My Grandmother Verdie’s Strawberry Cake is a delicious treasure! It’s a strawberry cake recipe using cake mix, Jello, and strawberries, topped with homemade strawberry buttercream frosting. This nostalgic cake is easy to make and always a favorite dessert!
My family loves strawberry recipes. Strawberry cobbler and strawberry spinach salad are always so delicious, especially as our fresh strawberries get ripe! And there’s something so enticing about strawberry cake, especially in the spring and summer. Most often, I make my fresh strawberry cake recipe from scratch, but when I crave my grandmother’s cake, I pull out this recipe from time to time.
I’m sharing her recipe exactly as she always made it – a strawberry cake recipe using cake mix. And it is out-of-this-world scrumptious. Everyone always loves it and requested she bake it as far back as my memory goes. It’s definitely one to try.
My Grandmother Verdie was such a very special person and an inspiration to me. She always prayed with me, gave plenty of hugs, and eagerly shared her talents. She was such an amazing cook, and it was a treat to eat a meal at her table. The meals were always fresh, delicious southern feasts – with everything from fried chicken and potato salad to chicken and dumplings or potato soup and desserts. Oh, the desserts were legendary – everything from pies with homemade pie crust to homemade candy, cakes – and her strawberry cake. She made most recipes from scratch, as I do, but this strawberry cake recipe includes a white cake mix and strawberry Jello gelatin.
Family and friends often asked her to make her strawberry cake for suppers, reunions, or birthdays. Once you taste it, you will understand why it is so loved!
How to Make Grandmother Verdie’s Strawberry Cake
Even though most of Grandmother’s cakes are made completely from scratch, as are mine, this one is a strawberry cake recipe using a cake mix. She used a white cake mix from Duncan Hines, to be exact, and even wrote that on the recipe she gave to me. This strawberry cake recipe uses jello too. It’s topped with a delicious homemade Strawberry Buttercream frosting, the same frosting I use on my fresh strawberry cake.
Ingredients
To make this cake, you’ll need:
- box white cake mix – use your favorite white cake mix. Grandmother used Duncan Hines.
- flour – all-purpose flour
- Strawberry Jello – 3 oz of strawberry-flavored gelatin
- water
- oil – coconut oil or melted butter
- eggs – use eggs you’ve allowed to come to room temperature for best results
- frozen strawberries – 5 ounces of thawed halved strawberries in syrup
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Step-by-Step Instructions
Get cake pans ready for baking. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with butter and flour to prevent sticking.
Mix cake ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add cake mix, flour, gelatin, water, oil and eggs, and strawberries and mix well.
Bake. Divide the cake batter between three prepared cake pans. Bake until cakes spring back when gently touched in the center and the edges begin to turn loose from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.
Make the frosting. While the cake is baking, make the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting according to the recipe.
Cool cake layers. After removing the cake pans from the oven, allow them to cool on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes in the pans, then carefully turn the cakes out onto wire racks to complete cooling.
Frost and serve. Assemble the cooled cake layers onto a cake stand or cake plate and frost each layer with the buttercream frosting until all three layers are frosted. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Due to the ingredients, this cake will need to be refrigerated and not left out on the counter other than when serving. It can also be frozen for later.
To store. Prepare the cake according to the recipe. Wrap well or use an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 days.
To freeze. Prepare the cake layers through baking and cooling. Allow the cake layers to cool completely, wrap them well and carefully place each layer into a gallon zip-top freezer bag. Place the layers flat in your freezer (I like to place them onto a sheet pan.) Freeze the cake layers for up to 2-3 months. To frost the cake, simply remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator with the wrapping intact. Then, frost the cake once it has completely thawed.
The frosted cake can also be frozen for up to 2-3 months in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator and store in the refrigerator as directed while you enjoy the cake.
Grandmother’s Recipe Treasures
I’ve shared previously about the notebook of her handwritten recipes she gave me as one of my wedding presents. These recipes bring back a flood of memories of growing up with her.
I love pulling out the notebook of her recipes because it usually makes me feel like she is right beside me, giving me tips the entire time I am cooking. What a treasure of a gift she gave me as a young bride!
Do you have a favorite recipe that is an heirloom in your family?
More Favorite Strawberry Recipes
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Grandmother Verdie’s Strawberry Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Box Duncan Hines White Cake Mix, or favorite white cake mix
- 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 1 (3-Oz) box Strawberry Flavored Gelatin, Jello
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 Cup Oil, coconut oil, or melted butter
- 4 large Eggs
- 5 ounces Frozen Halved Strawberries in Syrup, thawed
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat ovens to 350º F. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with butter and flour to prevent sticking.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cake mix, flour, gelatin, water, oil and eggs, and strawberries and mix well.
- Divide the cake batter between three prepared cake pans.
- Bake until cakes spring back when gently touched in the center and the edges begin to turn loose from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done..
- While the cake is baking, make the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting according to the recipe.
- After removing the cake pans from the oven, allow them to cool on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes in the pans, then carefully turn the cakes out onto wire racks to complete cooling.
- Assemble the cooled cake layers onto a cake stand or cake plate and frost each layer with the buttercream frosting until all three layers are frosted. Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was excellent!!!! I received numerous compliments and it kept well in the refrigerator for a few days. I used ~10 oz of frozen strawberries in syrup…
This was a great cake! Definitely more dense than your average cake, but I expected that with the addition of gelatin. If you are looking for a light and fluffy cake, this is not it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t just as delicious! It definitely had that old school feel… or maybe my grandma always made denser cakes? Who knows.
Also, instead of a strawberry frosting, I paired it with the classic vanilla buttercream also on this website, and I think it was the perfect combo. You seriously can’t go wrong with that frosting! I then topped it with some fresh strawberries and blueberries which really made the cake look beautiful, and it tasted great with the cake too.
Sad that the icing portion of the recipe is no longer here. This recipe reminded me of my grandmother’s, and coming here to read your story of your grandma and her recipes always was a nice entry into remembering mine. But with only half the recipe, I have to go to another site to find everything. Half the recipe gets half the rating in my book.
Micki, I’m sorry but I have never had the frosting recipe with this cake recipe. It is with my made from scratch Strawberry Cake Recipe. I use my Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe on both cakes.
This is very similar to my mother in laws. I substituted Strawberry soda for the water. Fabulous I used strawberry cream cheese icing between layers then frosted with Chocolate fudge frosting.
Would like to make this. How does it freeze? I most often make my layers ahead of time and freeze, but have never used gelatin in a recipe. Thanks
Mary, you can freeze this cake. Allow the layers to cool completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap and place each layer into a gallon zip-top freezer bag. Freeze the cake layers for up to one month. To frost the cake, simply remove from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator with wrapping intact. Then, frost the cake once it has completely thawed. I hope you enjoy the cake.
Are you able to make cupcakes from the same recipe or does it need to be adjusted? Thank you
You can make cupcakes from this recipe, Rheana. The cupcakes should bake 15 to 20 minutes.