A few years ago, I created this Strawberry Lemonade cake that became an instant hit: cake flavored with fresh strawberries (pureed and reduced), filled with strawberry buttercream, topped with lemon buttercream – basically Summer in cake form! It’s been on my list to write an all-strawberry cake recipe ever since, and after getting a request for one via Instagram DM, I knew it was time. I took to the store for a pound of fresh strawberries and a package of freeze dried strawberries to give you the ultimate flavor profile. I promise, it’s as delicious as it is pretty to look at!
I know what you might be thinking: why fresh strawberries and freeze dried strawberries? After tons of testing, fresh strawberries are hands-down the best way to flavor a cake, while freeze-dried strawberries are hands-down the best way to flavor buttercream. Trust me, there is no way around it. The good news is that most groceries stores carry both, but if you have a hard time finding freeze-dried strawberries, you can always order them on Amazon (these are the ones I use, but I get them from my local Trader Joe’s).
When it comes to flavoring a cake with fresh strawberries, it’s not enough to just chop them up and add them to your batter (you’ll just have a vanilla cake with weird strawberry chunks). It’s also not enough to simply puree them, since the excess liquid tends to water down the flavor. Instead, you must puree and reduce the strawberries to intensify the strawberry flavor while evaporating most of the liquid.
For this fluffy and flavorful strawberry cake, I started with my favorite Vanilla Cake recipe as a base and adjusted the leavening agents to accommodate the acidity in the strawberries (aka I reduced the baking soda slightly). After the reduced strawberry puree hits room temperature, I whisked it together with the whole milk in the recipe and added it in at the end. Reducing the strawberries does make this recipe a little bit more involved, but it’s so worth it for the incredible flavor!
Remember how I said freeze-dried strawberries are best for flavoring the buttercream? This is because adding fresh (or even frozen) strawberries to buttercream will add way too much liquid and not enough flavor. As opposed to simply freezing strawberries, the process of freeze-drying eliminates all of the liquid from the berry, leaving only the intense flavor. After grinding those freeze-dried berries into a fine powder, adding them to buttercream is the only way (in my humble opinion) to get that refreshing, pure flavor you imagine when you think of strawberry buttercream.
After filling and frosting these beautiful cake layers with tasty strawberry buttercream, I decorated with pretty piping (using Wilton Tips 1M for the rosettes and 4B for the stars), fresh strawberries, and chamomile flowers. The flowers were an impulse on the way out of the store – I couldn’t stop imagining them on my final cake design and felt safe to use them because they’re 100% edible (although I would not recommend eating them because they don’t taste the best). They did make this cake look extra cute though!
However you decorate, one thing is for sure – this cake is a strawberry lover’s dream! And bonus if that strawberry lover also is a big fan of the color pink.
Homemade Strawberry Layer Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Layer Cake
- 11 oz (312g) fresh strawberries, stems removed
- 3/4 Cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 2/3 Cups (330g) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 Cup (80g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 drops pink food coloring, optional
Strawberry Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (34g) freeze dried strawberries**
- 6 Tbsp (90ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Make the Strawberry Layer Cake
- Make the Strawberry Reduction: After cutting off the stems of the strawberries, puree them using a food processor. Afterwards, you should be left with 1 cup of puree. Place the strawberry puree into a saucepan over medium-low heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. When you’re done with the reduction, you should have about 1/2 cup (if you have more, keep cooking!). Place the reduced puree into an airtight container and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes, or until it reaches room temperature. Then, whisk it together with the whole milk and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with wax or parchment paper circles.
- In a medium sized bowl, place the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, 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 for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla and sour cream, then turn the mixer to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Keeping the mixer on low, add all of the dry ingredients at once 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 pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool the cakes in the pan for five minutes, after which you can turn them out and continue to cool them on a wire rack or sheet pan for several hours.
Make the Strawberry Buttercream
- With a food processor, grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder and set aside. You'll have between 1/4 and 1/3 Cup of strawberry powder after grinding.
- Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until it’s creamy and light in color (5-10 minutes). Add vanilla, milk, and strawberry powder and continue to mix on medium for 1 minute.
- Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add the salt and mix on low for another 30 seconds.
Assembly
- After cooling and leveling the strawberry cake layers, fill and frost with strawberry buttercream. To create the look pictured, create a smooth buttercream finish with the strawberry buttercream. Then, 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 sliced strawberries 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 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 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.
Did you make this cake recipe? I want to know how it went! Leave me a comment below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create!
I made this for the first time last week. The batter was yummy and they smelled divine. I froze the layers and assembled about 4 days later. I thought it was a very very subtle strawberry flavor. Would doubling the strawberry reduction compromise the integrity of the cake? For reference, I used small greenhouse strawberries, since it’s winter here in Indiana. They were not super sweet, like fresh summer berries. Alternatively, What about a strawberry extract? I don’t want my cakes to taste artificial.
Hi Arden! In-season strawberries will make the flavor of this cake more intense. I would opt for adding a good quality strawberry extract vs. doubling the strawberry reduction, just because adding additional liquid may make the cake more dense or otherwise compromise the texture. I love Amoretti’s Wild Strawberry Artisan Flavor for the most spot-on (non-artificial) flavor: https://amoretti.com/products/wild-strawberry-artisan-flavor. They also have a Wild Strawberry Extract but it’s quite spendy: https://amoretti.com/collections/strawberry/products/wild-strawberry-extract-ws
Hello from Aus!
I’ve just started making this cake for my daughters 1st bday
I’ve bought cake flour and sifted, but 255g is not 2 1/2 cups? Which one is it~ What am I doing wrong?
Also I just went to cream the butter and sugar and also found the sugar amount seemed so much and it didn’t cream it just stayed all sugary and went runny (the butter was quite soft after sitting on bench for awhile)
I’m sorry can I just double check the measurements?
Thanks so much, the cake looks lovely and I can’t wait to make it!
Megan 🙂
Hi Megan! The sifted cake flour should actually measure 265g, which is 2.5 US cups (I hear AUS cups are slightly larger than US). Also, if the butter is too soft it will not cream properly with the sugar, and could ultimately lead to the cake sinking in the baking process. The measurements are correct (I’ve made this cake a LOT using the metric measurements), but the butter and the rest of the dairy ingredients need to be at room temp. This typically means to take them out of the refrigerator and leave them on the bench for about 1 hour. Hope this helps!
Has anyone tried adding strawberry extract as well? like maybe 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp strawberry (instead of 2 tsp vanilla)?
I have! I did the required amount for vanilla & then did the same for strawberry. This cake is PERFECT.
Definitely follow her instructions & let the ingredients get to room temp.
Hi! Is it ok to use frozen strawberries instead of fresh?
Hi Olga! Yes, you can use frozen strawberries for the puree but you might need to reduce it for longer with the extra water content from the ice. Hope that helps!
This looks scrumptious. About how many cupcakes would this make? Thank you for your help!
Hi Randi! This recipe makes about 30-35 cupcakes. Enjoy!
Hey there! I made this cake and really enjoyed the flavor however it felt pretty dense and turned out purple despite having added pink food coloring. Any suggestions to get a slightly more open crum and have it not be soo purple?
Hi Cayla! I can’t think of why the cake turned out purple. Did you make any substitutions to the ingredients list? That will help me determine why the cake turned out dense.
My oven is really small and if I put more than one thing inside, it doesn’t bake evenly. Would it be possible to divide the cake batter recipe in 3 and bake one cake at a time? Or is it possble to prepare the whole batter recipe and let it in the fridge while I bake one at a time? What would you recommend in this case?
Hi Anouck! You can absolutely make the whole batch and bake one layer at a time. Let the batter sit at room temp while you bake the layers. Hope that helps!
Thoughts on using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Hi Alicia! That should work fine as a substitute but sour cream is best.
Hi from Australia! I am wondering if I can substitute gluten-free flour for the cake recipe. Making this in our Winter with lovely organic strawberries for my daughter’s 5th birthday on the weekend.
Hi Emily! I’ve never tried that myself but I have heard of people subbing in GF all purpose flour for the cake flour in this recipe with success. You may want to do a trial run beforehand just to see. Hope that helps!
This looks great! I was wondering if you think this can make an hombre cake?
Hi Beatrice! I have never tried that before but you are welcome to experiment!
Hi, I was wondering if I want to serve 20 people will the 2 layer 9 in be enough? Or what do you recommend and how can I multiply the recipe?
Thank you!
Hi Beatrice! Yes – a 2 layer 9 inch cake should be enough to serve 20.
Hi i have few queations:
1. The fresh strawberrys at my place is very sour, can i use the whole strawberrys (jam) in the bottle? This strawberry jam is homemade.
2. Instead of using sour cream and freeze dried strawberry, what ingredients can i use?
Hi Amutha! I wouldn’t recommend using jam because it will make the cake too sweet. Instead, you can add a tsp or two of strawberry jam to the fresh strawberries in the reduction process to sweeten them slightly. The sugar in the cake batter will combat the sour either way. As far as substitutes go, plain yogurt is the best sub for sour cream. I don’t recommend subbing anything for the freeze dried strawberries but if you can’t find them where you live, you can always use this recipe for fresh raspberry buttercream (but use fresh or frozen strawberries instead): https://sugarandsparrow.com/fresh-raspberry-buttercream-recipe/ hope all of that helps!
Hi – This defeats the entire purpose of making the homemade cake I know:)- but do you think it would work -if I was in a pinch for time- to just add the strawberry purée to a boxed white cake mix -without altering anything else?
I have made several of your cakes from scratch by the way- and they’re DELICIOUS!
Hi Melissa! I’ve never tried that before but my hunch is that it would work! Let me know if you do try it, I’d love to hear how it went.
This is an amazing recipe! I’ve used it for weddings/birthdays/nice dinners.
I fill the cake with a Strawberry Cream Filling and Strawberry Lemon Curd. People can’t get enough and request it all the time!
I’m so happy this recipe has been such a hit, David!! Those fillings sound AMAZING!
Flavor was out of this world! FYI-I did a SMBC as I don’t like regular buttercream, it is what I do for all of my cakes, so this rating is strictly for the cake. It was on the dry side, I have made a few of your cakes, this is the only one that came out a tad dry. I baked for 30 mins (8” rounds x2) but it needed more time, I added 5 mins, I should have started with 2 mins then check again. That could be where I went wrong. Any advice? I would make this again!
So happy that you loved the flavor, Amber! Next time I would do just what you suggested – if it needs more time after 30 min add just two more minutes and go from there. I have never had complaints of this one being dry so my only hunch is that it was slightly over baked. Hope that helps!