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This is the bestfresh strawberry cakemade with real strawberries. The secret is adding a freshstrawberry reductionto your cake batter and mixing the rest into yourbuttercream frostingfor a fresh strawberry cake recipe that tastes like real strawberries!
Many strawberry cakes are made with imitation flavors or Jell-O, but not this cake! This uses real fresh or frozen strawberries and lemon to bring out the strawberry flavor. This cake takes a bit more time to prepare because we have to make the strawberry reduction first then make the strawberry cake but I promise its worth the effort!
Whats In This Blog Post
- Why This Is The BEST Strawberry Cake Recipe
- Fresh Strawberry Ingredients
- Strawberry Reduction Instructions
- Strawberry Cake Instructions Step-By-Step
- Strawberry Buttercream Step-By-Step
- FAQ
- More Strawberry Recipes
Why This Is The BEST Strawberry Cake Recipe
This is definitely one of my all-time favorite cake recipes. I have never worked so long and hard on one recipe. SO many failed attempts and I almost gave up. I tried adding chopped-up strawberries to my vanilla cake recipe, and the cake turned out very wet, dense, brown, and most of the strawberry flavor was gone.
I even tried that recipe where you add Jell-O and let me tell you, that was the weirdest-tasting cake I have ever tried! I don't know how anyone can call that flavor strawberry but if you like it, more power to ya haha!
I also tried grinding up freeze-dried strawberries and adding them to my dry ingredients. That cake turned out a little better, but I still wanted to figure out a way to use fresh strawberries. I finally nailed this recipe using a strawberry reduction (boiling pureed strawberries until they are thicker and have less liquid) and a high-quality strawberry emulsion!
- Fresh strawberry flavor made from REAL strawberries
- No Strawberry Jell-O mix
- No boxed cake mix
- Moist crumb
Fresh Strawberry Ingredients
Strawberry Emulsionis like strawberry extract but very very concentrated. If you can get it ahead of time, it really adds the best strawberry flavor but if you don't have time to order it, using regular strawberry extract is better than nothing! I got my strawberry emulsion from Michaels in the cake decorating aisle.
I'm using frozen strawberries for this recipe because frozen fruit is ALWAYS in season and so much easier to use. If it's strawberry season near you, by all means, use fresh!
Strawberry Reduction Instructions
1. Place your thawed strawberries into a blender and pulse a few times until they are liquid.
2. Pour the blended strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce until berries begin to break up and the mixture has reduced and looks like a thick paste.
This can take a while. Mine takes between 40-60 minutes! I know this sounds like a long time but low and slow is the best for keeping all the flavor. Just give it a stir every now and then.
Step 4– Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning. You should end up with about 1 cup of thick strawberry reduction that looks like tomato sauce. Transfer to another container and let it cool before use.
Step 5– You will use some of the reduction for the cake batter, some for the frosting and the rest for filling between the cake layers for extra flavor.
Strawberry Cake Instructions Step-By-Step
- Bring your butter, egg whites, milk, and strawberry reduction to room temperature and prepare the rest of your ingredients. For the best success,use a food scaleto weigh your ingredients. Converting this recipe to cups could lead to failure. Read my blog post onhow to use a scalefor more information.
- Grease two, 8" cake pans withcake goopor your preferred pan release and preheat the oven to 350ºF/176ºC.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, oil, strawberry reduction,strawberry emulsion(or extract), vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring. Whisk it together and set it aside.
Pro-tip– I useAmericolor electric pinkfood coloring to get my beautiful pink color. It may seem like cheating, but if you don't add it, the color from the strawberries will bake out and your cake will turn out gray. - In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
- Add room temperature butter to the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.
I'm using myBosch Universal Plusmixer for this, but you can use any KitchenAid stand mixer or a hand mixer. If you use a hand mixer, you might have to mix for longer. - Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, and beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the egg whites one at a time, beating 15 seconds between. Your mixture should look cohesive at this point. If it looks curdled and broken, your butter or egg whites are too cold.
You must use egg WHITES for this recipe, the yellow from the egg could turn the inside of your cake peach.
- Mix on low speed and add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter.
- Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. If it looks like ice cream, you did it right!
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. I use a spoon to make a divot in the center so that the cakes bake up flatter.
- Bake cakes at 350ºF/176ºC until they feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it, about 30-35 minutes.
- Place pans on top of a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then flip your cakes onto the racks and cool completely.
- Once cool, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate before assembling your cake. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or freeze for up to 1 week.
- If you want even more strawberry flavor (duh, of course I do Liz) spread some of your extra strawberry reduction directly on each layer before filling with buttercream and stacking. Delicious!
If you need more information on how to frost and fill a cake, check out myhow to make your first cake tutorial
Strawberry Buttercream Step-By-Step
- Place the pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the whisk attachment and combine ingredients on low, then whip on high for 5 minutes.
You CANNOT use fresh egg whites for this buttercream. Egg whites from a box arepasteurized (like your milk) so they are safe to eat without cooking.
- Add in your butter in chunks and whip on high for 8-10 minutes until it's very white, light and shiny. It may look curdled and yellow at first, but this is normal. Keep whipping.
- Add in the strawberry reduction, salt, and vanilla extract, and continue whipping until incorporated.
Pro-tip –If your buttercream looks curdled, it's too cold. Take out ½ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave until it's just barely melted. About 10-15 seconds. Pour it back into your whisking buttercream and it will become creamy.
- Optional: Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles. This isn't required but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip it.
- Refrigerate the leftover buttercream for up to a week. If you are not going to use buttercream for more than a week you can freeze it for 6 months or more.
FAQ
WHAT STRAWBERRIES ARE BEST TO USE?
Either fresh local berries or frozen berries will work for this!
CAN I USE STRAWBERRY JAM OR PRESERVES?
Strawberry jam is just blended strawberries with sugar, so it will not work for this recipe. If you absolutely cannot get fresh strawberries, you can use blended strawberry preserves, but it will be much sweeter.A reduction is needed for this recipe to have the right consistency and amount of strawberry flavor.
CAN I USE A FLOUR SUBSTITUTE?
You cannot use almond flour, self-rising flour or cake flour for this cake.
WHAT KIND OF STRAWBERRY EMULSION IS BEST?
If you leave out the emulsion/extract, the strawberry flavor will not be as pronounced. I like to useLorAnn's strawberry emulsionfor a really strong flavor or the wild strawberry emulsion from Amoretti.
CAN I USE THIS FOR CUPCAKES?
Yes, this recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
IS THIS GOOD TO USE UNDER FONDANT?
Yes I have used it under fondant many times. Just be sure to not use cream cheese frosting underneath the fondant, or it will melt.
More Strawberry Recipes
Doctored Strawberry Cake Mix
Strawberry Macarons
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
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Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Fresh Strawberry Cake With Strawberry Buttercream Recipe
This fresh strawberry cake is made from FRESH strawberry reduction! The cake is moist and tender with a beautiful pink color.
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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 603kcal
Author: Elizabeth Marek
Equipment
2 8" cake pans
Ingredients
Strawberry Reduction
- 32 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries thawed
- 4 ounces sugar optional
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 pinch salt
Fresh Strawberry Cake Ingredients
- 8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 10 ounces granulated sugar
- 6 ounces egg whites room temperature
- 4 ounces milk room temperature, whole milk is best
- 6 ounces strawberry reduction room temperature
- 2 ounces vegetable or canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- zest one lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion or extract, I use LorAnn oils bakery emulsion
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Pink food color I use Americolor electric pink gel
- 14 ounces all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Easy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
- 16 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces strawberry reduction room temperature
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Strawberry Reduction Instructions
I recommend making this reduction the day before you're ready to make your cake.
Place your thawed or fresh strawberries into the blender and blend until smooth.
Place the strawberry puree, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce the puree until you have two cups of liquid and the mixture is very thick like tomato sauce. This can take between 40-60 minutes. Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning.
You will use some of the reduction for the cake batter, some for the frosting and the rest for filling between the cake layers for extra moisture. Leftover reduction can be stored in the fridge for up to one week or frozen for 6 months.
Strawberry Cake Instructions
NOTE: It is SUPER IMPORTANT that all the room temperature ingredients listed above are room temperature and not cold or hot.
Make sure to take your strawberry reduction out of the refrigerator 1 hour before making your cake so that it comes to room temperature or microwave it for about a minute so that it's warm.
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350ºF/176ºC.
Grease two 8" cake pans with cake goop or preferred pan release
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add room temperature butter to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.
Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the egg whites one at a time, beating 15 seconds in between. Your mixture should look cohesive at this point. If it looks curdled and broken, your butter or egg whites were too cold.
Mix on low speed and add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter.
Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. If it looks like ice cream, you did it right!
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake cakes at 350ºF/176ºC until they feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it, about 30-35 minutes.
Place pans on top of a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then flip your cakes onto the racks and cool completely.
Once cooled, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze before assembling your cake.
Buttercream Instructions
Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl.Attach the whisk and combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 5 minutes
Place pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the whisk attachment and combine ingredients on low, then whip on high for 5 minutes.
Add in your softened butter in chunks and whip on high for 8-10 minutes until it's very white, light and shiny. It may look curdled and yellow at first, this is normal. Keep whipping.
Add in strawberry reduction, vanilla extract and salt and continue whipping until incorporated.
Optional: Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles.
Video
Notes
Cake Notes:
- Make sure all your ingredients (egg whites, milk, butter, reduction) are room temperature or a little warm so that your batter doesn't curdle.
- For the best success, use a food scale to weigh your ingredients. Converting this recipe to cups could lead to failure. Read my blog post on how to use a scale for more information.
- I use Americolor electric pink food coloring to get my beautiful pink color. It may seem like cheating, but if you don't add it, the color from the strawberries will bake out and your cake will turn out gray.
- I'm using my Bosch Universal Plus mixer for this, but you can use any KitchenAid stand mixer or a hand mixer.
- You must use egg WHITES for this recipe, the yellow from the egg could turn the inside of your cake peach.
- I like to use LorAnn oil's strawberry bakery emulsion, but you can also use extract.
Reduction Notes:
- When making your reduction, the goal is to get as much liquid out as possible without burning the strawberries. The mixture should look like thick tomato sauce and will have reduced by half.
- You will use some of the reduction for the cake batter, some for the frosting and the rest for filling between the cake layers for extra moisture. Leftover reduction can be stored in the fridge for up to one week or frozen for 6 months.
Strawberry Buttercream Notes:
- Make sure your frosting is very light and white before adding in the puree. Give it a taste, if it still tastes like butter, keep whipping it until it tastes like sweet ice cream.
- If your buttercream looks curdled, it's too cold. Take out ½ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave until it's just barely melted. About 10-15 seconds. Pour it back into your buttercream, and mix until creamy.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 603kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 222mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 1190IU | Vitamin C: 2.9mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!