This is the easiest Strawberry Cake with a soft and moist crumb, bursting with fresh strawberry flavor and you will love the strawberry sauce. Watch the video tutorial and see why this is one of our all-time favorite strawberry recipes.
Fresh strawberries add incredible flavor to desserts like our popular No-Bake Cheesecake, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, or Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes. I hope this Easy Strawberry Cake becomes a new favorite for you.
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Strawberry Cake Recipe
This strawberry cake is winning in every way: simple ingredients, easy to make, perfect for entertaining, and completely yummy. Everything about this cake is good. This is a crowd-pleasing dessert, but (so you can’t say I didn’t warn you) it disappears fast!
This recipe is based on our wildly popular Blueberry Cake which was an instant hit and continues to be one of the top cakes on our site. Just like with blueberries, fresh strawberries are wonderful on their own but when you bake them into a cake, their flavor is amplified and every bite is loaded with satisfying strawberry flavor.
Fresh Strawberry Cake Video
Part of what makes this such an easy cake is that there’s no frosting or layering required, but the flavor is definitely there, especially when you drizzle every slice with the super simple 2-ingredient strawberry sauce. It will make you want to lick your plate – it’s just THAT good and super versatile. Try it over Dutch Baby Pancakes, Waffles, and Crepes. It’s also delicious over French Toast.
Ingredients
The ingredients here are pantry staples. This cake is loaded with fresh strawberries inside and out. Between the cake and sauce, you will need almost 2 pounds of strawberries.
The easy strawberry sauce has only 2 ingredients (strawberries and sugar) and comes together quickly in a food processor or blender. Here’s what you will need to make this simple strawberry cake:
- Eggs – make sure they are at room temperature
- Granulated sugar – sugar is used for both the cake and the strawberry sauce and you can add sugar to taste if you have very sweet or very tart strawberries
- Sour cream – adds flavor and richness to the cake
- Oil – creates a soft and moist crumb. You can use either extra light olive oil or vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract – we love using Homemade Vanilla Extract for the best quality and flavor
- All-purpose flour – forms a soft crumb without being too dense or heavy
- Baking powder – leavening that gives rise to the cake
- Salt – balances the flavor. We almost always use fine sea salt in our cooking
- Fresh strawberries – you will need 12 oz for the cake and 16 oz for the strawberry sauce. You can use frozen strawberries for the sauce but fresh strawberries are preferred for the cake.
How to Buy Strawberries
Here are some tips when shopping for strawberries. The last one is my favorite. I always smell the strawberries!
- Color – look for strawberries that are a bright and vibrant red. If they are dull or have a lot of white or green patches, they are either underripe or no longer fresh.
- Stems – check the stems which should look fresh and green (not brown or dry)
- Firmness – fresh strawberries should be firm to the touch. If the package is clear, inspect the bottom of the container. Strawberries should not look soft, mushy, or squished/ leaking.
- Aroma – I always sniff the package of strawberries – it’s the best way to tell if the strawberries will actually be tasty. Good strawberries will smell sweet and fragrant.
Tools for Baking
This recipe comes together fast with simple ingredients and basic cooking tools. For best results, be sure to use an electric mixer to whip the eggs and sugar.
Pro Tip: Rinse your strawberries just before using them. Wash under running water and avoid soap or commercial produce wash (these can be absorbed by strawberries and are not recommended according to the FDA). Once rinsed, set on cloth or paper towels and pat dry.
Tips for the Best Strawberry Cake
- To bring eggs to room temperature – place cold eggs into a bowl of warm water (not hot) for 5-7 minutes, then dry them with paper towels and use them in the recipe.
- Do not over-mix – This is KEY! Once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing or the cake can become dense.
- Measure flour correctly – spoon flour into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape off the top with a straight edge. Why? Pushing your measuring cup into the flour bin can result in up to 25% more compacted flour. Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure ingredients correctly.
Common Questions
Yes! You can substitute sour cream with plain Greek yogurt. Whole milk Greek yogurt will yield the best results.
This works best as a single layer because it is a heavier cake. For a layered cake, we recommend our Strawberry Sponge Cake.
A reader shared this: “I used Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour. It is expensive but the best I’ve tried so far. Anyway, the cake came out great. We loved it and I’m planning to make it again for Easter. Just wanted to let any possible gluten-intolerant folks know.”
A reader shared the following: “I completely replaced the sour cream, with whole-fat coconut milk from a can. I mixed it completely before measuring, and to compensate for the added wetness I reduced the oil to about 1/3 cup. It was still a little runny, but the bake was perfect.”
We have only tested this in a 9″ springform pan. If baking in a smaller pan, bake a little longer or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you experiment with various sizes, please let me know in the comments.
Love Strawberry Recipes?
Strawberries always taste best in summer when they are in season so we like to take full advantage of their flavor and abundance. I also love that they go on sale often in the summer so we can use them for everything from Strawberry Lemonade to Chocolate Covered Strawberries. If you enjoy sweet fresh strawberries as much as we do then you will love these top-rated strawberry recipes:
- Strawberries Romanoff
- Strawberry Sauce
- Panna Cotta
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Scones
- Eaton Mess
If you love strawberries, this strawberry cake is a must-try. I’d pass you a generous slice if I could, pummeled with the strawberry sauce of course.
More Easy Cake Recipes
If you love easy cakes like this strawberry cake don’t miss these easy, one-pan cakes that are always crowd-pleasers:
Easy Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
Strawberry Cake Ingredients:
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup light olive oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour , (*measured correctly)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 12 oz strawberries, hulled
- 1 tsp powdered sugar , for dusting, optional
Strawberry Sauce Ingredients:
- 16 oz strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
Instructions
Cake Prep:
- Butter a 9" springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375˚F. Prepare 12 oz of strawberries for the cake: dice 6 oz of strawberries and slice the second 6 oz into halves.
How to Make Strawberry Cake:
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer), beat together 2 eggs with 1 cup sugar on high speed for 5 minutes or until light in color and thick.
- Add 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla and beat on low speed until well combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together: 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt until well incorporated. With the mixer on med/low speed, add flour mixture to the batter 1/3 at a time, letting the flour incorporate with each addition and continue mixing just until well combined. Do not over-mix.
- Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Top with 6 oz of diced strawberries then spread remaining batter over the top. Cover the surface with 6 oz of halved strawberries (cut-side-down), pressing them down just slightly into the batter. Bake at 375˚F for 45-55 minutes (mine was perfect at 50 min), or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cake rest in pan 15-20 min before removing the ring.
- Run a thin spatula around cake edges to loosen from pan. then transfer to a cake platter. Cool until just warm or at room temperature. To serve, dust with powdered sugar if desired. Drizzle individual slices generously with strawberry syrup.
How to Make Strawberry Sauce:
- While the cake is baking, make the strawberry sauce: In a blender or food processor, combine 16 oz strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar (or add sugar to taste) and blend until pureed.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Can you subtitute anything for the sour cream??
Hi Jean, I recall one reader shared their experience with dairy free: “I completely replaced the sour cream, with whole fat coconut milk from a can. I mixed it completely before measuring, and to compensate for the added wetness I reduced the oil to about 1/3 Cup. It was still a little runny, but the bake was perfect.” I have had several readers report great results using plain Greek yogurt.
Does the strawberry syrup need to be refrigerated?
Hi Sarah! Yes, you can make this strawberry topping 1 to 3 days in advance, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
I made it yesterday and it was a hit! super easy
That’s so great Theresa! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Can you use frozen strawberries?
Alysha, I haven’t tested it with frozen strawberries so I’m not 100% sure. If I were to try, I would thaw in the refrigerated and drain well before adding them, maybe toss them with 1 Tbsp of corn starch to keep them from being too juicy. I do think it would be easy to substitute frozen for the sauce.
I just made it with frozen strawberries, which worked out well. I sliced them up into thin slices before adding to the batter. In addition, I substituted strawberry yoplait yogurt in place of the sour cream because that is all I had. That also worked out well.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us, Julie!
This cake is AMAZING. I added it to my bookmark list so it will not get lost anywhere lol. The sauce is Incredible, WOW make you live in another world when you eat it.
Thank you so much
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for the great review!
Is there a breakdown of the serving size and carb count in the blueberry lemon cake and this one with strawberries.
Is there a breakdown of the serving size and carb count in the blueberry lemon cake and this one with strawberries. I would think calorie and carb count is the same. I need this data for a diabetic on a pump!
Hi Gayle, I just added nutrition values at the bottom of the post. I hope that helps.
Hello , I have baked this 5 times already and my family loves it you have great recipes thank you so much and keep posting your recipes
much love
You’re so welcome Penny! Thank you for the wonderful review!
What you recommend for a substitue sugar?
Thanks
Rosanna
Hi Rosanna! I haven’t tried it with anything else. One of my readers was going to try with honey but I haven’t heard back about those results. She stated she was planing on “substitute the sugar with raw honey or maple syrup if possible to make it healthier. I know I would need to use less honey/syrup (about 1/2c – 2/3c instead of the 1c sugar).” I hope this helps!
Going to make this the night before (taking it to work). Should I refrigerate it, and then let it stay out once there ? Or just keep it refrigerated ?
Hi Martha! It is best on day one and should be refrigerated if not eaten the same day. I have enjoyed this up to 3 days in the fridge after making it but it has never lasted longer than that :).
Is there any way to make this dairy free?
Hi Silia, one of my readers tried this strawberry cake recipe dairy free and wrote the following: “I completely replaced the sour cream, with whole fat coconut milk from a can. I mixed it completely before measuring, and to compensate for the added wetness I reduced the oil to about 1/3 Cup. It was still a little runny, but the bake was perfect.” I hope that helps
This cake is so easy, delicious, and pretty!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Bonjour,
Je suis française et j’ai testé votre recette. J’ai eu du mal à convertir les quantités mais quelle délicieuse recette! :))))
Miam, miam!!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes but it is taking some time as we have to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
https://www.kitchenproject.com/german/Metric.htm
J’espere que cela peut vous aider.
I tried this recipe, it came out absolutely yummylicious!! Thanks Natasha 😊
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Just made this with my 9 year old daughter. She did the majority of the work. Came out amazingly beautiful and tastey. She’s very proud of herself. I couldn’t figure out how to upload a picture to show how pretty it is/was.
Hi Amy! I bet she is! I recommend going to our Facebook page and posting it there, We’d love to see your creation! We have a private group called Natasha’s VIP friends. – We Love to Eat!! Please post it there!
This is to die cake…yummy. Love the easy to make sauce but I’d add more fruit…thinking of substituting blueberry, rhubarb, maybe peaches.
Those sounds like great ideas, Lorna! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it was such a success that I made it twice yesterday, and gave most of it away to my neighbours.
That’s so nice of you Mark! I’m sure they appreciate that!
Has anyone tried using coconut oil instead of olive oil or even butter?
I Georgia! I haven’t tried that but here is what one of our readers did: “Used coconut oil and the flavor it adds is wonderful….also added a splash of almond milk to thin out the batter a tiny bit. Absolutely delicious. Thank you!!!” Hope this helps!
Just made this last night mixed the strawberries and blue berries together in one cake everybody loved it and it was super easy.
What a great combo! Thank you Jennifer!
Can you use frozen strawberries 🍓 in this recipe?
Hi Robin, I think frozen strawberries would work well although the overall sauce may be just a touch darker in color than using fresh.
I am on a strict no salt diet. Has anyone tried making it without the salt?
You can omit or remove it but I will alter the flavor of the cake a bit. Salt enhances natural flavors when baking.