Homemade Strawberry Cake
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Homemade strawberry cake is super moist, with a delicious vanilla flavor and bursting with fresh berries. Then it’s covered with a sweetened whipped cream topping and even more strawberries. 
If you’re looking for the perfect way to celebrate strawberry season, then this homemade strawberry cake is just the thing. It’s moist, buttery and filled with juicy berries. Then the sweet whipped cream topping is a fluffy cloud of deliciousness that’s finished off with even more strawberries.
Talk about a showstopper.
To be honest – lately I’ve been feeling a little uninspired with baking ideas. But when I arrived at the grocery store last weekend I was greeted with a huge display of fresh, bright red, extra juicy strawberries. I knew immediately that the baking gods were smiling down on me with this gift of juicy berries.
So strawberry treats were definitely in my future.
First I made strawberry muffins. And now – this strawberry cake. It’s moist, it has a delicious buttery vanilla flavor, and best of all – it’s packed with juicy berries in every bite. It’s kind of like strawberry shortcake in fluffy sheet cake form. And if you like frosting that isn’t too sweet – then you’ll love the whipped cream topping.
Strawberry Cake Recipe
Ok – let’s talk specifics about this strawberry cake recipe. For the strawberry cake ingredients:
- Real butter. In vanilla cakes – I always use real butter so the cake is packed with flavor and never oily.
- Just enough sugar. The fresh berries add lots of sweetness too.
- 3 eggs for tenderness.
- Vanilla extract – it’s a must in any vanilla based cake.
- For the dry ingredients we’re using cake flour, baking powder, baking powder and a little salt. I like using cake flour because it creates a finer, softer crumb. If you don’t have any cake flour – you can make your own using all-purpose flour and cornstarch. I’ve included the details in the recipe notes.
- Milk and plain Greek yogurt for moisture.
- And chopped strawberries of course. I recommend chopping them pretty small. Larger strawberry pieces are heavier and therefore more likely to drop to the bottom of the cake.
Make sure that your butter, eggs, milk and yogurt are all room temperature before getting started so that everything can evenly mix together. You warm up the butter, milk and yogurt by microwaving them in short 10 second bursts at medium power. And you can warm up the eggs by placing them in a cup of warm water for a few minutes.
Then the baked strawberry cake gets topped with our sweet whipped cream topping. It’s made with a little cream cheese, heavy cream, powdered sugar and a touch of almond extract. First we beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and almond extract, then slowly mix in the heavy cream. Just be careful not to beat the mixture too much or it can collapse.
The whipped cream is light, fluffy, and not too sweet. Then the cake gets topped with the fluffy whipped cream topping, and then even more fresh berries.
This strawberry cake is bursting with berries, oh so moist, and the perfect way to celebrate strawberry season.
Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Cake
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour*, , not self rising
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, , softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream, , or Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 3/4 cups chopped strawberries
Sweet Whipped Cream
- 4 oz cream cheese, , softened
- 1/4-1/2 tsp almond extract, , optional
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, , use 1 cup for sweeter flavor
- 1 3/4 cups heavy cream (about 35%)
- 6-8 oz strawberries, , sliced
Instructions
Strawberry Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch cake pan.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
- In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl whisk together the milk and sour cream.
- Then carefully beat about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by about 1/3 of the milk and sour cream mixture. Repeat the process with the rest of the flour mixture and sour cream mixture adding about 1/3 of each at a time.
- Gently fold in the chopped berries using a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 27-33 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool.
Sweetened Whipped Cream Topping
- In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, almond extract and powdered sugar.
- Beat in the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Watch carefully - if the mixture is whipped too much it can collapse.
- Spread the sweetened whipped cream on top of the cake and top with fresh berries.
Does the whipping cream need to be cold or room temp
Whipping cream will typically whip better if it’s cold. You can also pop the beaters and your bowl in the fridge so they’re cold too if you really want to be fancy/careful
Great cake. To reduce sweetness, I used 1 cup sugar instead of 1.5 and it was perfect. It worked with vanilla greek yogurt as a substitute as well.
I ended up frosting with homemade buttercream frosting and it was the perfect birthday cake for my 3yo.
Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Hi, can’t find your tips to make our own cake flour in your recipe notes. Can you tell me to do it?
Sorry about that! You can measure out 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Then remove 1/3 cup of the flour, and add in 1/3 cup cornstarch. Whisk them together and then sift them 3 times 🙂 Happy Baking!
Hello! If I substitute milk with buttermilk will that make the Cale more moist ? I like a very moist fluffy soft cake nothing dry or dense. Thank u 😊
Yup! You could definitely do that!
This cake was FABULOUS! My 6 year old requested a strawberry cake this year for her birthday and it took quite some time to find a recipe that didn’t include artificial colors/flavorings. This cake is IT. Flavor was amazing, color was beautiful – the frosting was a light pink and SO flavorful. Love it. It’s going in the family cookbook. Thank you!
Hi Dear, can i substitute greek yogurt with natural yogurt? What size of baking pan suitable to be used?
You could – I’d just be aware of the fat content of your yogurt. A higher fat % will lead to a more moist cake. You can make this in a 9×13 inch pan 🙂
Hello, I love to make this cake, but if I want to use only 1/2 cup of sugar? Do you think it’s ok? My husband doesn’t like very sweet. Thanks!
Hi Vick,
Do you mean in the cake itself or in the whipped cream topping? If you’d like to make it less sweet you could reduce the sugar in the cake itself to 1 and 1/4 cups sugar or maybe 1 cup sugar. I wouldn’t go much less than that or the cake may taste bitter and not brown properly. In the whipped topping, if you could reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup. You could even eliminate it entirely and just make whipped cream (without the cream cheese at all) to spread on top of the cake and decorate with berries. I hope you both love the recipe.
Ingredients state Greek yogurt, but in instructions it says sour cream, which should we use, or does it matter?
Thx
Yikes! Thanks for the catch. I’ve made this cake with both, and both work very well 🙂
This cake was AMAZING! I’m not usually a big fan of really sugary frosting, so the whipped cream was absolutely delicious with all the berries. Definitely making this lots this summer
Gimme all the strawberry desserts!!! So beautiful and delicious!
I’m definitely with you there and needing ALL the strawberry desserts! Thanks so much Melissa 🙂