Fresh Strawberry Cake
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Jam-packed with fresh strawberries, this strawberry cake is one of the simplest, most delicious cakes you’ll ever make.
This strawberry cake recipe was sent to me by Karen Tannenbaum, a longtime reader, avid baker, and all-around lovely lady. In her email to me, Karen described a dinner she made that ended with this dessert as “just like a night in heaven.” I was sold. A few days later, I had the cake in the oven, and sure enough – it turned out to be one of the simplest, prettiest, and most delicious cakes I’ve ever made.The beauty of this cake is that it’s made with very few ingredients, and you can whip up the batter in under 15 minutes. What’s more, it’s a great way to use up extra strawberries or salvage berries that are less than perfect, and it keeps well for days. This recipe originally appeared in Martha Stewart Living back in June 2005, but I’ve made a few tweaks to make it even better.
If you have an abundance of strawberries on hand, or find them on sale during the season, try my strawberry shortcake and strawberry muffins as well. You’ll be glad you did.
What You’ll Need To Make Strawberry Cake
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Whisk to combine and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla.
Beat to combine.
Add some of the flour.
Mix to combine, then add some of the milk.
Alternately add the remaining flour and milk, beating until smooth. The batter will be quite thick.
Transfer the batter to a buttered 9-inch deep dish pie pan (or 9-inch round cake pan) and smooth with a spatula.
Arrange the strawberry halves on top of the batter.
The sprinkle with the remaining sugar. (Don’t be tempted to omit the sugar here; it balances the tartness of the berries and forms a deliciously crisp crust on top the cake.)
Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325° and bake for about an hour more.
Cool the strawberry cake on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, either plain or topped with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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Fresh Strawberry Cake
Jam-packed with fresh strawberries, this strawberry cake is one of the simplest, most delicious cakes you’ll ever make.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk (low-fat is fine)
- About ¾ pound strawberries, hulled and halved
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9-inch deep dish pie pan (or 9-inch round cake pan).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth. (Note: the batter will be thick.)
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Arrange the strawberries on top, cut side down, so that they completely cover the batter (the recipe calls for approximately ¾ pound of strawberries; use more or less if necessary). Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the strawberries.
- Bake for ten minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F and bake until the cake is lightly golden and a tester comes out clean, about an hour. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack. Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.
- Cake can be stored at room temperature for several days, loosely covered.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, cover it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer wrap. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 servings)
- Calories: 241
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 25 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 185 mg
- Cholesterol: 38 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This cake is phenomenal! I have had my eye on this recipe since it was posted and finally got around to making it this weekend. This batter is particularly light and my husband and I love the crunchy-sugar topping. Funny story, as all ovens are different, we baked the cake as instructed, timer goes off, the cake is still jiggly in the middle, Hubby timed it for another 20 minutes. The cake was perfect. It turns out, that our over is 25 degrees off! Amazing, we got a cake. Didn’t know until Friday, so we will get that fixed. Thank you for the tasty recipe. Sissy
Since I cannot celebrate my birthday with family or friends this year, I have decided to make this for myself. Just made it with the designated time but the tester came out with raw batter attached. Set the timer for an additional 15 minutes. I used the biggest berries and they all stayed on the surface just slightly surrounded by the cake and covered in crunchy turbinado sugar. Looks stunning and smells amazing. Will serve with Strauss Vanilla Bean ice cream and will cry if I want to.
🙂 Hope you enjoy (and happy birthday)!
Hi Jen! Can I use canned peaches for this recipe?
Hi Sandra, I actually have a peach version of it — you can find it here. (The only change is the addition of the streusel.) And I haven’t tried it with canned peaches, but another reader said he did and was happy with the results. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
Thanks Jen! My first time on your site. Delicious And easy recipe. Had some very ripe strawberries that were about to go bad, so decided to use them in a cake! This was the perfect solution. Happened to have some visitors, and it was a real hit! Comments that it’s very light and delicious.
I reduced the sugar to 150 g and used about 1 tablespoon of sugar to sprinkle over the cake before baking. Personally, I prefer cakes that are not too sweet, so I probably could’ve reduced the sugar to 135-140 g and it would’ve been just fine. Also, I would have wanted even more strawberries in the cake, as there are only strawberries covering the surface.
Used an 8 inch round cake pan. Presentation was lovely! Husband and daughter approved to make again!
Another great recipe! Thanks. I’ve made the Strawberry Cake twice and each time it was a total success. My cakes looked just like your picture. I served it once with ice cream and whipped cream the next time. Good either way. My daughter made the cake too and put some of her home made strawberry jam with her whipped cream to sweet the cream. She said it was delicious.
Can I use Splenda or Truvia for baking instead of the sugar? Diabetic husband.
Hi Jacki, I wish I could help but I’ve never worked with sugar substitutes so I can’t say how it would impact the recipe. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it with one!
Be sure you have a crowd to share this strawberry cake with, otherwise you’ll eat the whole thing by yourself! It’s that good!
I’ve used fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries (or a mix) – all wonderful. I prefer these to cooked strawberries. I have also used drained morello cherries (and added a few drops of almond essence to the vanilla essence).
I use a square 8x8x2inch tin and line it. I put about 16 berries into the cake, then push them down into the mix and then add another layer of berries on top! In this way, you get two lots of berries. I lift the cake out of the tin along with the baking paper as soon as it is cooked- otherwise it might dry a little. A fabulously moist cake – my “go to” cake.
Hi Jenn! I want to make this cake as it is strawberry season in the south. Because I’m not able to get to the store to get ingredients, could I use half and half instead of the milk?
Sure, Colette, half and half should work. Hope you enjoy!
hi Jenn. Can I use fresh raspberries for this recipe? Thank you.
I haven’t tried it with raspberries, but a number of readers have commented that they have with good results. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I’ve been cooking and baking for 15 years and this is one of the best, most balanced cakes I’ve ever made. It’s so simple yet delicious. Making cakes with fresh fruits can be risky as the fruits release their juice and wet the cake. This recipe is perfect in that sense as well. It was a real hit among my colleagues at the office. I’ll definitely try it again, maybe with other fruits, mix of berries etc. One thing I noticed about my cake was that I could’ve used larger strawberries because I put small ones in the centre and the dough rose more than I wanted, swallowing the strawberries. The taste was still good but for a nicer look, I’ll use larger strawberries next time. So, thanks so much Jenn for this great recipe. I’ve already shared it with friends and family.