This is the best Strawberry Cake recipe and it’s made from scratch! It’s a fresh, delicious cake that’s been a family favorite dessert for many years!

Strawberry Cake Recipe - Strawberry Cake made from scratch! This strawberry cake recipe is perfect for those looking for a homemade fresh strawberry cake. // addapinch.com

Strawberry Cake has to be one of my family’s favorite cakes – especially my husband’s. As much as I love my Grandmother Verdie’s Strawberry Cake recipe, I wanted to make one that I made from scratch. And I must say that we all love this updated version of my family’s classic recipe.

Strawberry Cake Recipe

Strawberry Cake Recipe - Strawberry Cake made from scratch! This strawberry cake recipe is perfect for those looking for a fresh strawberry cake made from scratch ingredients. // addapinch.com

Quick, easy, delicious and made from just a few simple ingredients, this strawberry cake is definitely a keeper of a recipe.

The strawberry flavor is light, with bites of fresh strawberries throughout. The cake also has a light pink tint rather than an over the top pink coloring that many strawberry cakes get from the addition of flavored gelatin to the mix.

So, if you are looking for a strawberry cake option that is made from scratch, this is for you! While it is perfect for just about any occasion at my house, it is especially nice for showers, weddings, birthdays, and luncheons.

Strawberry Cake Recipe - Strawberry Cake made from scratch! This strawberry cake recipe is perfect for those looking for a homemade fresh strawberry cake. // addapinch.com

How to Make Strawberry Cake

To make this fresh and scrumptious cake, I use these ingredients:

First, preheat the oven to 350º F.

Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or prepare with butter and flour. Remove any excess flour.

Blend the strawberries in a blender on medium speed until pureed, about 3 minutes. This should result in 3/4 cup strawberry puree. Set aside.

Then, cream (mix) together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Next, add the sugar slowly, one cup at a time. Make sure to fully incorporate each cup of sugar before adding another cup.

Then add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another egg.

Sift together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, and salt – in a medium bowl.

Pour milks, vanilla, and the strawberry puree into a large measuring cup and whisk together with a fork.

Then, alternately add the flour mixture (dry ingredients) and the milk mixture to the creamed-together butter and shortening, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Gently stir all ingredients until well combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, making sure to have all ingredients well mixed.

Evenly distribute the batter between the cake pans and place the pans into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake releases from the edges of the pan and springs back to a light touch. You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.

Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool in the cake pans for about 10 minutes. Don’t allow the cooked cake to sit in the cake pans longer than around 10 minutes after removing from oven. Turn the cakes out onto wire racks and let them finish cooling completely.

After the cake has completely cooled, frost with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting and enjoy!

Note: I’ve tested this cake recipe many times both with strawberry syrup and strawberry puree. After many tests, I’ve found that the strawberry puree works best in this cake. You get all the delicious strawberry flavor when using the puree and the cake consistently sets better than it when using the syrup. With the strawberry puree you get a much lighter crumb for the cake texture. If you’d like a more pronounced pink color to your strawberry cake, you can use a little natural coloring.

Here’s my Strawberry Cake recipe. I hope you love it!

Strawberry Cake Recipe

4.88 from 41 votes
This is the best Strawberry Cake recipe and it's made from scratch! It's a fresh, delicious cake that's been a family favorite dessert for many years!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 24 servings

Ingredients 

  • 12 medium (144 g) strawberries, hulled
  • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, , room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (92 g) shortening
  • 3 cups (594 g) granulated sugar
  • 5 large (250 g) eggs, room temperature
  • 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon (0.7 g) kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (113.5 g) whole milk, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (113.5) buttermilk, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons (9.4 g) vanilla extract
  • 1 – 2 (0.1 g) drops natural food coloring, optional
  • Strawberry Buttercream Recipe

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350º F. Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or prepare with butter and flour. Remove any excess flour.
  • Blend the strawberries in a blender on medium speed until pureed, about 3 minutes. This should result in 3/4 cup strawberry puree. Set aside.
  • Cream together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the sugar, one cup at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each cup before adding another. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour milks, vanilla, and the strawberry puree into a measuring cup and whisk together with a fork. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter and shortening, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
  • Gently stir all ingredients until well combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, making sure to have all ingredients well mixed.
  • Evenly distribute the batter between the cake pans and place the pans into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake releases from the edges of the pan and springs back to a light touch. Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool in the cake pans for about 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto wire racks and let them cool completely.
  • Frost cake with strawberry buttercream frosting.

Notes

If a more pronounced strawberry flavor is desired, add 1 teaspoon strawberry extract to the cake batter as you are adding the vanilla extract.
If you would like a more pronounced pink color to your cake, add 1 – 2 drops of natural pink or red food coloring to the batter.

Nutrition

Calories: 283kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

 
 
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Strawberry Cake Recipe - Strawberry Cake made from scratch! This strawberry cake recipe is perfect for those looking for a homemade fresh strawberry cake. // addapinch.com

From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published July 2013.

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About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Recipe Review




157 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for this! I am thrilled to find a strawberry cake recipe that doesn’t start with strawberry Jell-O!
    I can’t wait to try it – it looks perfect for the 4th of July.

  2. 5 stars
    I made this cake as a trial run for my daughter’s first birthday. Her two year old brother didn’t care for it. My husband loved it and said that it tasted like a gourmet cake you’d buy in a fancy bakery. He was amazed I’d baked it. I think the flavor were too complex for little kids or at least mine. So I might just use the vanilla cake on this site. I made it for my son last year and he loved it. But this strawberry cake is beautiful and impressive.

  3. 5 stars
    Made this last month for a birthday cake!! Was absolutely perfect! Used some of the left over strawberry syrup to decorate the edges!
    YUM!!

  4. 5 stars
    Can’t wait to try this with the icing. I added extra strawberry syrup to the tops of the batter in the pan and swirled it with a toothpick. The cakes look so pretty in the oven. I’d post a picture but can’t figure out how.

    1. Oh, I’d love to see them! If you have Instagram or Facebook, be sure to post a photo and tag @addapinch or use #addapinch and I can see them! If you don’t, you can always email it to me! HA!

  5. Looks yummy — but you and I have a VERY different definition of making something “from scratch.” I have no objections to your using a box mix but, if you opt to use one, don’t say you made it from scratch.

    1. Hi Vince,
      I’m not sure where you are seeing that a box mix is used in this recipe. If you click the link to the cake recipe, you’ll see that it is indeed from scratch. Hope you have a great day!

    2. 5 stars
      Why do people keep mention about box mix? That is so pretty clear a link to a recipe! It’s not a box mix…leads to her recipe!

    3. 5 stars
      READ PEOPLE READ!! If people would just read! If you click on the recipe for your grandmother’s cake, of course it is with a box mix. But continue down the page and find the lovely SCRATCH RECIPE!! READ PEOPLE READ!! THIS A WONDERFUL SCRATCH RECIPE!

  6. I am new to your site and love it. I always thought it was an exaggeration to say that someone’s recipe and pics could make you drool and experience “hunger pangs” on the spot. It is not. I noticed on several other cake recipes there were pics of a slice of the cake. Is it possible to see one of this cake? Pretty please with a berry on top?

  7. Hey Robyn just wanted to say thanks for this amazing recipe… I made it for my neice birthday today and it was a huge hit as you can see in the link.
    https://instagram.com/p/0NpMTOjev8/