I have absolutely fallen in LOVE with small batch cake recipes and when I asked on Instagram which of my recipes I should scale down next, there were lots of requests for my strawberry cake. If you’ve made the original version before, you know how delicious it is. And with the berry season in full swing, I couldn’t resist baking with my latest haul of extra-flavorful fresh strawberries. This cake could not be cuter in mini form!
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This small batch strawberry cake recipe yields enough batter for a triple layer 4-inch cake or a single layer 6-inch cake. That makes it the ideal size to serve 2-4 people. It’s perfect for date night, sharing with a friend, using as a smash cake, making for a small gathering, or simply satisfying a cake craving.
PS: If you want to make the 4-inch layer cake version and need a recommendation for cake pans, these are the 4-inch cake pans I use. It’s a good investment, because once you make a tiny layer cake, you’re going to want to make so many more!
Superb Strawberry Flavor
This mini strawberry cake is so moist, perfectly sweet, and packed with beautiful strawberry flavor throughout. To create the strawberry flavor in the cake batter, I use fresh strawberries that are first pureed, then reduced (aka cooked on the stove) to evaporate as much of the liquid as possible. Fresh strawberries contain a lot of water, so the reduction process is essential for amplifying the flavor.
My preferred method for flavoring the strawberry buttercream is with freeze-dried strawberries. These are fresh strawberries that have all the liquid removed through the process of freeze drying. This makes it easy to grind the strawberries into a powder and add it to the buttercream for incredible strawberry flavor without adding any liquid to the frosting.
Together, the fresh strawberry cake and freeze-dried strawberry buttercream make the most delicious strawberry cake I’ve ever had. It’s pure bliss and so perfect for summertime!
Where to Find Freeze-Dried Strawberries
If you’ve never heard of freeze-dried strawberries, you might just be missing them in the snack aisle of your local grocery store. I’ve had good luck finding them at Target, Fred Meyer (Kroger), and natural food stores like Trader Joe’s, New Seasons, and Whole Foods. You can also order them on Amazon.
If you don’t have easy access to freeze-dried strawberries, fear not! I have this recipe for fresh strawberry buttercream that will work as a substitute for the freeze-dried strawberry below. It uses the same method for flavoring as the cake batter: pureè fresh strawberries, reduce them on the stove, then let the reduced purèe come to room temperature before adding it to the buttercream.
How to Decorate a Mini Strawberry Cake
I love the design of my original strawberry cake recipe so much that I couldn’t help but replicate it in mini form. I used the strawberry buttercream to create a smooth finish before adding pretty piping (rosettes with Wilton tip 1M and stars with Wilton tip 32 for the stars) and fresh chamomile flowers.
I usually get fresh chamomile from the natural grocery store down the street but this year I actually grew my own! It started blooming at just the right time to harvest for this cake, and I’ve been enjoying bouquets of fresh chamomile in my kitchen too. It smells heavenly!
If you’d rather use a different frosting with this strawberry cake recipe, here are some alternative ideas that would taste delicious:
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Lavender Buttercream
- Cream Cheese Buttercream
- White Chocolate Buttercream
- Lemon Buttercream
Regardless of how you decorate, I hope you love this cake recipe as much as I do. Enjoy!
Small Batch Strawberry Cake
Equipment
- 3 4-inch cake pans OR
Ingredients
Small Batch Strawberry Cake
- 3 Oz (84g) fresh strawberries with stems removed About 4 medium sized strawberries
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 3/4 Cups (79g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 Cup (57g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp (30g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 drop pink food color gel (optional)
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 Cup (23g) freeze-dried strawberries**
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 3 Cups (360g) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt, or to taste
Garnishes (optional)
- 1 fresh strawberry, sliced
- fresh chamomile flowers
Instructions
Make the Small Batch Strawberry Cake
- Make the Strawberry Reduction: Using a food processor, purèe the strawberries (you’ll end up with 1/3 Cup of purèe). Add the strawberry purèe into a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until it becomes jam-like and has reduced by more than half. You’ll end up with about 2 1/2 Tablespoons (37g) of reduced purèe after this step, if you have more than that, keep cooking until it's reduced to 2 1/2 Tbsp. Let it cool completely to room temperature (this takes 20 min in the refrigerator) before moving on in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 4-inch or one 6-inch cake pan by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottom(s) with a wax paper or parchment paper cake circle.
- In a medium sized bowl, place the sifted cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the butter on high until creamy, 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat together with the butter at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the egg, mixing until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed.
- Add the vanilla and sour cream, then turn the mixer to high and beat for 1 minute. Meanwhile, mix the strawberry purèe into the whole milk and set aside.
- Turn the mixer off and add all of the dry ingredients at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then add the strawberry milk mixture and pink food coloring (if using) until just combined, about 30 seconds. Give the batter a few stirs by hand to make sure everything is incorporated without over-mixing.
- Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake 4-inch pans (or all into one 6-inch cake pan). If using 4-inch cake pans, bake for 18-22 minutes. If using a 6-inch cake pan bake for 24-28 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before assembling and decorating.
Make the Strawberry Buttercream
- With a food processor, grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder and set aside.
- Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until it’s creamy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Add the strawberry powder, vanilla, and milk. Continue to mix on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping down the bowl and paddle afterwards.
- Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time and mix on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add the salt and continue mixing on low speed until the buttercream is fully combined and silky smooth.
Assembly
- Once the strawberry cake is completely cooled, frost and decorate with the strawberry buttercream. To create the mini layer cake pictured, level the cake layers to your desired height. Add a swipe of strawberry buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake with strawberry buttercream, then crumb coat the cake with strawberry buttercream. Place the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the buttercream set firm.
- Divide the remaining buttercream amongst two piping bags – one fitted with Wilton Tip 1M and one fitted with Wilton Tip 4B. Pipe rosettes and stars in a crescent moon shape on top of the cake and as accents on the side of the cake. Finish the look by garnishing with fresh strawberry slices and chamomile flowers.
Notes
- You can make the reduced strawberry puree up to one week before using in the cake recipe and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the cake. Just bring it back to room temperature by letting it sit on the counter for at least an hour.
- The strawberry cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can wrap them and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and decorating.
- The strawberry buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your stand mixer on low for one minute to bring it back to frosting consistency.
How did you like this recipe? And which small batch cake recipe should I make next? Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram! I love to see your bakes.
Hi!
I would love to use this recipe for my daughter’s first birthday cake, but I was wondering what you would recommend to substitute for the sugar. I was thinking of using banana but wasn’t sure if I needed to reduce any of the liquid ingredients too. Any thoughts?
Hi Kristen! I have never tried replacing the sugar in this recipe, and I can’t recommend it because the sugar is responsible for the rise, soft texture, and structure in this cake (in addition to sweetening). Instead, I’d recommend finding a smash cake recipe that already uses a sugar replacement and either add strawberry extract or make a strawberry frosting for the smash cake if you want a strawberry flavor.
Hey Whitney, how much of the strawberry reduction are we using??
Hi Libby! You’ll add all 2 1/2 Tablespoons of the reduction to the cake batter. You basically start with about 1/3 Cup of puree, reduce it to 2 1/2 Tablespoons, let it cool, and then add it in Step 5 of the instructions. Hope that helps!
What measurements do you recommend if I have I only have all purpose flour? Thank you in advance.
Hi Sam! I recommend using the recipe for diy cake flour in the notes section of the recipe (basically add corn starch to your all purpose flour and sift those together to make a homemade version). Whether you use the homemade cake flour or just sub in plain all-purpose flour, the 3/4 Cup measurement will be the same, but the gram measurement will be closer to 100g. Hope that helps!
Any chance this could be made into a cherry chip cake by substituting cherries for the strawberries?
Hi Nikki! I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure if it will work well. I have a cherry chip cake recipe that you can scale down to small batch size: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cherry-chip-cake-recipe/ you’ll just want to divide every ingredient by 3 to get the perfect amounts!
This recipe really only uses 3/4 cup of flour???
Yep! It’s a mini version of my regular sized strawberry cake recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/strawberry-cake-recipe/
I made the cake, not the frosting. Not much strawberry flavor even though my Florida Plant City strawberries had tons of flavor.
Bonjour Est-ce possible de faire cette recette avec UN moule de 4 pouces et le couper en trois après la cuisson ?
Hi Danielle! I haven’t tried baking this in a tall 4-inch cake pan as one layer (that gets torted into three layers). It should work, but I am not sure about the baking time. Let me know if you try it!
I just made this cake it was delicious and gorgeous!!
To make any of your recipes small batch, can I divide all ingredients by three? Will that come out right?
Hi Rachel! Yes, it should work to divide any of my full size recipes by 3 and turn them into small batch. That’s how I come up with the tiny versions 🙂 so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this cake had so much fun! I did notice it didn’t rise as much and would feel the need to make a second batch if wanted a height in cake – it was a 6in cake pan not sure if that’s why. Any recommendations or whys to why it didn’t rise I followed the recipe each step.
Hi Lauren! How tall did the layer end up? It should rise to be about 1.5 inches tall in a 6×2 inch baking pan. If it didn’t rise to this height, my best recommendation is to check that your baking powder is fresh. It expires every 6 months, and after that point it loses its ability to make baked goods rise. Hope that helps!
Made this cake for my Dads birthday and everyone loved it it was amazing my decorating skills sucked but the taste was there. Only difference i made was i made a strawberry cream cheese frosting instead of a strawberry buttercream just cause i was scared my buttercream would be too sweet and he isn’t a fan of overly sweet frosting so wanted to play it safe. Thank you for sharing such delicious recipes.
Hi there!! I tried this recipe and it tasted delicious and looked so pretty!
However, my cakes turned out sooo dense. It was still good but they were super heavy and not fluffy at all. I made my cakes the night before and stored them in the fridge overnight so maybe I didn’t store them properly? Also, my buttercream consistency was too soft and my piping didn’t hold very well.
Do you have any tips on how to avoid a dense cake and too soft buttercream?
Thanks so much and can’t wait to try it again!
Hi Haley! I’m glad the cakes still tasted good but I’m sorry that they turned out dense. Usually that happens when you don’t remove enough of the liquid from the strawberry puree via the reduction process. Next time I would make sure you reduce the puree until it’s almost jam-like in consistency and yields just as much as the recipe calls for.
If your buttercream is too soft that usually means your kitchen environment is too warm OR your butter was too soft to begin with. Next time you can refrigerate the buttercream for about 10 minutes before re-mixing it gently, on low speed. This should make a much silkier/sturdy buttercream consistency. Here’s an article I wrote about buttercream consistency if you want to read more about troubleshooting: https://sugarandsparrow.com/buttercream-consistency/
I would like to make this cake for my mum this weekend. Is it possible to use coconut or oat milk instead?
Hi Paula! Yes, it should work just fine with either of those milk substitutes. Enjoy!
Hi Lindsey! I’m so sorry this didn’t turn out for you. Here’s what I think happened: 1) I looked up the Ravifruit puree to see what the ingredients are and it appears to be composed of 90% fruit puree and 10% sugar. Adding extra sugar can significantly affect the bake, so next time I would just use fresh or frozen strawberries 2) did you sift the cake flour? Sifted cake flour weighs less than unsifted by volume because it’s aerated (1 Cup of sifted should weigh around 105g, 1 Cup of unsifted cake flour weighs about 115g). If you didn’t sift it this time I’d recommend sifting it next time.
Other than that, here are some other reasons why a cake would sink: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/
Hope all of this is helpful for next time!
How is this finished cake best stored?
I store my decorated cakes in the refrigerator until an hour or two before serving. They store best cold but taste best at room temp!
FYI when your beautiful recipes are printed out it doesn’t show your websites name thought you should know
Thank you! I’ll look into that!
I love this!
Loving the idea of the small cakes! Definitely going on my “to make” list Quick questions..would this work with frozen berries too? Also, would this work with raspberries instead of strawberries or would I need more sugar because raspberries are more tart than strawberries?
Hi Jen! Yes, it will work with frozen berries but note that you might need to cook them a little longer to reduce the berries. Frozen berries have more water content due to the ice. I’ve never tried making this as a raspberry cake but if I were to experiment this would be the recipe I’d use as a starting point! Hope that helps.