Fresh Strawberry Cake
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A simple, beautiful cake that lets ripe berries shine—this strawberry cake is perfect for spring and summer baking.
This strawberry cake recipe was sent to me by Karen Tannenbaum, a longtime reader, avid baker, and all-around lovely person. In her note, she described a dinner that ended with this dessert as “just like a night in heaven.” I was sold. A few days later, I gave it a go—and it turned out to be one of the simplest, prettiest, and most delicious cakes I’ve ever made. The batter comes together in under 15 minutes with just a handful of ingredients, and it’s a great way to use up extra strawberries (even the ones that are a little past their prime).
This recipe originally ran in Martha Stewart Living back in June 2005, but I’ve made a few tweaks to make it even better. If you have extra strawberries on hand, be sure to also try my strawberry shortcake and strawberry muffins. You’ll be glad you did.
“The most requested cake I have ever made.”
Strawberry Cake Ingredients
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt: The base of the cake. The flour gives it structure, baking powder helps it rise, and the salt balances the sweetness. For best results, always measure flour using the spoon-and-level method.
- Unsalted butter and sugar: Creamed together, these create a light, fluffy base. The butter adds richness, and the sugar sweetens the batter and helps the top caramelize a bit as it bakes. A little sugar is also sprinkled over the strawberries before baking—it creates a pretty, slightly crisp topping.
- Egg and vanilla extract: The egg adds structure to the cake and binds everything together, while the vanilla adds that warm, bakery-style flavor.
- Milk: Thins the batter just enough to make it smooth and pourable (low-fat works just fine).
- Strawberries: Halved and arranged on top, they bake down into the cake and add sweet-tart bursts of flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the mixture aside.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. his step helps incorporate air into the batter, which gives the cake a lighter, more tender texture. Don’t rush it—give it a good 3 minutes or so.
Step 3: Add egg and vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
Step 4: Finish the batter by adding wet and dry ingredients. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. This keeps the batter smooth and helps everything incorporate evenly without overmixing.
As you can see, the finished batter will be quite thick—that’s exactly what you want, since the strawberries release a lot of moisture as they bake.
Step 5: Assemble the cake. Transfer the batter to a buttered 9-inch deep dish pie pan (or a 9-inch round cake pan) and smooth the top with a spatula. Arrange the strawberry halves on top, cut side down, covering as much of the surface as you can. They’ll sink slightly as the cake bakes. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining sugar. Don’t skip this step—it balances the tartness of the berries and creates a deliciously crisp, golden crust as the cake bakes.
Step 6: Bake. Bake the cake at 350°F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F and bake for about an hour more, until the top is golden and a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a rack, then serve warm or at room temperature—plain, or topped with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Either way, it’s hard to stop at one slice!
The cake is best enjoyed fresh on the day it’s made, but it’ll keep nicely on the countertop for a few days, or you can freeze it for longer storage.
More Strawberry Recipes You Might Like
Fresh Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk (low-fat is fine)
- About ¾ lb strawberries, hulled and halved
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and butter a 9-in (23-cm) deep dish pie pan (or 9-in/23-cm round cake pan).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat on low speed until smooth. (Note: the batter will be thick.)
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Arrange the strawberries on top, cut side down, so they completely cover the batter, using more or less as needed. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the strawberries.
- Bake for ten minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F (165°C) and bake until the cake is lightly golden and a tester comes out clean, about an hour. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack. Serve with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.
- The cake can be stored at room temperature for several days, loosely covered.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This was a great recipe, and then I ruined it for those of you looking for low-fat. To start with it was easier to use the whole cube of butter than take out such a small amount, and I added an extra egg and by accident had two egg whites I put in as well, to balance out the half a cup of plain Greek yogurt that I added, after beating the eggs and sugar for 3 minutes.And that totally fixed the dryness issue, yet left the cake light and tender. I followed all of the rest of the recipe as written, making sure I was heavy-handed with the baking powder as well as quite generous with both strawberries and the amount of sugar I put on top.
The recipe came out a five-star winner – served with ice cream that evening and coffee in the morning. I absolutely will keep this in in my treasured recipes, filed under summer and easy! Thank you so much Jenn for your site here – it’s very helpful and creative!
Can this be stored in freezer if making in advance?
Sure!
Wonderful light cake. Absolutely delicious with the strawberries. Looking forward to trying it with blackberries and peaches. I followed the recipe exactly as written.
Can I use a pyrex 8″ square glass baking dish for this cake recipe? Or do I need to alter anything?
Hi Diane, that should be fine; it may take just a minute or two longer to bake so keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
This strawberry cake is delicious and tender with the perfect amount of sweetness….a definite 5 star recipe again! I followed your advice and used only small to medium berries to prevent them from sinking entirely into cake. Perfect outcome. I served cake warm with vanilla ice cream, using the leftover large quartered fresh berries on the side. Dessert is pretty enough to serve both family and guests. Expect rave reviews!
Thank you for sharing another stellar recipe. I find myself going to your site first when looking for a new recipe and my menu collection has improved considerably. With your well written and evaluated recipes, I don’t need to be concerned about the outcome of trying new ones.
Do you think that these can be made as mini muffins? Recognize not much room for strawberry, but need “finger food” for a gathering.
How long do you think to bake?
Hi Cheryl, I actually have this strawberry muffin recipe I’d recommend. They can be made into mini muffins (I’d start checking them for doneness at about 12 minutes.) Enjoy!
This is a very easy cake to assemble, but boy-oh-boy, am I glad I took it out when I did, after 30 min at the 350 temp. Even then, it was very dark on bottom and a bit dry. Tastes good though!
The recipe tells you “Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325° and bake for 60 minutes more. You didn’t see this?
I made this the other day and got rave reviews from the family. It has lots of flavor and is very easy to make. Definitely recommend.
This turned out delicious and perfect! Thank you for a great recipe! Will be making this again soon!
We truly enjoyed your recipes, and this is a favourite.
I’d like to try this recipe using chopped rhubarb instead of strawberries. Would this work, and if so, what quantity of rhubarb would you use?
Glad you like it, Catherine! I do think rhubarb would be good, but I’d probably mix it with strawberries, otherwise the cake might be a little too tart. I would use the same amount of fruit but substitute half of the strawberries with rhubarb. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Your suggestion worked well. I used sliced rhubarb and smaller chunks of strawberries, enough to cover the top of the batter. The sugar added to the top of the cake batter helped with the tartness of the rhubarb. Thanks for your suggestion!
Glad it turned out nicely -thanks for the follow-up!