This is the best fresh strawberry cake made with with real strawberries. The secret is adding a fresh strawberry reduction to your cake batter and mix the rest into your buttercream frosting for 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 is very moist and bakes up into three, 8" layers that each have a tight and tender crumb. I'll be honest... this is not the easiest cake to make, there are a lot of steps but I promise it's so worth it.
If you're looking for an easier strawberry cake, check out my doctored strawberry cake mix recipe. My husband Dan actually prefers that one!
Fresh Strawberry Ingredients
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 also tried grinding up freeze-dried strawberries and adding that to my dry ingredients. That cake turned out a little better, but I still wanted to figure out a way to use real strawberries. Then I discovered strawberry emulsion and reduction!
Strawberry Reduction Step-By-Step
Step 1 – Place fresh or frozen strawberries (thawed) into a medium saucepan. Optional: blend strawberries with an emersion blender if you prefer a smoother texture of strawberry reduction.
Step 2 – Heat on medium-high and add in sugar (if desired), lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
Step 3 – Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce until berries begin to break up and the mixture has reduced by about half. This will take about 20 minutes. If your mixture has reduced by half and is still watery, continue to cook until all of the liquid is out.
Step 4 – Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning. You should end up with about 2 cups of thick strawberry reduction that looks like tomato sauce. Transfer to another container and let 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 moisture. Leftover reduction can be stored in the fridge for up to one week or frozen for 6 months.
Cake Step-By-Step
Step 1 – 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 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.
Step 2 – Grease three, 8" cake pans with cake goop or preferred pan release and preheat oven to 350ºF/176ºC. I'm using three, 8" pans but you can use two, 9" pans or use my cake calculator below to adjust the recipe for the pans you have.
Pro-tip – You MUST bring your butter, egg whites, milk and strawberry reduction to room temperature. If the ingredients are not room temperature, your mixture could curdle and become ruined.
Step 3 – In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, strawberry reduction (also called puree), strawberry emulsion (or extract), vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring. Whisk together.
Pro-tip – 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.
Step 4 – In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Step 5 – Add room temperature butter to stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds.
I'm using my Bosch Universal Plus mixer 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.
Step 6 – Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes.
Step 7 – 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 were too cold.
You must use egg WHITES for this recipe, the yellow from the egg could turn the inside of your cake peach.
Step 8 – 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!
Step 9 – Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Step 10 – 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.
Step 11 – Place pans on top of a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then flip your cakes onto the racks and cool completely.
Step 12 – 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.
Step 13 – 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 my how to make your first cake tutorial
Strawberry Buttercream Step-By-Step
Step 1 –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.
You CANNOT use fresh egg whites for this buttercream. Egg whites from a box are pasteurized (like your milk) so they are safe to eat without cooking.
Step 2 – 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, this is normal. Keep whipping.
Step 3 – Add in 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.
Step 4 – 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 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?
Hood berries! Get the best strawberries you can while they are in season from a local farmer's market. For our location, that's Mount Hood Strawberries from Mount Hood, Oregon. If strawberries aren't in season, just try to get the best berries you can from a local grocery store.
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 use LorAnn's strawberry emulsion for a really strong flavor.
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.
RELATED RECIPES
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8 cups
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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
Equipment
- Stand mixer with whisk and paddle attachments (or a hand mixer)
- Food Scale
- Three, 8"x2" round cake pans
- Wire rack
Ingredients
Fresh Strawberry Cake Ingredients
- 14 ounces all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 10 ounces granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion or extract, I use LorAnn oils bakery emulsion
- zest one lemon
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- 6 ounces egg whites room temperature
- 4 ounces strawberry reduction room temperature
- 6 ounces milk room temperature, whole milk is best
- ½ teaspoon Pink food color I use Americolor electric pink gel
Strawberry Reduction
- 32 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries thawed
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 ounces sugar optional
Easy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 16 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces strawberry reduction room temperature
Instructions
Strawberry Reduction Instructions
- I recommend making this reduction the day before you're ready to make your cake.
- Place fresh or thawed, frozen strawberries into a medium saucepan. Optional: blend strawberries with an emersion blender if you prefer a smoother texture of strawberry reduction.
- Heat on medium-high and add in sugar (if desired), lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce until berries begin to break up and the mixture has reduced by about half. This will take about 20 minutes. If your mixture has reduced by half and is still watery, continue to cook until all of the liquid is out.
- Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning. You should end up with about 2 cups of thick strawberry reduction that looks like tomato sauce. Transfer to another container and let cool before use.
- 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.
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350ºF/176ºC.
- Grease three 8" cake pans with cake goop or preferred pan release
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla extract, lemon 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. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
- 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.
Decorating the cake
- Place your first layer of strawberry cake onto a cake plate or cake board. Trim off the dome if needed with a sharp knife so the top of the cake is flat.
- Add a very thin layer or your cooled reduction over the cut surface. This helps soak into the cake and adds moisture and strawberry flavor.
- Add a layer of strawberry buttercream, I shoot for about ¼". Smooth it with your offset spatula until it's flat.
- Frost the outside of your cake with the leftover buttercream and decorate with some fresh. strawberries if desired.
Video
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.
- 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.
- 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
Aquila says
I am a new baker and I just love how you explain and breakdown your instructions. I just love this cake recipe it has been a hit. I have to make a 2 tiered (8in and 6in) cake. Will this work well with stacking?
Sugar Geek Show says
Yay I'm so glad you like the recipe! Yes, it works great for stacking. Just make sure you use straws or supports 🙂
Myisha says
This is, without a doubt, a brilliant 5-Star recipe! It is perfect as standalone cake, but I went a step further and added a.cheesecake layer right in the middle, which provided a beautiful balance of textures and flavors.
Janet says
I made this cake today for a special occasion. It went well and hope everyone likes it. I did 3 layers. I sampled the top that I cut off to make it flat and made my own piece.;) It was delish. I wasn't sure if I could add the berries with the apricot glaze on top and it be good thd next day so I put them in a container until ready to serve. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Jenny says
Last week I made your Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk cake and much prefer it’s texture to this Strawberry Cake I made today. Would it be possible to use cake flour instead of all-purpose for the strawberry cake to achieve the velvety texture?
The format of your recipes and videos make learning so much easier.
Thank you so much!
Sugar Geek Show says
Thanks so much, I'm glad you like the recipes! The strawberry cake is formulated very specifically to work with AP flour, so cake flour would be too soft to achieve that texture. As a result, the cake is a little more on the denser side, but if you want to get a very fluffy strawberry cake, you could always try my strawberry wasc recipe. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/strawberry-cake-mix-recipe/
Daryl says
I made this cake for the first time and my sister (who loves strawberries) ate almost half of it. Just a question if the reduction for the icing could be done with blueberries. This is so I can make an ombre look for the icing. Just an idea I had.
Sugar Geek Show says
Sounds delicious! I haven't tried it, but I don't see why not!
Margo says
If I puréed the frozen strawberries will it still reduce.
Elizabeth Marek says
yes, the heating will thaw the strawberries
Mary Pasley says
I made this today for my daughter-in-law’s birthday. Strawberry cake is her favorite. Yes, it took a while to make, especially with the reduction, but it was so worth the time. This batter worked like a dream. Looked just like ice cream when done. Glopped into pan (I used just 1 square pan), cooked beautifully and put it on wires to cool. Made the icing, my first time to make scratch buttercream and it was delicious! Turned around to start icing and BAM! Cake had cratered in the middle. This has always been my issue with cakes. Both scratch and mix cakes. Always craters. Does anyone have any idea what I am doing wrong? I have checked my oven temps. Oh well, I just did what I alway have done and had a wonderful icing party in the middle 😂. I just wish I could figure out what I do wrong. I am in no way blaming this recipe. I will definatley use again. Thanks for listening
Elizabeth Marek says
could be your elevation, try reducing the baking powder by 1/2 tsp
Patrice says
I made this cake for my sister’s birthday. Everyone loved it and she declared it one my top 3 cakes of all time! Thank you!