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
Hi Natasha. I’m from Portugal. You inspire me. I love your videos and ideas. Today i made the straeberryes cake 😁😊. We will see…… 😉 congratulation.
Thanks for sharing! I hope it turns out great.
I made this recipe as soon as I saw it today. I just happened to have local strawberries (Florida) and it turned out just as lovely and delicious as yours did. Thanks for the fun videos and recipes
Yum! I bet it is so good with fresh local strawberries. Thank you for sharing that wonderful review.
Excellent recipe. I made mine egg-free due to my allergy. It came out so good! It is not too sweet and has a very delicate flavor. The smell is amazing. It is moist inside with a slightly firm crust that you can easily cut through. Thank you for sharing this recipe with the rest of us.
So great to hear that it worked. Thanks for sharing and the tip too!
Did you add any replacement For the eggs?
I would love to make this cake but in my cocottes so that each guest can get their own. Any idea how I should update the cooking time?
Hi Rachelle! That sounds like a wonderful idea. I have not tested this in cocottes myself to advise on time. It would depend on the size of each. I do recommend doing a test run with one to see how much time you need or watch it closely.
Love this cake, Videos and recipes thanks so much
I’m glad you loved this recipe, Lee. Thanks for your comments!
Hi! This looks amazing!!! My 3 year old is strawberry mad and I would like to make this as part of a layer cake for her birthday. So I would need 2 x 9 inch layers. Would I need to scale this up? If so, can you suggest how?
Hi Karen, I haven’t tested it that way so I can’t say for sure how it would affect baking time (if you divide it up, it would take less time to bake). If you want a taller cake, I would probably do 1 1/2 times the recipe.
Thank you for the incredibly simple yet gorgeous looking cake ! Used thick curd instead of sour cream coz it’s just not easily available here. Came out perfect. Can’t wait to try it with mangoes in summer!
That sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing that with us Natasha.
where can i get the dispenser you have for the strawberry glaze? also can’t find linked items you use in your videos..? where do i find them please
Hi Alex, have you checked out our shop?
How to replace eggs in the recipe Natasha
I haven’t really tried substituting the eggs but others use unsweetened apple sauce but I haven’t personally tried this so I can’t give more feedback. Let me know how it goes if you experiment.
Hello Natasha! I’ve made this cake many times it’s amazing. I’m wondering if it’s possible to make it with fresh cranberries in lieu of strawberries for Thanksgiving? Your thoughts are much appreciated.
Hi Katrina, I haven’t tried that but I think it could work well to use cranberries, but I would probably make a simple cranberry sauce out of them first or they would be quite tart.
Hi Natasha…can you make this cake using a regular cake pan instead of a springform?
Hi, I recommend a springform because it’s a little taller than most regular cake pans and it’s fairly heavy so it’s a little tougher to remove from a regular pan.
I loved it but added strawberry compote instead of sauce and poured it over the cake .
Amman – Jordan
That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing that with us, Rima!
I made this cake for my family, and we all LOVED it!! It is so good, and the strawberry sauce makes it so much better! Don’t think that I’ve tried a better strawberry cake than this one!! This recipe is definitely a keeper, and will definitely make it again!! Thank you so much!
By the way, I definitely give this recipe a 5/5!!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, thank you for the great review!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for that great feedback.
This cake is PHENOMENAL!! So delicious and amazing! I used 16 oz of strawberries in the cake instead of 12 and it came out great. The strawberry syrup is not too sweet either. This is my fav cake that I’ve made.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
I just love this recipe! Thank you so much! I’ve made it for at least 10 times now, and every time it’s a hit anywhere I take it. I often mix different berries, or use fruits like appricots and jam. Works well with anything.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe for us,.I tried some of your recipe and its so deliciously yummy.
Hi Glenda, Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback with me! I’m so happy you’re enjoying our recipes.
I made your cake the other night for a family gathering. They loved it! And they said to me…This one I have to make again.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi Natasha, I do not have a springform pan, can I use a 9 x 9 brownie pan? Would the baking time differ?
Thank you
Hi Fazia, if you have a 9″ cake pan with tall walls, that should work. I’ve also had readers report good results using a bundt pan or even a loaf pan. I find it is easiest to remove it from the springform pan. You may need to alter bake times for different sized baking pans.
Would the bake time be the same if using a bundt pan? Thank you
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tried it in a bundt pan, but readers reported great results in a bundt, recommending baking 45-47 minutes.
Wonderful cake and loved the sauce!! I substituted the sugar with monk sugar and Greek yougurt instead of sour cream and it was absolutely wonderful. I’ll have to try with almond flour next time. My family loved this version. Delicious.
That’s so great!
I’ve just eaten a wonderful slice of this after searching for strawberry recipes upon finding a bumper pack of reduced strawberries. It’s turned out perfectly. Lovely light texture and the strawberry flavour infused through the cake. Had it with cream and the sauce.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Bridget!
Can you make a larger cake by doubling the recipe? Like a 9×13? I need to make for 16 large fire fighters that I know would love this.
Hi Sandra, I haven’t tried doubling it that way but I think it would work fine. Without testing it though, I wouldn’t be able to give you exact bake times. It would require a longer bake time though.
Hello Natasha, I have quick question for you. I am a vegetarian so what can I substitute for 3 eggs?
Hi Jayshree, I honestly haven’t tested this with anything else to make it an egg free cake so I can’t make any suggestions without trying it first.
If anyone else has tried to make this egg-free, please share your results and thanks in advance!