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 cake is phenomenal! I have had my eye on this recipe since it was posted and finally got around to making it this weekend. This batter is particularly light and my husband and I love the crunchy-sugar topping. Funny story, as all ovens are different, we baked the cake as instructed, timer goes off, the cake is still jiggly in the middle, Hubby timed it for another 20 minutes. The cake was perfect. It turns out, that our over is 25 degrees off! Amazing, we got a cake. Didn’t know until Friday, so we will get that fixed. Thank you for the tasty recipe. Sissy
Since I cannot celebrate my birthday with family or friends this year, I have decided to make this for myself. Just made it with the designated time but the tester came out with raw batter attached. Set the timer for an additional 15 minutes. I used the biggest berries and they all stayed on the surface just slightly surrounded by the cake and covered in crunchy turbinado sugar. Looks stunning and smells amazing. Will serve with Strauss Vanilla Bean ice cream and will cry if I want to.
🙂 Hope you enjoy (and happy birthday)!
Hi Jen! Can I use canned peaches for this recipe?
Hi Sandra, I actually have a peach version of it — you can find it here. (The only change is the addition of the streusel.) And I haven’t tried it with canned peaches, but another reader said he did and was happy with the results. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
Thanks Jen! My first time on your site. Delicious And easy recipe. Had some very ripe strawberries that were about to go bad, so decided to use them in a cake! This was the perfect solution. Happened to have some visitors, and it was a real hit! Comments that it’s very light and delicious.
I reduced the sugar to 150 g and used about 1 tablespoon of sugar to sprinkle over the cake before baking. Personally, I prefer cakes that are not too sweet, so I probably could’ve reduced the sugar to 135-140 g and it would’ve been just fine. Also, I would have wanted even more strawberries in the cake, as there are only strawberries covering the surface.
Used an 8 inch round cake pan. Presentation was lovely! Husband and daughter approved to make again!
Another great recipe! Thanks. I’ve made the Strawberry Cake twice and each time it was a total success. My cakes looked just like your picture. I served it once with ice cream and whipped cream the next time. Good either way. My daughter made the cake too and put some of her home made strawberry jam with her whipped cream to sweet the cream. She said it was delicious.
Can I use Splenda or Truvia for baking instead of the sugar? Diabetic husband.
Hi Jacki, I wish I could help but I’ve never worked with sugar substitutes so I can’t say how it would impact the recipe. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it with one!
Be sure you have a crowd to share this strawberry cake with, otherwise you’ll eat the whole thing by yourself! It’s that good!
I’ve used fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries (or a mix) – all wonderful. I prefer these to cooked strawberries. I have also used drained morello cherries (and added a few drops of almond essence to the vanilla essence).
I use a square 8x8x2inch tin and line it. I put about 16 berries into the cake, then push them down into the mix and then add another layer of berries on top! In this way, you get two lots of berries. I lift the cake out of the tin along with the baking paper as soon as it is cooked- otherwise it might dry a little. A fabulously moist cake – my “go to” cake.
Hi Jenn! I want to make this cake as it is strawberry season in the south. Because I’m not able to get to the store to get ingredients, could I use half and half instead of the milk?
Sure, Colette, half and half should work. Hope you enjoy!
hi Jenn. Can I use fresh raspberries for this recipe? Thank you.
I haven’t tried it with raspberries, but a number of readers have commented that they have with good results. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I’ve been cooking and baking for 15 years and this is one of the best, most balanced cakes I’ve ever made. It’s so simple yet delicious. Making cakes with fresh fruits can be risky as the fruits release their juice and wet the cake. This recipe is perfect in that sense as well. It was a real hit among my colleagues at the office. I’ll definitely try it again, maybe with other fruits, mix of berries etc. One thing I noticed about my cake was that I could’ve used larger strawberries because I put small ones in the centre and the dough rose more than I wanted, swallowing the strawberries. The taste was still good but for a nicer look, I’ll use larger strawberries next time. So, thanks so much Jenn for this great recipe. I’ve already shared it with friends and family.