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This Fresh Strawberry Cake is the perfect dessert year-round. Loaded with strawberry flavor in both the cake itself as well as the frosting, it’s perfect for a family get together or anytime you find yourself with extra berries!
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients in Fresh Strawberry Cake
- Can I Use Other Berries?
- Cake Texture
- Fresh Strawberry Cake Frosting
- Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
- Make it a Chocolate Strawberry Cake
- Frequently Asked Questions about Fresh Strawberry Cake
- Looking for more tasty summer desserts like this Fresh Strawberry Cake? Try these!
- How to Make Fresh Strawberry Cake
- Fresh Strawberry Cake Recipe
This Fresh Strawberry Cake is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh strawberries. I find myself making this dessert often in the summertime when berries are in abundance, but it’s truly an incredible dessert any month of the year. It’s very similar to strawberry shortcake but with even more strawberries in the cake batter and the fluffy frosting on top. This cake is SO easy to whip up and it is always a crowd-pleaser. Even my husband who doesn’t really like fruity cakes LOVED this one! The frosting is light and creamy and brings out all that fresh strawberry deliciousness.
Ingredients in Fresh Strawberry Cake
Take some help from the store with this recipe! Grab a box of cake mix and that takes a lot of the work out of a homemade cake. Here’s what you need:
FOR THE CAKE:
- White cake mix – one box dry, unprepared cake mix. This flour mixture has all of the dry ingredients you need (baking powder, salt, all purpose flour, etc.) and it so much easier than baking from scratch.
- Strawberry gelatin – one 3-ounce box dry, unprepared mix
- Fresh strawberries – one cup of strawberry puree, blended using a blender or food processor.
- Vegetable oil – one cup
- Buttermilk – half a cup. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own! Just add one tablespoon of white vinegar and enough milk to make one cup.
- Eggs – Four large eggs. Crack each large egg, one at a time and use the paddle attachment to incorporate each egg on low speed until completely mixed together.
FOR THE STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- Cream cheese – 16 ounces, or two packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature.
- Fresh strawberries – blend another ¾ cup of fresh strawberries into a strawberry puree, either with a food processor or blender. blended
- Powdered sugar – about two cups, sifted and measured. Set aside some extra if you want a bit thicker frosting.
- Cool Whip – one cup. If the tub has been in the freezer, make sure to thaw in the refrigerator before mixing into the stand mixer. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the yummy goodness mixed in.
Can I Use Other Berries?
If you are not a strawberry fan, you can easily sub out a different type of berry and change this fresh strawberry cake into a totally different flavor. Some fruits that would work well instead of strawberries are:
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Cherries
- Huckleberries
Cake Texture
This cake is a moist, dense cake. It’s not quite as airy as some versions, but that’s thanks to the fresh strawberries added in. The cake will still puff up in the oven, but you will need to make absolutely sure the cake is done baking or it may fall once it cools.
Fresh Strawberry Cake Frosting
- Cool whip and cream cheese serve as the base for this yummy frosting, along with blended fresh strawberries.
- When making the frosting, you need to make sure both the cool whip and the cream cheese are at room temperature or you risk the frosting separating.
- For extra pink color, whisk in a drop or two of red food coloring.
- If you prefer, you can use whipped cream in place of the cool whip. Again, just make sure it is at room temperature before mixing, and whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks.
- You can make this more of a buttercream frosting by substituting one cup of unsalted butter in for one of the 8-ounce packages of cream cheese. Strawberry buttercream is so yummy on this cake as well!
- Frost the cake using an offset spatula.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
This fresh strawberry cake recipe makes an awesome cupcake as well. To convert this recipe into a cupcake, simply pour the batter into cupcake liners rather than the pan. You will need to adjust the cooking time down to baking for 15-20 minutes—just check for doneness before pulling the cupcakes out. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.
Make it a Chocolate Strawberry Cake
If you are a chocolate lover, this cake also works incredibly well as a chocolate strawberry cake. Just sub out the white cake mix and instead use a chocolate cake mix. Nothing else in the recipe changes.
Frequently Asked Questions about Fresh Strawberry Cake
Yes! Store this cake in the refrigerator to help the whipped frosting keep its shape. The heat will melt and break the whipped cream if it’s kept out for too long. Plus the berries will stay fresher longer when refrigerated.
It is best served immediately! The cake needs refrigeration because it contains whipped cream and cut strawberries. It will last for about 1 to 2 days.
If refrigerated properly, the cake shouldn’t get soggy for at least the first couple of days. After that, however, the berries will cause the cake to become soggy.
READ NEXT: 30+ Strawberry Recipes
Looking for more tasty summer desserts like this Fresh Strawberry Cake? Try these!
- Slow Cooker Peach Crisp: Want a warm dessert without having to heat up the house? This is the perfect solution. This peach crisp is SUPER easy to make and you don’t have to turn on a hot oven. Just throw it all in the crockpot and forget about it. Tastes best a la mode!
- Raspberry Almond Fudge Ice Cream Cake: What do you get when you combine fruit, chocolate, ice cream, and a touch of almond? Pretty much the most amazing Summer dessert ever. Everything that makes a delicious, refreshing Summer dessert all in one easy recipe.
- Pink Lemonade Ice Cream Pie: We had this ice cream pie all the time growing up. It is so easy to make and as kids, we LOVED it. We all loved pink lemonade when we were kids (still do) and this was just like Pink Lemonade but in ice cream form and served like pie. WIN. WIN. The sweet and tangy flavors taste just like Summertime – if Summertime had a taste.
- Orange Pineapple Cake: This is another favorite fruity cake but instead of the highlight being berries, this has a more citrus, island-y twist. This is a great one for any island-themed summer parties. So so easy to make and deliciously refreshing.
- Hawaiian Wedding Cake: OK this is called Hawaiian wedding cake but I am 100% sure that no one has had this for their wedding cake in Hawaii. Maybe as a side dish cake? I don’t know. This is another great cake for an island summer party. Light, refreshing, and cool (as in, chilled).
- Raspberry Lemon Cake: This cake is a little bit berry, a little bit citrus. Reminds me of a raspberry lemonade in cake form! Whenever we make this cake for potlucks it ALWAYS gets polished.
How to Make Fresh Strawberry Cake
Fresh Strawberry Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9×13 Glass Pan
Ingredients
Strawberry Cake
- 1 box white cake mix dry, unprepared
- 3 oz box strawberry jello dry, unprepared
- 1 cup fresh strawberries blended
- 1 cup oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 4 eggs
Strawberry Cream Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup fresh strawberries blended
- 2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup cool whip thawed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place strawberries in blender and puree well (one pint size package of fresh strawberries was about right for both the cake and frosting).
- Combine cake mix and strawberry gelatin in large bowl.
- Mix in 1 c. blended strawberries, oil and buttermilk.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.
- Pour into a 9×13 inch pan lined with cooking spray.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
Strawberry Cream Frosting
- Mix together cream cheese and ¾ c. blended strawberries until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar. Mix well.
- Fold in cool whip.
- Pour over cooled cake.
- Garnish with additional fresh strawberries if desired.
- Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- This fresh strawberry cake recipe makes an awesome cupcake as well. To convert this recipe into a cupcake, simply pour the batter into cupcake liners rather than the pan.
- You will need to adjust the cooking time down to baking for 15-20 minutes—just check for doneness before pulling the cupcakes out. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.
- If you are a chocolate lover, this cake also works incredibly well as a chocolate strawberry cake. Just sub out the white cake mix and instead use a chocolate cake mix. Nothing else in the recipe changes.
Can the cake be cooled longer than an hour – or does the cake become mushy?
Yes, it can be cooler for more than an hour. Im my opinion it actually tastes best the next day 🙂
Can I substitute whipped cream for the cool whip in the frosting?
I just made it with whipped cream in place of the cool whip and the topping came out so good. It tastes like a strawberry mousse. Love it!
Absolutely!
Hello, Erica, Echo and Emily……I was fixing to make your cake here and I realized that different brands of cake mixes are different ounces and I don’t know which brand you are referring to. I am afraid that if I use the wrong brand, it will affect the outcome of the cake. Will you please tell me which brand, or how many ounces of dry mix you are using? Thank you very much.
We usually use Pillsbury brand cake mixes, but really, any cake will mix will work. It shouldn’t affect the outcome. Great question though! Let us know what you think of this cake, it’s one of our favs!
Okay, thank you!
Where did you get the mixer used for the frosting?
The mixer is a Bosch and it can be found here: http://amzn.to/2rUSsFg
Hope this helps!
I have to say this is the best cake ever ! I just finished making it for my mother-in-law for mothers day, which we will be celebrating with her tomorrow. I made a full sheet cake pan (doubled the recipe) and it baked beautifully and the frosting is amazing. I have yet to taste it tomorrow, but I can already see that its going to be a hit !!
So glad you liked it!
I have this in the oven right now. When you are measuring the strawberries are you just putting the whole berries in the cup to measure or are you blending them and then measuring them? It can vary so much with the size of the strawberries from one cup to the next.
That’s a great question. I’m sorry it’s not more clear on the recipe. The strawberries should be blended and then measured. Thank you for asking!
Is that one cup of cool whip or one container of cool whip?
It is one cup of cool whip for the frosting. Thanks for asking!
Do you think I could substitute strawberry preserves for the strawberries and gelatin (and/or other ingredients) somehow?
hmmm we haven’t done it that way before but I don’t see why not. The preserves might make it taste a little TOO sweet, but I am not sure.
Could some butter be used in place of oil?
You can! When you substitute butter for oil, just make sure you add about 20% more butter. So for this recipe, about a cup and a little under a 1/4 cup of butter.
I made this but swapped 1/2 c oil for applesauce and it turned out great. I took some to office and it got inhaled.
I’m going to try this, but replacing half the oil with applesauce
Think this recipe would work for a round layer cake? My daughter desperately wants a pink strawberry cake for her birthday, but it must be round, of course! 🙂
It would probably work just fine, just adjust the cooking times for the round cake pans and I think you are good!
I made this for an office birthday and we have some pretty snobby food critics at work. They LOVED it. Many said it was the best cake they’ve ever had. One man asked me to email the recipe to his wife.
Should the pan be sprayed/oiled before baking?
Yes, spray it with some cooking spray. Thanks, I will fix that!
The strawberry cake recipe in your book ” Favorite Family Recipes ” ? This cake sounds delicious !!!
I made this and the cake turned out great it was the frosting I had a hard time with. It turned out lumpy…..almost the consistency of ‘curdled milk’. I ended up just using cool whip as the frosting, but any ideas on what I might have done different?
I’m so sorry the frosting didn’t turn out, I don’t know what went wrong. If you mix the cream cheese and frosting, then try adding the sugar a little at a time, that might help.
Actually Elise just informed me that can happen if both the cream cheese and cool whip aren’t softened/brought to room temperature.
Actually that does makes sense because I don’t think they were completely room temperature. Thank you for helping me out!
This cake was absolutely delicious. I’ve made it for work and home and everyone gave it thumbs up and wanted the recipe. One person even said it was the best cake they’ve ever had.
Does the whipped cream have to be at room temp before folding into the room temp cream cheese?
Nope! You can fold it in while it is still cold.
My family and I absolutely LOVE this recipe. I made it in a cake Ian last time. Right now I am trying it as cupcakes for a Christmas party. Hope they turn out just as great!
Yummy! I’m so glad that I found this cake for my Bridal Shower Party… 🙂
Made this for the 4th! While tasty, the cake fell – big time. It puffed up beautifully while baking 35 minutes in a well pre-heated oven. Then fell as it cooled. As I look at your picture in a 9×13 it looks like yours isn’t too high either. Comments?????
This is a very moist, dense cake so it doesn’t normally raise as much as a regular boxed cake, but I’ve never had it fall like that either. My guess is it wasn’t quite finished cooking. Did you check it with a toothpick before removing from oven? Sometimes different altitudes can affect cooking times with cake? If you try making it again, I would add a Tablespoon of flour and make sure the cake is cooked completely before removing. P.S. The cake I used in the picture was a little lower than usual because I used some of the batter to make 5 cupcakes. I wasn’t sure when making it if i was going to put it on our blog as cupcakes or a cake. The cake picture turned out better so I used it. But the recipe also makes a great cupcake!
This cake was amazing! So moist and light – its a new family favorite!!
i agree i made it and it was so yummy and moist and light!!!