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Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

This moist and fluffy Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting is naturally flavored with real strawberries. It’s topped with a strawberry whipped cream frosting that is full of sweet strawberry flavor. This gorgeous pink cake is perfect for summer!

A slice of this three-layer Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting.

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Strawberries are one of those things that just immediately transport me to summer. So when these bright, juicy berries are in season, I just can’t seem to get enough of them. I really wanted to incorporate that classic sweet and slightly tangy strawberry flavor into this cake.

This light and refreshing cake tastes like summer. Both the cake and frosting are naturally flavored with real berries so it’s packed with strawberry flavor. This colorful cake really does make for a stunning summer dessert.

The strawberry whipped cream frosting is my cream cheese whipped cream frosting made with freeze-dried strawberries. It’s rich, creamy, and adds a punch of strawberry flavor to the cake.

I seriously cannot get enough of this frosting. It can make it with either cream cheese or Mascarpone cheese. Using cream cheese will give the frosting a bit more tang, whereas the frosting will be milder if you use Mascarpone cheese. I’ve done both and I promise it’s equally amazing either way. 

What Makes This Cake So Good?

There are so many reasons why I love this cake. Some of my favorite things about this recipe are:

  • It’s full of real strawberries
  • It has a moist and fluffy texture
  • Both the cake and frosting are full of incredible strawberry flavor
  • It’s bright and colorful
A slice of Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting on its side with a forkful in front.

Ingredients for Strawberry Cake

Are you ready to start baking? This cake is made using pretty simple ingredients. Refer to the recipe card for the fill list of Ingredients.

  • Fresh Strawberries: These will be reduced to make a sauce
  • Vegetable Oil: Using oil will make the cake moister than if you used just butter.
  • Unsalted Butter: Adds flavor
  • Eggs
  • Sour Cream: Adds thickness and moisture to the cake. Substitute with plain or Greek yogurt
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Grandulated Sugar
  • Flour: I recommend using all-purpose flour for this cake. I have not tested it with alternative flours
  • Baking Soda, Baking Powder & Salt
  • Milk: You can use whatever type of milk you want for this recipe.
  • Pink Food Coloring: This is optional, but using it will add color and brightness to the cake.

How to Make the Strawberry Cake

There are a few steps to making this strawberry cake, but once you try it you’ll realize that it’s worth the extra work. 

Step 1: Make the strawberry reduction

You can either do this right before you make the cake or ahead of time (just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator).

  1. Just rinse the berries and pulse them in a food processor until it turns into a puree.
  2. Then, cook the puree over medium-low heat, stirring until you see the mixture until it becomes a slow and rolling boil (this should take 20-30 minutes and the sauce should be very thick).
  3. Once ready, transfer the sauce to a bowl so that it can come to room temperature. 

Step 2: Prepare the Cake Batter

  1. Prep your equipment. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line and grease three baking pans for the three cake layers. 
  2. Combine the wet ingredients. Beat the oil, eggs, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Make sure that they are very well combined. Then, add the sugar, beating until combine.
  3. Next add the strawberry puree and pink food coloring. Remember, that the pink food coloring is optional, but I love how vibrant it makes the cake.

4. Mix the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl. When you’re ready, alternate adding this mixture to the batter along with the milk, doing half at a time. Beat the batter until it’s just well combined and then stir with a spatula to make sure that it is well mixed.

The fully mixed cake batter.

5. Bake the cake. Divide the batter as evenly as possible between the three pans. Bake the cake for 18-20 minutes at 350°F (your kitchen will be filled with an amazing strawberry aroma). Make sure that you let the cake cool completely before you assemble it.

Strawberry Frosting Ingredients

There are also a few extra ingredients for the frosting. You can refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full amount.

  • Freeze Dried Strawberries: You can find these at most grocery stores, Trader Joe’s or Target.
  • Cream Cheese or Mascarpone Cheese: Make sure you are using full-fat and cold cheese.
  • Heavy Whipping Cream: Keep this cold before making the frosting. 
  • Pure Vanilla Extract
  • Powdered Sugar

How to Make the Strawberry Frosting

  1. Make a strawberry powder. Pulse the freeze-dried strawberries in the food processor so that they grind into a fine powder.
  2. Prep your equipment. Place your mixing bowl in the refrigerator or freezer for about 5-10 minutes before you start making this frosting.
  3. Beat the cream cheese. Cut the cream cheese into 1-inch cubes and beat on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s smooth and free of any lumps. Make sure to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. Remember, you can also substitute mascarpone for a milder frosting. 
  4. Add the whipping cream. Once the cream cheese is ready, slowly add in some of the whipping cream and continue beating until the cream cheese resembles a liquid mixture. Then, continue adding the rest of the whipping cream and beat on medium-high. You’ll know you’re done this step once you notice soft peaks forming. 
The heavy whipping cream and the cream cheese mixed.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat. Add the powdered strawberries, vanilla, and sugar to the bowl. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks start to form. 

Assemble & Decorate the Cake

Now that you’ve done all of the hard work to make the cake, this is the part where you can have fun and be creative. Since the frosting is a whipped cream base, do your best not to over handle it.

Level the cakes. Once cooled, cut the domes off of the top of the cakes with a cake leveler. Scoop a dollop of frosting onto the cake board and place the first layer of cake on top (this will limit the cake’s ability to slide around on the board). 

Frost between the cake layers. Add some of the frosting to a piping bag with a large and open round tip (you can also just cut off the end of the piping bag). Pipe a layer onto the leveled cake, starting with the outside edge and working towards the middle like a spiral. Spread the frosting evenly with an offset spatula. Add the second layer and repeat, then add the third layer on top (do not repeat this step on top of the third layer).

Make a rough crumb coat around the cake. Use the piping bag to fill in any gaps that you notice between the cake layers and create a rough crumb coat. Use an offset spatula to wipe any excess frosting, you only want just enough to cover the outside of the cake. If the excess frosting has cake crumbs in it, make sure that you do not mix it back into your frosting.

Decorate and garnish. Use the remaining frosting to frost and decorate the outside of the cake. Fill a large piping bag with frosting and cut off the edge. Then, working from the bottom up, decorate around the outside of the cake and smooth with an offset spatula. Decorate and garnish with fresh strawberries. 

A fully decorated Strawberry Cake with Strawberry frosting, garnished with fresh strawberries.

Recipe Tips for Success

Three-layer cakes can be intimidating, but they don’t have to be. Even though this recipe may have a lot of steps, it’s actually pretty easy to make.  Here are some extra tips to help you nail this recipe:

  1. Make the strawberry reduction ahead of time: This step is just easy to make ahead of time and it reduces the amount of prep work once you start making the cake. Just store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use. 
  2. Do not overmix the cake batter: Overmixing the batter will result in a tougher, more chewy consistency. Keep this cake light and fluffy by only mixing until just combined. 
  3. Don’t make the frosting ahead of time: This is best to work with when it’s made fresh. So while you can prepare the layers in advance (and frost the next day), wait until you are ready to assemble to make the frosting.
  4. Wait for the cake to cool completely before assembling: You do not want to cut your cake before it’s cooled. Since the cake is still super moist when it’s hot, cutting it before it’s cooled will result in a mess. 
  5. Do not skip leveling the cake: If you skip this step, your layers will look sloppy and the cake may not stay up. Make sure that you have a strong, sturdy, and pretty cake by leveling the layers first!
A Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting and decorated with strawberries.

How to Store a Frosted Cake

Unless you’re serving this cake at a big party, you’ll probably want to store some of this for later. While some cakes can be left out once frosted, this one does need to be stored in the refrigerator. I recommend placing it in an airtight container before storing it. Try using my favorite cake carrier.

Can I Freeze Extra Slices?

Yes, you can freeze extra slices of this cake! Just make sure that the cake is completely cooled before you start to freeze it. I recommend that you cut any extra cake into individual slices so that they are easier to thaw once you’re ready to eat them. Then, wrap the slices in plastic wrap or parchment paper and add them to a freezer-safe container. This cake can be frozen for up to three months. 

To defrost, either thaw the cake for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. If you have smaller pieces of cake you can also just thaw them for a few minutes at room temperature.

How to Turn this into Cupcakes

This recipe will make 24 cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes for approximately 15-18 minutes. Cool completely then frost. Once frosted, these need to be stored in the refrigerator.

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A slice of this three-layer Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting.

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.3 from 12 reviews
  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 60 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 10-12 slices
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This moist and fluffy Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting is naturally flavored with real strawberries. It’s topped with a strawberry whipped cream frosting that is full of sweet strawberry flavor. This gorgeous pink cake is perfect for summer!


Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 16 ounces strawberries, reduced
  • ½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup (120g) sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups (285g) granulated sugar
  • 2 ½ cups (350g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon (5g) salt
  • 2 teaspoons (7.5g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup (118ml) milk
  • Pink food coloring* (optional)

For the Frosting:

  • 1-ounce bag (34g) freeze-dried strawberries
  • 16 ounces (452g) full-fat cream cheese or mascarpone cheese, cold
  • 2 1/4 cups (531ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla
  • 1/2 cup (65g) powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Cake:

  1. To make the strawberry reduction, rinse the berries and pulse in a food processor or blender until pureed. You should have about 2 cups of puree.
  2. In a medium-sized saucepan cook the puree over medium-low heat. Stir frequently and allow the mixture to come to a slow rolling boil. Continue cooking until it has thickened and reduced to 3/4 cup. This should take about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round baking pans line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides.
  4. In a large mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients: oil, butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Beat until very well combined. 
  5. Next, beat in the sugar until it’s been well mixed. Then add the strawberry puree and a couple of drops of pink food coloring and beat until well combined. 
  6. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk, half at a time, and beat just until combined. Then stir the batter with a spatula to ensure it’s well mixed. 
  7. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, about 1 2/3 cup of batter per pan. Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely.

For the Frosting: 

  1. Pulse the freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor and grind into a fine powder. 
  2. Place your mixing bowl in the freezer or refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before starting.
  3. Cut the cream cheese into 1-inch cubes and beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until cream cheese is smooth and free of lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Slowly add in one cup of heavy whipping cream and continue beating until the cream cheese resembles a liquid mixture.
  4. Continue to add the remaining heavy whipping cream and beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
  5. Finally, add the powdered strawberries, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble and Decorate: 

  1. Use a cake leveler to cut the domes off the top of the cake. Place a dollop of frosting on your cake board and place the bottom layer of cake on top of that.
  2. Place about 2 cups of frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large open round tip, or simply cut off the end of the piping bag. Pipe a layer of frosting on top of the leveled cake, starting at the outside edge and working your way into the middle. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Place another layer on top and repeat the frosting with the second layer, then place the final layer on top. 
  3. Use your piping bag to fill in any gaps between the layers and to create a rough crumb coat. Using an offset spatula, wipe away the excess frosting, leaving just enough to coat the outside of the cake. Do not mix your crumb coating frosting back into your icing if it has cake debris in it.
  4. Separate out 1 ¼ cups of frosting to decorate with. Use the remaining frosting to decorate the sides. Fill a large piping bag, cut off the edge of the bag and pipe around the outside edge of the cake, working from the bottom up. Gently smooth with an offset spatula. Decorate and garnish with fresh strawberries. 


Notes

  • The pink food coloring is optional, but it will make the cake a vibrant pink.
  • You can make the strawberry puree ahead of time, just store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • Make sure to let the cake cool completely before assembling and frosting.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 664
  • Sugar: 37g
  • Sodium: 215g
  • Fat: 44g
  • Carbohydrates: 60g
  • Fiber: 1.7g
  • Protein: 9g
  • Cholesterol: 146mg

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63 thoughts on “Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting”

  1. I hate to crush your strawberry dreams but I will say this was a huge disappointment. I made this for someone special for their birthday and failed to taste test. I spent all day making this and cleaning up after, when I could have easily bought Martha White strawberry muffin mix and Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese spread. Wasn’t a special cake for a birthday for sure. I can see how this would be a refreshing dessert in the dog days of summer, however, when it’s that hot, I don’t know anyone who would want to put forth all that effort into it.👎






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Since this is a whipped cream frosting I usually don’t recommend making it in advance and storing it for later use. It can be prepared, frosted and stored no problem, but I find that once it’s had time to sit, it does not lend itself to frosting very smoothly. Plus if is not properly whipped to stiff peaks, you run the risk of the cream wilting or watering out.

  2. I found the cake was too sweet. Also I found that the measurements were off for me, is that because I am in Australia? For eg. 1/2 cup sour cream when I weighed it out was more than 96g which the recipe lists. Same with the flour, the listed amount in cups didn’t match the quantity listed in grams.

    The icing also was too gloopy and not firm enough to pipe.

    All in all disappointed as I was making it for my niece’s birthday.

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Sadia, for the flour measurements, I do everything by weight, this recipe is based off of 140g per cup. For the sour cream, I level off a 1/2 cup measuring cup, I use a combination of online conversion charts to convert certain ingredient weights, and also reviewing what’s on the physical packaging for the product used. I’ve updated the sour cream to 120g. If the icing was gloopy, then it was not properly whipped to the right consistency. It should be pretty stable, but that may also depend on the cream cheese products available in Australia, I am not sure. I understand how frustrating it is when a recipe doesn’t turn out the way you expect.

  3. Hello there!

    For the frosting do you know if it will hold up to having added food dye and opt out of using the freeze dried strawberries?

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Kymberly- yes, you can do this without the freeze dried strawberries, but the flavor of the strawberry will be far less prominent. You can add dye to the it, I would do it at the liquid stage (right away). In order to provide stability, you’ll want to add another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar (since you’re removing the powdered Strawberries)

  4. Hello!

    Haven’t made the cake yet. Any thoughts on using a ripe, frozen, strawberry – in place of fresh? Hopefully it hasn’t already been mentioned.

    Thanks!

  5. In the write up before the actual recipe, you list ingredients, including – ‘Baking Powder, Baking Powder & Salt’. Do you mean Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt? I don’t see any salt listed in the recipe, and you call for unsalted butter.






  6. Can I make this as a sheet cake instead of cupcakes or 3 layers? If so, how long would the baking time be?

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Yes you can make 24 cupcakes or a 9*13 inch cake using the same base cake recipe. You’d want to cut the frosting at least in half for the 9*13 inch cake and you may have some leftovers.

  7. Why use freeze dried fruit in any frosting? Why not use fresh or frozen? It would taste so much better.

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Fran, Using fresh or frozen berries in a frosting is great, but is also creates a little more work, and it’s important to get the ratios right so you don’t end up with a runny frosting. Freeze-dried strawberries actually give you a better punch of flavor that you can’t get with fresh or frozen berries.

      1. Avatar photo
        Candice Klapp

        For the frosting instead of the freeze dried berries could you make more purée similar to the cake and reduce the whipping cream? (Freeze dried fruit is difficult to find where I live)

      2. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
        Beyond Frosting

        Hi Candice, I have not tested that specifically, and in my experience, it tasks quite a bit of strawberries to get the flavor. Do you have strawberry Jello (gelatin)? That would be the best alternative honestly. You could save some of the strawberry puree from the cake, and add 1-2 tablespoons into the frosting, but it’s something you’d need to test.

    2. The reasons I like to use freeze dried berries are the flavor is much more intense, can better control the moisture, they’re available all year, etc. The quality of frozen berries can often be sub par. I use fresh berries for shortcake, jams,






      1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
        Beyond Frosting

        Hi Wanda, you are correct! The freeze-dried berries have better, stronger flavor.

  8. Are the layers supposed to be relatively thin? Both times I baked this cake the layers turned out thinner then you would normally expect for a cake.

  9. Hello, thanks for this recipe. I would like to add strawberry rum to this, do you have any suggestions on how much rum and if I would need to add time?






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Mona, I am not entirely sure, whatever you add just subtract that amount from the milk that gets added. But realistically anything less than a half a cup you probably won’t even taste

  10. I really want to make this cake but I cannot find freeze dried strawberries. Is there a substitute.

    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Mary, I have not tried it with another option. You could try a little strawberry jam but I don’t think the flavor will be nearly as good. They can be found at Kroger stores, Trader Joes, Target.

  11. Cake was moist but lacked in flavor. I even added some of the freeze dried strawberries to batter. Not really sure how I feel about the frosting.






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      For the cake flavor, the strawberries need to be pretty ripe to get the best flavor. But the frosting, it’s one of my favorites, so I think it’s a bit of a personal preference.

    2. I live in Canada but I read on the post for the strawberry cream icing you can use strawberry jello so I will try that.

      1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
        Beyond Frosting

        Oh yes I suppose that’s true, strawberry jello would be an option, it gets quite a bit thicker, so start small, maybe 1-2 tablespoons and add as needed.

  12. I don’t know what happened, but this did not turn out at all as I anticipated. The cake was delicious and moist. The frosting was more liquid than solid. I must have gone wrong somewhere, though I thought I followed the instructions to a T.






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Hi Mary- I followed up with you via email to ask some questions. Normally if the frosting is not a solid, then it’s likely due to an ingredient issue or not whipped the frosting for long enough.

  13. Enjoyed the cake. I used frozen berries for the cake, the fresh ones didn’t look very good and were outrageously priced. Used full fat buttermilk for the milk. The cake was very moist and had a great crumb it just didn’t have enough strawberry flavor and I added 1t of strawberry emulsion. I’m going to try it again when fresh strawberries are in season and I bet it will be perfect. The frosting was fantastic, great tang, texture and the freeze dried strawberries brought the flavor. It’s a beautiful and delicious cake that I’ll make again.






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Wonderful Danna! You might find that adding a little freeze-dried strawberry dust to the cake batter helps to. Strawberries on their own have to be just the perfect ripeness to have the best flavor

  14. This was my first homemade cake and it turned out so good! The directions were very thorough and easy to follow. Julianne even reached out after I tagged her on Instagram to lend support/answer questions if I needed it. The flavor was a perfect balance of fresh and sweet, huge hit with the family!






    1. Julianne - Beyond Frosting
      Beyond Frosting

      Kayla, it was a pleasure to connect, I was blown away by the cake you made! Thank you again for sharing your experience.

  15. I have 2 questions
    1.can blueberry be used with same measurement ?
    2.with this frosting can I use cake stencil?

  16. Thanks for the recipe. Please tell me how many grams of strawberries to use I don’t understand the ounces measurements. TIA