This is the best fresh strawberry cake made with real strawberries. The secret is adding a fresh strawberry reduction to your cake batter and mixing 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 takes a bit more time to prepare because we have to make the strawberry reduction first then make the strawberry cake but I promise its worth the effort!
What's In This Blog Post
Why This Is The BEST Strawberry Cake Recipe
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.
Next, I tried that recipe where you add Jell-O. Let me tell you, that was the weirdest-tasting cake I have ever tried! I don't know how anyone can call that flavor strawberry but if you like it, more power to ya haha!
I also tried grinding up freeze-dried strawberries and adding them to my dry ingredients. That cake turned out a little better, but I still wanted to figure out a way to use fresh strawberries. I finally nailed this recipe using a strawberry reduction (boiling pureed strawberries until they are thicker and have less liquid) and a high-quality strawberry emulsion!
- Fresh strawberry flavor made from REAL strawberries
- No Strawberry Jell-O mix
- No boxed cake mix
- Moist crumb
Ingredients
This is the BEST strawberry cake recipe you'll ever have and it may seem intimidating but I promise it will all be worth it! First, we will make the strawberry reduction and then bake it into the strawberry cake. Here's a little overview of the most important ingredients in this recipe and why we're using them.
For The Reduction
The most important part of this whole recipe is the strawberry reduction. Strawberries naturally have a TON of water in them and we want to reduce that water while still keeping as much flavor as possible. This recipe will make enough stawberry reduction for the cake and the buttercream.
- Sugar - Adding some sugar intensifies the flavor of the strawberry and helps thicken it.
- Lemon - Adding in the zest and the juice of a lemon helps the strawberry reduction keep its color.
For The Cake
Make sure you have all your ingredients ahead of time!
- Strawberry Emulsion - It's like strawberry extract but very, very concentrated. If you can get it ahead of time, it really adds the best strawberry flavor. If you don't have time to order it, using regular strawberry extract is better than nothing! I got my strawberry emulsion from Michaels in the cake decorating aisle.
- Flour - A lot of my recipes use cake flour, but we're using all-purpose flour for this recipe because it is SO moist. I did some tests with cake flour, and it just didn't hold up.
- Egg Whites - Are used because if you include the yolks it will give the strawberry cake a weird orange-y color. You can separate the egg yolks from the egg whites manually or use liquid egg whites. One egg white equals one ounce.
- Butter - Use a good-quality butter (you can even make your own). I prefer Kerrygold for the flavor and high fat content. Lower-quality butter has more water and can affect how the cake bakes.
- Oil - I use canola oil most of the time because it doesn't have much flavor but keeps the cake moist and delicious. You can use any oil you prefer. Just keep in mind that some oils, like olive might impart a flavor.
- Lemon - This isn't for flavor, it's more for color. Strawberries turn a muted grey-ish purple when they are cooked because their natural red pigment, anthocyanin, is unstable and turns purple in neutral or alkaline environments. Adding an acid, like lemon juice, helps maintain the red color by keeping the pH level low
- Pink Food Coloring - Even after everything we do to keep that pink color, it still dulls down a bit after baking, so adding in a couple of drops of pink food coloring, you get a gorgeous strawberry pink color.
For The Buttercream
- Egg Whites - The base of this buttercream frosting uses pasteurized egg whites, so they have already been heat-treated and are safe to eat. When mixed with powdered sugar, it creates a sort of mock-meringue.
- Powdered Sugar - Add sweetness and body to the buttercream.
- Butter - Creates creaminess, cuts the sweetness of the sugar and helps the buttercream stay soft.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Remember to use a kitchen scale to measure out all your ingredients for accuracy and so your cake turns out perfectly. Everything is by weight, even the liquids.
For The Strawberry Reduction
- Place your thawed strawberries into a blender and pulse a few times until they are liquid.
- Pour the blended strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce until berries begin to break up and the mixture has reduced and looks like a thick paste. This can take a while. Mine takes between 40-60 minutes! I know this sounds like a long time but low and slow is the best for keeping all the flavor. Just give it a stir every now and then.
- Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning. You should end up with about 1 cup of thick strawberry reduction that looks like tomato sauce. Transfer it to another container and let it 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 flavor.
For The Cake
- 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.
- Grease two, 8" cake pans with cake goop or your preferred pan release and preheat the oven to 350ºF/176ºC.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, oil, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion (or extract), vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pink food coloring. Whisk it together and set it aside.
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. - In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
- Add room temperature butter to the 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.
- Gradually sprinkle the sugar into the butter while mixing on medium, and beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes.
- While mixing on medium, add in 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 are too cold.
You must use egg WHITES for this recipe, the yellow from the egg could turn the inside of your cake peach. - While mixing 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. I use a spoon to make a divot in the center so that the cakes bake up flatter. 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 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.
- You can turn this strawberry cake recipe into cupcakes by dividing the batter into a cupcake lined pan and baking for 18-20 minutes at 350ºF. This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
Strawberry Buttercream Step-By-Step
- Place the 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.
- 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, but this is normal. Keep whipping.
- Add in the 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.
- 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 the 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.
Decorating
I like to layer the extra strawberry reduction in between the layers along with strawberry buttercream for maximum strawberry flavor. If you want more tips on how to decorate your first cake, check out my cake decorating tutorial for beginners.
FAQ
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.
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 or the wild strawberry emulsion from Amoretti.
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.
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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
- 2 8" cake pans
Ingredients
Strawberry Reduction
- 32 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries thawed
- 4 ounces sugar optional
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 pinch salt
Fresh Strawberry Cake Ingredients
- 8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 10 ounces granulated sugar
- 6 ounces egg whites room temperature
- 4 ounces milk room temperature, whole milk is best
- 6 ounces strawberry reduction room temperature
- 2 ounces vegetable or canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- zest one lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion or extract, I use LorAnn oils bakery emulsion
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Pink food color I use Americolor electric pink gel
- 14 ounces all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Easy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
- 16 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 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 your thawed or fresh strawberries into the blender and blend until smooth.
- Place the strawberry puree, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Once bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low and slowly reduce the puree until you have two cups of liquid and the mixture is very thick like tomato sauce. This can take between 40-60 minutes. Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent burning.
- 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 or microwave it for about a minute so that it's warm.
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350ºF/176ºC.
- Grease two 8" cake pans with cake goop or preferred pan release
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, strawberry reduction, strawberry emulsion, vanilla 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.
- 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.
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
More Strawberry Recipes
Traditional Strawberry Shortcake
Angie says
I was reading where you put Strawberry Emulsion in your recipe... But you stated to use Strawberry Extract... Which is different.. if I misread, please accept my apologies !!! ? Just wanted to make it right. BTW I'm a firm believer in assorted Emulsions, much better for flavor than the norm- extracts !!!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
No worries, I use strawberry extract if I can't find emulsion but def prefer a good emulsion!
Meher Lopes says
Hi,
I am looking make this cake this week for my hubby's bday (his request) and I was wondering how imperative the lemon and strawberry extracts were? with what is happening in the world right now I don't think i will be able to get them. would you have any suggestions for substitutes?
Hope to hear from you soon.
The Sugar Geek Show says
The strawberry and lemon increase the flavor of the strawberry. You can usually find these extracts in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. You can leave them out but your cake will not have as strong of a strawberry flavor.
M.A. says
Stumbled across this recipe last week and made into cupcakes today for Easter - LOVE IT. Strawberry flavor comes through beautifully in the cake and (because I waited until last minute) instead of making up the buttercream, I injected some leftover reduction into the cupcakes and the simplicity after our holiday dinner was perfect. I can’t wait to make this again with the buttercream frosting, just want to wait for a time to share with others! Hopefully that comes sooner than later... Oh! The strawberry reduction is delicious, but it did take me almost an hour to cook it... I may have had the temperature too low, but it was worth the time for the end result!
Liz, thank you so much for your hard work creating this recipe and then sharing with is, I can’t wait to try more of your creations!
Claudia says
Just made this for my nephew who's turning 9 during quarantine, I wanted to give him a special birthday regardless of the lack of a party and this recipe was great. It's only my second time baking a cake so I was freaking out a little but it came out great, thank you so much!
Gile says
I made this for my mother-in-law’s birthday cake and it tastes amazing even when I skipped out the strawberry emulsion cause I dont have any, it looks pretty and so delish! Everyone at the party loved it
Mel Caron says
Hi Liz, this was my first double layer cake so I was pretty excited making it. Since we have been staying home in the recent Covid time, I thought I would start to do something fun and make a cake a week. Each week one of my 3 boys take a turn picking. Well, everyone was in heaven with this exceptionally awesome cake !!! The only thing I forgot was the food colouring and I actually bought it but didn't add. I can see what you mean by the dull grey colour and will definitely remember to add it next time. So thank you for this wonderful recipe and for sharing your creative genius with is ! Truly special 🙂
The Sugar Geek Show says
You're very welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe
Katrina says
Can this recipe be made without the strawberry emulsion or strawberry extract?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes it can be but you won't have as strong of a strawberry flavor. The puree alone does not have enough flavor and if you add more, the cake gets too soggy
Maria W says
Forgive my Novice question
The egg whites are confusing me. 6 oz egg whites- am I cracking eggs and dumping them into a glass measuring cup u til I get 6 oz? Or using 6 egg whites?
And you specified pasteurized egg whites in the frosting. Is this different from what I’m using in the cake? Thank you in advance!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I am using a scale for this recipe so 6 ounces of egg whites is by weight. Converting to volume measurements could result in a recipe fail so I urge you to use a scale if you have one. I am using pasteurized egg whites for both the cake and the frosting.
Lauren Sprinkle says
Hey Liz!
I just wanted to tell you, I made your fresh strawberry cake and strawberry buttercream as well as your brown butter cake and brown butter buttercream today! I made them into cupcakes and halved the recipes just because it's just me and my hubby! Those were the best recipes! Oh my word! I'm actually expecting right now and haven't really wanted any sugar, but both these cakes hit the spot! You are so very talented! 🙂 Can't wait to try your other recipes! Sending hugs! Stay safe and well!
Lauren Sprinkle says
Thanks a bunch Liz! I'm making your strawberry cake into cupcakes tomorrow as well as the brown butter cake and cream cheese brown butter cream! Wish me luck! 🙂
Elizabeth says
Hi Liz! Have you ever tried strawberry jam instead of strawberry purée? I know there’s a ton of sugar in jam so may not work, but washed to ask!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I think if you reduced the sugar in the cake it might work!
Lauren Sprinkle says
Hello!
I hope you are doing great! I plan on making this yummy cake this weekend 🙂 I had a question. If i buy strawberry emulsion instead of extract, would you use the same amount of emulsion listed for the extract amount instead?
Thanks a bunch!! 🙂
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes I would, emulsion just has a better, more realistic strawberry flavor 😀
Ivy says
If I don't have strawberry extract or Emulsion could I use something as a substitute such as strawberry syrup or a small amount of strawberry gelatin powder? If you think that would be okay how much would you use of each?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Strawberry syrup might work but the Jell-o, I dont know. I know there are a lot of strawberry jell-o cakes out there if you google, I personally do not enjoy that taste or flavor.
Wajiha says
Can I make simple butter cream without eggwhites and still use strawberry puree in it? Because I don't like uncooked eggs. If yes, then what should be the quantity to cover whole cake?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hey there, yes you can but just to let you know, pasteurized egg whites are "cooked". Pasteurization is heat-treated, just like you heat treat milk. Check out the american buttercream or ermine frosting recipe for egg-free buttercream recipes
Michele says
What if I don’t have strawberry & Lemon extract???
The Sugar Geek Show says
Your cake will not have as much strawberry flavor