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Homemade Strawberry Cake
When it comes to strawberry cake, there are a shocking lack of recipes that are truly made from scratch. Most recipes call for white cake mix, strawberry gelatin packages or mounds of strawberry preserves. Delicious as they may be, I was not willing to give in to the Sandra Lee mentality (though I know there are times when it is an absolute necessity), and I decided to experiment with some truly, from-scratch recipes to see if I could make a strawberry cake that was homemade (and delicious) without resorting to any strange gelatin packages or overly processed preserves.
I saw a suggestion on some web discussion board (probably Chowhound) to use another dense fruit cake recipe and substitute strawberries for the original fruit. With that in mind, I dove head first into a classic Paula Deen recipe for Hummingbird Cake, which is traditionally made with mashed bananas and pineapple. I switched the bananas and the pineapple for pureed strawberries, left out the chopped nuts completely, and substituted lemon zest for the cinnamon. I’m convinced that it would have been an outstanding success on the first try if I hadn’t first suffered through the Great Flour Debacle.
As a novice cook/chef/baker/food maker, I am still in the stage where I literally learn something new with every recipe I try. In fact, I look forward to the new skills I’ll learn (and … ah hem, challenges I’ll face) with each new recipe. Truth be told, this strawberry cake recipe should probably be called Learning Things About Flour (or Self-Rising Flour is Not the Same As Cake Flour). My initial fast skimming of the recipe (a serious no-no, in and of itself), combined with my desire to use up the two open boxes of cake flour sitting in the pantry (don’t ask why there are two open boxes … there just isn’t a good answer), I immediately equated self-rising flour with cake flour. Don’t ask why … there isn’t a good answer. In my mind it made perfect sense!
When the cake remained as flat as a board and as dense as seven-year old fruit cake, my instant hysterics preventing me from calmly searching the internet to discover that self-rising flour is nothing more than all-purpose flour with added baking powder and salt (all of which I had in the pantry). Instead, a grief-stricken call was made to my knight-in-shinning-armor who immediately showed up with self-rising flour in hand.
I’m happy to report that the second batch was a complete success … and that I now know what self-rising flour is! Hooray! The cake was moist but not too heavy. I paired it with a not-too-sweet cream cream frosting which was really perfect. The original recipe made three 8 x 2 cakes, but I made a bundt cake and about eight cupcakes instead.
Update: Nurit over at 1family.friendly.food. is holding a Cake Collection Giveaway and she has graciously invited me to submit this recipe. I can’t believe she makes a new cake every weekend!!
Homemade Strawberry Cake
Adapted from Paula Deen’s Hummingbird Cake
Nonstick vegetable spray
All-purpose flour, for pans
3 cups self-rising flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup pureed strawberries, strained*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 large eggs, beaten
red food coloring**Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.
- Prepare the cake batter; in a large bowl, stir to combine self-rising flour, sugar, oil, pureed strawberries, vanilla, lemon zest, and eggs.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.
- Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
- Prepare the cream cheese frosting (recipe below); frost as desired and refrigerate until ready to serve.* You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If you use frozen, let them defrost on a cookie sheet. Then place in a food processor and pulse until pureed. Run through a medium-sized strainer to remove the seeds. If you have some extra strawberries, try whipping up a quick batch of strawberry scones!
** While I did manage to avoid using red colored gelatin, I did add some food coloring to achieve that perfectly pink color. If you don’t care about getting the pink color, feel free to leave it out. I used about 5 drops, but you should add them one at a time until you achieve the color you are looking for.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
~ 3 cups (approx. 1 box) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 TBL milk (if needed)Directions:
- Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Slowly add the sugar in 1 cup batches until desired sweetness is achieved. You may need less than 3 cups if you like your frosting less sweet.
- Stir in vanilla. Add milk slowly if you need a looser consistency.
Similar Recipes:
Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones
Mini Cherry Cupcakes
Clementine Cakes with Dark Chocolate Glaze
Devil’s Food Cake
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My boyfriend loves strawberries, and I love cream cheese frosting, so this is a must try. The cupcakes would be adorable for a little girl’s party as well. Thanks for sharing the recipe (and for keeping it homemade)!
That cake looks sooooooo tasty! I can’t wait until strawberry season so I can give this recipe a try. (The strawberries in my local store taste like dish soap – not a great cake flavor.) Thank you for sharing your adjustments & this recipe. ;o}
I can’t wait until strawberries are a little more in season to make this. I’ve always seen recipes for it using gelatin and a bunch of weird artificial stuff. I like naturally flavored strawberry stuff, so I’d like to try this soon.
BTW, I’m actually a Pastry Arts student, and I’d be happy to send you a really quick tutorial on different types of flours. I used to not know they’re so different, but they make baking very interesting. You can also make your own self rising flour. It’s a ratio; For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Since I always have those ingredients on hand, I always make my own so I don’t have to buy and store another bag of flour.
Hey, good for you on trying again. I probably would have reached for the cake mix and box of jello.
I like your idea of making it into a bundt cake.
~ingrid
Hi there. I can’t believe how difficult it’s been to find a made-from-scratch strawberry cake recipe! Almost every one I’ve found uses a cake mix and box of jello. So thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
I can completely identify with your knee-jerk reaction to the first cake. I have been there so many times.
The cake looks yummy – and not a cake mix in sight! Love it!
Oh *thank you* for doing this research! I had need to make strawberry cake this Friday for a baby shower and was completely disappointment by the lack of recipes that didn’t include a box of red jello powder.
I think it was fate that has brought me to to your site. I’m going to give them a go tonight and report back. Thank you!
Lisa — thank you so much for the info! I wish I had been slightly calmer when I discovered my mistake so I could have found out how easy it is to make your own self-rising flour.
Julia — Yes, please do let me know how it works out!
I love this idea!
Great job of changing the recipe, making a second try, and succeeding.
I got here thru Baking Bites blog that has linked to you.
I am always searching for new/innovative ideas for simple cakes with an oomph, so I’ve launched a “Cake Collection” happening last night with a giveaway: http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/03/launching-cake-collection-with-a-giveaway/
Would you like to submit this cake to the “collection”? There’s a giveaway too…
Nurit
I must echo everyone’s sentiments here and thank you for posting a recipe for a strawberry cake with real strawberries in it. I’m in love!
I tried out this recipe yesterday. I couldn’t get self-rising flour so I used whole wheat pastry flour and added the leaveners myself; it seemed to rise fine. This morning, after they’ve all been frosted and sitting in the fridge overnight, I dislike the texture, and I can’t taste the strawberry at all. Not sure if that’s from the flour I was using or what. The cream cheese frosting, however, was EXCELLENT! It was my first time making my own frosting, and it was just perfect–but I could easily halve the amount of sugar it was still really sweet. I’ll continue to fiddle with this recipe though! Thanks!
Must share my cream cheese frosting which is delicious because its not drowned by SUGAR.
9 oz cream cheese
3 oz butter
1/2 cup icing sugar ( if you have to, up to 3/4 cup)
vanilla
Try strawberry extract instead of vanilla extract to enhance the strawberry flavor!
Thanks! Last year my daughter asked me for a strawberry cake and I searched and searched for a truly homemade recipe with no luck! I’m so excited to finally surprise her with her desired request as I failed to bake one up last year.
You are a life saver!!! I couldn’t believe it when my 5 year old wanted me to make strawberry cake for his birthday. It has been my tradition to make a cake from scratch for each of my boys on thier birthday(and eat it for breakfast! – bad, I know, but way too fun) So when he said strawberry cake I was immediately disappointed thinking I’d have to go buy a box cake mix. Thankfully I found your site and this recipe…. I can’t wait to try it!
PS I just made a pink ‘vanilla’ cake shaped like an Easter Egg yesterday for Easter……I wish I would have found this recipe one day earlier! :0)
Melissa – I’m so glad I could help! I hope you like the recipe … let me know what you (and your son!) think. The suggestion about using strawberry extract is great, if you can find it. I’m going to keep my eye out for that around here and use it next time I make this.
This sounds perfect. I have a ton of leftover strawberries from Easter — a friend brought almost a flat. We’re tired of smoothies! You’re so right I couldn’t find any other recipe that didn’t use a cake mix & gelatin. Thanks so much!! I’m trying this today…
This was fantastic! I made some changes to the frosting, omitting the milk and vanilla and replacing them with lime juice, tequila and triple sec and I grated some lime zest and added one drop of green food coloring to make my margarita frosting more margarita-ish. I garnished the cake with strawberries and sugared limes and it turned out beautiful. Thanks so much for taking the guesswork out of the cake! Everyone loved this cake.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it some days ago and it was a hit!!! I didn’t use coloring so they werent’ so pink, but who cares, they taste great!
Just wanted to know that I made your cake, and it’s wonderful. I made one change that I wanted to share with you because it turned out really good. Instead of pureeing the berries and straining, I mashed them slightly with a potato masher and put the smooshed berries into the cake. It’s great, there are pieces of strawberries in each piece. Mmmm. Thanks for the recipe!
There is scratch recipe from Paula deen’s holiday baking. It’s scrumptious!!!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/41354/fresh-strawberry-cake.html
AJ – Thanks so much for that link! I’ll have to try that recipe out next time.
I made this for my daughter’s 4th birthday because she’d been requesting a strawberry cake and I felt like doing it from scratch. Something about a fake strawberry-flavored cake mix didn’t appeal. This was only the second cake I’d ever made from scratch, and it was great! I varied things in a couple of ways: First, I did strain the berries, but kind of in the opposite direction — I drained off some of the juice and retained the more solid stuff, and also added a few chunks that weren’t quite pureed. The seeds were not a problem and in fact I think they helped people know there were real strawberries in there. Also, I love the buttercream recipe from Betty Crocker’s cookbook, so I made that instead of the cream cheese. I considered adding strawberry juice to it, but wasn’t sure how the acid would interact with the butter and stuff. I did not use the food coloring, so the cake was pinkish tan. Anyway, it was a huge hit and has convinced me to make more cakes from scratch in the future!
Oh, no, cake in the oven!!!! I used Bundt pan, but for how long? what’s the baking time for bundt cake??? Can’t find it in your post.
Nurit – I think the time for the bundt was about 45-50 mins. I would start checking at 30-35 min and then every 5 minutes thereafter (at least that is how I do it to make sure it doesn’t burn). Hope you like the cake!!
45 minutes went by. I’m giving it another 5. toothpick comes out clean but I suspect it’s still wet inside…
My son turns four today and has been adamant about strawberry lightning McQueen cake. Its in the oven now (7×11 cake and a 3×6 cake for the top of the body) with 12 cupcakes. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Ooh, I was inspired. I substituted raspberries for strawberries and skipped the lemon for my raspberry loving daughters. The recipe made one 9×13″ cake that took 50 minutes to bake. Tastes great on its own, but I’ll be frosting it before we devour it! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks so much! I look forward to trying it out.
Well, I couldn’t figure out why my cake was so flat. Well, if I would have read all the comments and looked the recipe more carefully, I would have noticed that I needed self-rising flour….. Oh well. I have a really dense cake that doesn’t taste that bad.
When I get more strawberries I will try this again! With the right flour, I’m sure it will be great!
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday party and everyone loved it! It tasted absolutely amazing!!!! This will definitely be my go-to cake recipe.
Horray for Strawberry cake!! With the Mt. Hood strawberries in season (I’m in Portland, OR) I was so excited to try this recipe. I was lazy and didn’t puree my freshly frozen strawberries, but loved how they turned out in the cupcakes. I also topped a few with a choco-buttercream frosting and they are tasty! Thank you so much for sharing!! It’s a keeper!! \(^-^)/
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Recently, we discovered (we think) that my daughter is allergic to jello. I know that seems strange, but she was very sick for 3 days after having jello. SO I really appreciate that this recipe does not use the jello.
Thanks!
I made this cake today for a friends 25th Wedding Anniversary and it turned out fabulous I made it in a bundt pan, served with fresh strawberries and cream sumptuous!!
My daughter just asked for a strawberry cake for her b-day on Wed, I googled strawberry cakes and found yours. It is perfect! I can not wait to try it. And, your strawberry scones for her breakfast and she will be in heaven!
Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe and sharing it! I can not wait to devour the rest of your blog!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…I’m sure you see the pattern by now. A “from-scratch” strawberry cake recipe is as rare as a non-humid summer day in GA. I never, never use a cake mix, and the only strawberry cake recipes I’ve been able to find are either the one that start with the mix or strawberry shortcakes…NOT the type of strawberry cake I want. Anyway, mine is in the oven now and is quickly perfuming the house. Again, thank you for a brilliant recipe AND for taking the time to type it up and share it.
This recipe is great! I put some strawberry jam in the frosting and only used 2c sugar and it turned out really ugly, but fabulous
i love eating fruit cakes, specially with extra walnuts, almonds and raisins. another favorite of mine is the Dresdner Stollen or German Fruitcake
Thank GOODNESS you posted this. I am a scratch cake baker only, and my about to be 4 yo insists she wants a strawberry cake, shaped like a butterfly, with chocolate frosting. I am NOT using jello or mix. Blech. I can’t wait to try your recipe!
I just came across your recipe for Strawberry Cake. I just spoke with my ’soon-to-be 21 y.o.’ and I asked him what flavor cake he wanted for his birthday. The only flavors he could think of was ’strawberry cake w/banana filling’. I know, I know, I’d never thought of it either, but strawberries and bananas combined does sound good. My problem is, I don’t have a recipe for the banana filling. Any thoughts?
This recipe is delicious!! I made it for a party and added candy butterfly decorations. It was a big hit. Thanks for posting it. I’m really glad I found your blog. My mom and I have just been oohing and aahhing at all of the recipes.
My soon-to-be 5-yr-old wanted a strawberry cake for her birthday. We have a severely dairy-allergic child, so I searched and searched for a milk-free scratch strawberry cake recipe. This one is wonderful!! I have decided to make a 2-layered cake (like Rocket from the Little Einsteins) and I am doing one layer in strawberry and one layer in blueberry. I ordered extracts in both flavors to use instead of vanilla extract. Hope our party guests enjoy it!
Hey Love your site. Loved the cake. I put your link on my site too! Love it. Simple and yummy fun, my favorite.
i searched for a good strawberry cake recipe and this was the third one i tried, the first two being flops… and i have now used it at least 5 times over the past couple months. they have been a hit everytime and its such an easy recipe! defenitly one i will continue to make. thanks!!!
My daughter will be 26 this week. Even though she is recently married, I will still have a little b’day dinner party for her and asked her today if she wanted my new recipe for peach and blueberry crisp, or a cake. I was sure she’d choose the former. But she wants a strawberry cake…a request she has never made before! Like Jessica’s child, my daughter is severely allergic to milk protein. Even trace amounts of milk will send her to the e.r. So your recipe is a god-send. I can hardly wait to try it. Thank you so much!
I tried this cake for my daughter’s first birthday party. I was such a huge hit! I used the butter frosting recipe from Cooks Illustrated. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you for such a great recipe! I’ve been in a bit of a flavor rut, and decided to try strawberry. Like many of your repliers, I could not find a jello-free cake recipe–
Thank you so much! It was a huge hit with my coworkers!
http://sweetcontraptions.blogspot.com/2009/08/strawberry-shortcake-strawberry-cake.html
this would be great as a strawberry daiquiri cupcake – substitute lime zest, add a splash of rum, and make a strawberry/lime/rum buttercream. yum!
Melissa — What a fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing. I can totally picture a set of strawberry daiquiri cupcakes decorated with little umbrellas. Now I just need an excuse to make some … hmmm …
Thanks for this great recipe.
I made today and it was great texture and flavor.
The only thing is that the timer 28 minutes doesnt work for me so after the 28 that the timmer sounded I leave the pan inside and I turn the oven temperature to 350 and I let cooked for 35 more minutes and it was great.
Thanks again.
Olga.