Cake recipe.
The cake layers are delicious, and pair amazingly well with our Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting recipe! SOOOO good. For even more strawberry flavor, we also LOVE this Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe.
Another huge plus with this Strawberry Cake recipe is that it calls for frozen strawberries. No matter what time of year it is, whether it is strawberry season or not, you’ll be able to enjoy this fantastic Strawberry Cake recipe. Hooray!
While we love our other scratch strawberry cake, we have decided to retire it from our Recipes section. This new version is every bit as moist but with even more strawberry flavor, and will be our new go-to recipe for strawberry cake.
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! If you were a fan of our previous strawberry cake recipe, you can still find it here, but we hope you’ll try our revised version! We think you’ll love it!
*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. 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.
Strawberry Cake Recipe {Version #2}
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 (300 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.
Directions
- 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: This recipe does not hold up well to fondant unless frosted with ganache to give it a nice firm shell.
- 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.)
If you prefer a doctored cake mix recipe, we have a great one for you: Strawberry Cake: Doctored Cake Mix Recipe.
Thanks for stopping by! 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
Hi,
I was wondering if you could use all purpose flour?
Hi Aanya, Yes, you could use all purpose flour, the cake would be slightly less tender. This is how you can make cake flour. For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of all purpose flour and replace it with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe that has 3 cups of flour, remove 6 Tablespoons of all purpose flour and replace with 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk to combine and complete the recipe as written.
Does the flour need to be sifted?
Hi Brittany, I do not sift the flour. It is 300g if weighing, if you are measuring, spoon into your measuring cup and level off with the back of a knife. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Hi,
Thank you for sharing this recipe, it looks amazing! Just wondering, is there anything I can use instead of the strawberry extract?
Hi Tannia, We had a member, Earlene, post that she used 2 Tablespoons dry strawberry gelatin instead of the strawberry extract. If you would like to see her comment, click on Older Comments. She posted on Aug. 1, 2016
Hi can i use fresh strawberries?
Hi Lakshmi, If you are going to use fresh strawberries, just slice them thinly, add a little sugar if they are not as sweet as you would like and puree them in a food processor, blender, or smoothie maker. You do not want any large pieces of strawberry in the cake batter. Hope you like the recipe.
Thank you so much definitely going to try this recipe ?
I made this cake and the flavor was OUTSTANDING, but my layers were thin. My baking powder was good so they should of rose more. Are the layers suppose to be thin? Or would my cold purée Effect the rising. Thank you!
Here are the layers before icing
Hi Sylvia, I am sorry you had a problem. Are you familiar with using the reverse creaming method? Melissa has a video on this method if you would like to watch it, here is a link link to mycakeschool.com. Method is important for reverse creaming. The layers do not bake up quite as high as when using the conventional creaming method but they should have been higher than your 1 inch layers. I hope you were able to use them. Possibly the butter was too soft and was not mix with the dry ingredients until it looks like coarse sand. Also, the first pouring of wet ingredients should be done slowly.
Made today for daughter’s birthday tomorrow. I live at high altitude & was slightly concerned about how this would turn out along with the reverse mixing method. Am happy to report I followed as written and it came out beautifully! It’s a keeper – thanks for posting!
I’m so happy to hear it, Jen!! Thank you for your feedback!! xo
The reverse creaming method video shows adding the oil with the milk and eggs etc., but thy instructions in the actual recipe say to add oil to the dry. Which is correct?
Hi Cathy, I believe that the reverse creaming method video is a demo of our White Almond Sour Cream Cake which doesn’t contain oil, but you bring up a very good point, as most of our recipes that contain both oil and butter do call for the oil to be added with the other wet ingredients.
I’m not sure why our Strawberry Cake is written this way, but since we’ve had so much positive feedback for this recipe I’m afraid to change it! ;0) — It would likely be fine either way though if you’d like to try adding the oil with the eggs, etc.
Thanks Melissa! i’m going to follow the recipe then! I’m excited to try it. Thanks!
made this cake it was so delicious :) everyone loved it
I’m a pest, sorry! I’m curious why there is no cream cheese recipe linked with the cake recipe? Which one is best the regular cream cheese buttercream or the Piped one? I’m leaning towards the piping one.
Hi Cathy, We used the Pipeable Cream Cheese recipe and there is a link just above the first picture of the cake. Either cream cheese recipe will be good with this cake, it becomes a matter of personal preference. Hope you like the cake.
Oh this recipe looks perfect, I can’t wait to try it! Question though: will the pipeable cream cheese frosting linked at the top of the page make enough frosting to cover this entire cake and the layers in between or should I make a double batch of the frosting? Thank you in advance!
Hope,
I made this cake and the pipeable frosting last night and today. I use 2 nine inch pans instead of 3 eight inch and I had a lot of frosting left over. It definitely made about 6 cups of frosting. I want to add that this is the creamiest, tastiest, cream cheese frosting I’ve ever eaten.
I am no decorator and I had trouble with tip 21 so ended up just frosting it and dusting it with pink edible dust. I also used magenta food coloring as I didn’t have pink so I can’t wait to cut into it at dinner tonight. I’ll take a picture!!
Hi Hope, Yes, as Cathy posted, you will have enough to frost and fill the cake layers.
Hi Cathy, Thanks so much for your nice comment on the pipeable frosting, it is one of my favorites! Looking forward to seeing your picture.
Is the butter suppose to be room temperature?
Hi Terri, If you press your finger into the butter and it makes a slight indention it is ready to use. You do not want it so soft that when pressed it spread out easily.
I went to buy Cake Flour and found there is self raising and plain variety. Which is the one you are using?
Hi Luke, I am not sure where you are located but cake flour may not be available to you. You should buy the plain flour. In the US, all purpose flour is the same as plain flour. If you only have plain flour, you can make cake flour by using the following procedure. For each cup of flour in the recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. The Strawberry Cake (version #2) has 3 cups of flour so measure out 3 cups of your plain (all purpose) flour, remove 6 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch, whisk to blend. Hope you like the recipe, let me know if you have other questions.
Great thanks. I’m in Australia. I will follow your direction with the corn flour (that’s what we call corn starch).
Thanks, Luke, it is good to know what it is called in Australia.
I assume that if I measured 330g of strawberries and then pureed them, that would be correct?
Hi Luke, Yes, that would be correct, it should still weight 340g.
Mine didn’t rise too well. I noticed that the dry ingredients and butter didn’t ever become like described. The butter was still cold but soft. So not sure what happened. Still tastes nice.
One thing I am finding is that the recommended cream cheese frosting is overpowering the flavour of the cake. Is there a way to have the lovely strawberry taste come through without it being overpowered? Should I perhaps add strawberry jam/jelly in between the layers?
Hi Luke, I’m sorry your cakes did not rise very well. Are you new to the reverse creaming method? In the description of the cake Melissa has a link to a reverse creaming video, if you would like to watch it. The recipe could also be rewritten in the conventional mixing method.
As for the cream cheese frosting, we have a second cream cheese frosting that has a less intense cream cheese taste, here is a link link to mycakeschool.com. You can add more strawberry flavor to the cake by spreading a thin layer of strawberry puree on the layers before frosting. Just puree extra strawberries when you are making puree for the recipe. We also have a strawberry buttercream in the recipe section that could be used.
Can I fold in fresh chopped strawberries to the batter before baking?
Hi Lora, You are wanting to fold in chopped strawberries in addition to the 1 1/2 cup pureed strawberries in the recipe, is that correct? As the cake bakes the fresh chopped strawberries will add additional moisture to the cake so I am not sure how that will affect the outcome. When you add your frosting between the layers you could add some sliced or chopped strawberries to the filling, that would add extra strawberry flavor.
Hi there,
I was wondering if i have to use the strawberry puree or fresh strawberries, or can i get away with using just the strawberry emulsion?
Hello. I wanted to bake this using the conventional mixing method. Can you pls give a simple guide of how to do it. Thanks.
Hi Sumaiya, Here is the recipe for conventional mixing method
Strawberry Cake #2 (Conventional Creaming Method)
1 1/2 cups (340g) strawberry puree — I used frozen strawberries that were slightly sweetened, you could also use
fresh, puree the thawed strawberries in a food processor or blender.
3 cups (300g) cake flour **if you do not have cake flour see note below.
1Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (14g) baking powder
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
1 stick (113g) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup (350g) sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup (50g) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla
2 teaspoons (8g) strawberry extract
2 to 3 drops AmeriColor pink or pink coloring of your choice (optional but will give you a prettier pink cake)
*If using all purpose flour (plain in UK) you can use the following substitution: for each cup of flour in the recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. For this recipe measure out 3 cups all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour three 8 x 2 inch round pans – I recommend using a circle of wax or parchment paper in the bottom of
each pan. Cakes in fruit have a tendency to stick to the pan.
In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix until softened and smooth. Slowly add the sugar and mix on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the oil and blend
Add the eggs one at a time and mix until the yellow of each egg is blended in
Add the vanilla and strawberry extract, blend
Alternately, add the flour mixture and the strawberry puree, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of flour and 2 of strawberry puree)
Add 2 to 3 drops AmeriColor pink coloring or your pink coloring of choice (optional but you will have a prettier shade of
pink for your cake)
Pour cake batter into prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
How many cups of batter does this make? I’m trying to determine how many batches I need for a 10 inch tier. It’ll be 3 layers. Do you think it’ll hold up to being the bottom layer of a 3 tiered cake if supported properly? I also would like to know if you’ve made cupcakes with this method. Do you prefer this method or the conventional mixing method for cupcakes?
Hi, This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter. Here is a link to 2 charts giving batter amounts, you will find them helpful
link to wilton.com
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
I think the recipe will hold up to being the bottom tier if the upper tiers are properly supported. The supports will hold the weight. I like both reverse creaming as well the conventional mixing for cupcakes. It is personal preference. The reverse creaming will have a tighter crumb but also will be very tender. Both methods will give you a cupcake with a very slight dome.
Hi,
Would this cake work under fondant? Single tier only. And what frosting would you recommend for the layers?
Cheers, can’t wait to try it!
Sorry just seen that it won’t work well under fondant, sorry, should have read more thoroughly ?
Hi Kara
I’m trying this recipe for my sons birthday cake tomorrow, but don’t have any pink colouring, only pillarbox red. Do you think this would work instead? And how many drops do you think would be best? Incidentally, it’s under a boys Spider-Man cake so I’m happy for it to be red like a strawberry and not pink…but unsure of how much to put in?
Also can you confirm, I’m going with 3 x 9inch pans instead of 3 x 8. My math says I should increase your 3 x 8 recipe by 30% to get the right quantities…do you know if that’s right?
Thanks so much, can’t wait to try it! Freeze dried strawberries are sourced, powdered, and ready to go!
Laura
Sorry wrong page! Ignore previous ?
Omg this is the second try fore n I went step by step, lay out ingredients infeomt of me and still it didn’t came out as fluffy as yours. Its more like heavy and the bottoms is moist or settle like. Not sure wat am doing wrong.
Hello I was wondering what else can I use to substitute for strawberry extract
Hi, Melissa. Love this recipe. I just wanted to know if I should double the recipe for a 10 inch round cake pan or not.
Thank you in advance.
Hi Nolwazi, This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter. You will need 6 cups batter to make a one layer 10 inch round cake, so for 2 layer you will need to double the recipe. Here are links to two sites that give batter amounts for pans. I think you will find it helpful in the future.
link to wilton.com
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
Would it be 325 for dark or nonstick pans?
Hi Akilah, Yes, 325 degrees for dark pans
Can this strawberry cake covered with fondant?
Hi Dineshi- This is a softer cake. I think that it could work if you ganache the cake first (2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream as with our Simple Spreadable Ganache Recipe)– But if it’s just buttercream beneath the fondant, it may be a bit too soft.
Can I make this cake in a 9×13?
Hi Ashley, This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups of batter and can be made in a 9×13 pan. Here are links to 2 Cake Batter charts that your might like to see:
link to wilton.com
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
One chart suggest 7 cups of batter and the other 10 cups for a 9×13 sheet cake.
I made this today, but couldn’t find strawberry extract while I was out this morning. I’m trying to make more food (especially “treat” foods) from scratch, so substituting with boxed gelatin mix was out of the question. Are there any other alternatives? We are trying to avoid artificial food products, especially dyes and preservatives. I considered adding lemon or almond extract, but really wanted the strawberry flavor to have a chance. It was quite bland without the extract, as expected. Any suggestions?
Hi Crystal, yes it’s often difficult to get fruit flavors from the fruit alone in cake recipes. We very often have to add extracts. Since you are looking for an alternative to strawberry extract, I would google strawberry cake recipes that incorporate freeze-dried strawberries. I’ve seen several, but we haven’t experimented with this yet. One advantage is that you can increase the amount of strawberry flavor without adding additional liquid to the recipe. I hope this helps! ;0)
where can I find strawberry extract?
Hi Terri, we bought Watkins brand strawberry extract at a Walmart grocery store.
Hi there, is there any way to make this without using strawberry puree? So just extract and food coloring? Really just me being lazy and not wanting to go back to the store and do the extra step of pureeing. Thanks.
Hi Tally, Since you don’t have strawberries for the puree you could make the Yellow Cake adding strawberry extract and food coloring. Here is a link to that recipe.
link to mycakeschool.com
I want to mention that I trusted this recipe before I tried it (I love cakes done in the reverse creaming method) and my instincts were correct. This cake is absolutely fabulous!! At first bite, you don’t detect the flavor, but a few seconds later . . . BOOM! Full strawberry flavor!
This is the BEST recipe I’ve tasted and believe me I’ve searched and researched a lot of them.
Thank you THANK YOU!
Btw, I used the strawberry cake to make a Beatles Hard Day’s Night themed cake.
Btw, I didn’t have strawberry extract so I used 2 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond . . . perfect!
Hi Caroline, Your Beatles cake looks fabulous, great work!! Thank you so much for your review of the recipe, we are so happy you like it!
so I love this recipe however i too have the issue where the cake doesnt come out fluffy like yours. I made you other whitecake recipe and it was perfecr and nice and fluffy and soft. Also i make the cake for my strawberry crunch cake which requires ot to stay in the fridge. I st seem to be come dry after refrideration. It is nice and moist whn i first make it .
Here is another pic