Strawberry Cake Recipe

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 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

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.

How to Make Strawberry Cake

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

• Fresh Strawberries, hulled
• Unsalted Butter
• Shortening
• Granulated Sugar
• Eggs
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Whole Milk
• Buttermilk
• Vanilla Extract
• Natural food coloring (optional)
• For my Frosting, I use my Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.

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!

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Strawberry Cake Recipe

Robyn Stone

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!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes 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 by brushing with homemade cake release (cake goop), spraying 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.

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