My Strawberry Cake recipe starts with a rich, moist vanilla pound cake is divided into three layers, and slathered with the most light and fluffy whipped cream and cream cheese frosting, overflowing with fresh strawberries. It’s a light yet filling treat that’s perfect for summer. It’s the best Strawberry Cake you’ve ever had!
Out of the blue the other day, my son said to me from the backseat of our truck, “Mom, I want us to bake a cake.” Never one to shy away from baked goods, I replied, “Sure, what kind of cake do you want to make?” “A fancy one. You, know the one with lots of levels that looks like a triangle?” If you’re as confused as I was, let me clarify. It took me until the next day to figure out that he was talking about a tiered cake – like a wedding cake – with eight layers (at least that’s how many he thought it should have).
MY LATEST VIDEOSObviously I wasn’t about to run to the store and pick up a bunch of cake tiers, so I started showing him photos of cakes on Pinterest. As I scrolled, he hemmed and hawed, but was so excited when he saw a strawberry cake from the blog, Spiced. It looked gorgeous, so I was almost as excited as he was to test out the recipe.
How I Made My Strawberry Cake:
The cake is dense, almost like a shortcake or pound cake, which is of course perfect for this Strawberry Shortcake type dessert. In his recipe, the author gives instructions for making a two layer cake, but if this cake was going to be fancy enough to satisfy my boy, it had to have three layers. I increased the recipe by 1.5, and made a couple of minor adjustments, which I’ll share in the recipe below.
The frosting, oh Lordy the fresh strawberry frosting was positively glorious! With fresh, homemade whipped cream, a little sugar and tons of fresh strawberries, it’s light and fresh and creamy, and the perfect way to balance out the heaviness of the cake.
Topped with fresh strawberry slices, this Strawberry Cake is the perfect springtime dessert.
For more delicious cake recipes, try these:
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Whipped Cream
- Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes
- Coconut Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling
And for more strawberry recipes, try these:
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make this Strawberry Cake!
Fresh Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 1/2 cups cake flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs + 1 egg white
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange extract (optional)
- 3/4 cup + 6 tablespoons milk
Strawberry Frosting
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2-3 pints strawberries, finely chopped (= about 2 cups chopped strawberries)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 3 round cake pans by spraying liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs and mix well until combined.
- Stir in sour cream, vanilla and optional orange extract, and mix well until combined.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and add half of the flour mixture. Stir until fully incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and stir in the milk.
- Add the remaining flour, and stir until the flour is fully incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it one last stir.
- Divide the batter into 3 prepared, round baking pans.
- Bake in 325 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Cakes are done when tops spring back with a light touch, or a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before turning over onto a plate or baking rack.
Frosting
- In your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand held mixer) beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside, preferably in the fridge. (If you have two bowls for your stand mixer, leave it in the bowl, if not, transfer to another bowl before placing in the fridge).
- Fit the paddle attachment on your mixer and beat cream cheese on high until light and fluffy, scraping the sides a couple of times. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat on medium until fully incorporated.
- Stir in chopped strawberries on low speed. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Gently fold in the whipped cream with a spatula until well combined.
Assembly
- Place the first cake layer on your serving platter and frost just the top with the strawberry frosting (about 1/2" or so thick). Repeat with the next two layers, then frost the sides with an offset spatula (the long and skinny kind). Smooth top and sides until even, then top with sliced strawberries for garnish, if desired.
Hi! I’m Kristin, the creative mind behind Yellow Bliss Road where you will be inspired by tons of easy to follow recipes, lots of free printables, and a little sprinkling of life thrown in for good measure.
This is the worse cake that I have ever made. I used very expensive eggs and butter. It is too dense. The icing was delicious. Boxed caked mix with added sour cream would have been much better. Sorry for the negative comment, but my family hated it except for the frosting.
Try poking holes in each layer of cake as assembling and drizzle with strawberries slices soaked in sugar (like used for shortcake) or strawberry freezer jam. This will moisten the cake. Don’t get carried away however or cake will fall apart like a sand castle with too much water
That’s a great suggestion!
What did I do wrong? Each component tastes delicious… but it is a sloppy mess. The icing is runny and it melts like crazy!
I was really looking forward to making and tasting this cake. looks super delicious but unfortunately the cake recipe with epic fail , Superdry nowhere close to edible. The frosting was good but it wasn’t the best I did enjoy the fact it wasn’t super sweet but like the author said it has to be consumed in a timely matter, I would say under 2 days. I did make the mistake of refrigerating the cake day so that didn’t help the dryness ( it made it more dry) . I won’t be trying this recipe again but i do thank the author for sharing with us😃
Thanks so much for adding the recipe. I bought the cake mix instead of making it so it didn’t cost as much. It was a great dessert and 35th birthday treat.
I wasn’t thinking it would be tho dense, it’s actually a really good cake. I just wish I read the comments first to see it was dense. I will definitely make a different cake next time but use this frosting. The frosting is amazing!!
Will this cake work as a sheet cake? Have you tried this?
Making this cake soon
you said to bake at 325 but it doesn’t say for how long?? I have one in the oven now, don’t know how soon you can get bac k to me.
ok just saw 35 mins, guess did not read down far enough, tks
I am trying out this cake, and I do not have any heavy cream for the frosting. (I live in a place that has limited items at the store) Is there something that you would recommend I use for a substitute?
I made this cake for a family party, and it was a big hit. I thought it was delicious as well! Adding that touch of orange extract made it sooo good! I almost died when I tasted the batter, ha. I did not have cake flour, so made it with regular. I think it was a little denser then that it’s supposed to be, but no one knew the difference. The overall time it took to make ended up being more than I initially thought, but still I would make it again. It was the best tasting this I’ve ever baked.
MMMMMM
Love this cake, I have made it a million times. It’s the only cake my brother wants for his birthday now. I sometimes leave a layer of cake out or cut then so they are thinner.