Strawberry Cake Recipe

We definitely know there's a time and a place for a rich, delicious chocolate cake. And equally so, there's always an occasion for a simple vanilla cake packed with flavor and topped with sprinkles. And, of course, there's always room for Funfetti. But when you're looking for something a little fruity, this strawberry cake may just, well, take the cake.

Strawberry cakes don't really get their time in the spotlight too much. Often, a strawberry cake's flavor is all too artificial, leaving a bad taste in someone's mouth. But this simple, sweet strawberry cake is the furthest from those fake flavored counterparts.

With simple ingredients and just a few steps, this strawberry cake will be ready in under an hour. It's incredibly moist, with the perfect crumb, and it's truly teeming with strawberry flavor. Fresh, ripe strawberries are utilized in this cake for a nice, natural flavor, paired with even more sweet strawberry flavor coming through from the fresh glaze on top. Make this cake for a celebration, or simply celebrate the afternoon with this sweet and a cup of tea.

To get started on making this simple strawberry cake, be sure to gather all of your ingredients ahead of time. This cake comes together with very little prep time and in only a few steps.

For this strawberry cake recipe, you'll need 1 ½ cups white sugar, 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, 1 cup milk (plus 2 tablespoons for glaze), ½ cup oil, ¼ cup sour cream, and 1 ¼ cups chopped fresh strawberries. Be sure you're using fresh strawberries for this recipe, rather than frozen. This is the perfect use for any strawberries left in the fridge just a day or two too long. If they're slightly soft and over-ripened, they'll still work just fine for this recipe.

To make the glaze to drizzle on top of this strawberry cake, you'll need an additional ½ cup of chopped strawberries, pulsed into a puree, along with 2 tablespoons of milk, and 4 cups of powdered sugar.

Once all of your ingredients are gathered and ready to go, it's time to dive in on making the batter for this strawberry cake recipe. It's important to mix the dry ingredients together separately, before adding in the wet ingredients. That way, you'll avoid overmixing the batter, which could change the final texture of the cake and make it tough or unpleasantly gummy.

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit so it's warmed up and ready by the time the batter is done. Then, prep the batter for your cake. You can use a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or a wooden spoon for this task, or you can choose to use a stand mixer if preferred.

Add the white sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the mixing bowl. Stir the dry ingredients well until incorporated. Be sure the mixture is smooth and free of any large clumps before moving onto the next step.

Once all of the dry ingredients are well combined, next up is adding in all of the wet ingredients for your strawberry cake batter. You'll want to introduce the wet ingredients one at a time.

First, start by mixing the eggs into the dry ingredients mixture, a single egg at a time. While the mixer is running, add in the milk. Once that's mixed in, add the oil. Mix until the wet ingredients are fully incorporated into the batter. Then, add in the sour cream and mix. The milk and oil add great moisture to this cake, but the sour cream is what will give this an incredible texture. In fact, sour cream is the secret ingredient to quite a few great baked goods.

Be sure you don't mix the batter mixture any longer than necessary during this step. Overmixing the batter will change the final texture of your cake, making it much denser than intended.

Once the batter is prepared and ready for your strawberry cake, it's time to add in the final touch for natural flavor: the fresh strawberries.

Prepare your fresh strawberries by washing and drying them first. Then, remove the stems and leaves of each of the strawberries. With the strawberries on a cutting board, use a sharp kitchen knife to roughly chop them into small pieces. You don't want the strawberries too small, but be sure you're chopping them enough to avoid any large chunks of berry in your finished cake. You'll want a total of 1 1/4 cups of chopped fresh strawberries for the cake batter. Be sure you're not adding more than that, or the cake will turn out too wet because of how much moisture there is in strawberries. 

Once the strawberries are chopped, mix them into the batter until well combined.

When the batter is complete, it's finally time to bake your strawberry cake. 

Prepare a bundt cake pan by generously coating it with cooking spray to be sure the cake won't stick to the inside of the pan. Bundt cakes are notorious for causing cake batter to stick or making it difficult to remove a baked cake from the pan. However, with a generous coating of cooking spray, there should be no problem when it comes to that critical step. We chose to use a bundt cake for this recipe, but it could also be baked in a 9-inch square pan or a round cake pan if desired.

Once the bundt cake pan is ready, pour the prepared strawberry cake batter into the pan. Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is light golden brown. Once the cake is fully baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool in the bundt cake pan while you prepare the fresh strawberry glaze.

This cake could certainly be served on its own once it cools. But we're true believers that a luscious, sweet glaze makes a bundt cake that much better.

While the strawberry cake is cooling, it's the perfect time to prepare this fresh strawberry glaze. Start by pulsing ½ cup of chopped strawberries in a food processor. Pulse until the strawberries are pureed. You may have a few small chunks leftover, which is totally fine. Feel free to mix those into the glaze as well.

Once the strawberries are pureed, pour them into a small mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the 4 cups of powdered sugar, along with the 2 tablespoons of milk to combine the ingredients. Use a whisk to be sure you end up with a nice, smooth glaze. Once the glaze is ready, and the cake is fully cooled, drizzle the cake using a spoon or by putting the glaze into a plastic piping bag and cutting off the tip at the end. Once topped with the glaze, dust the cake with powdered sugar and garnish it with fresh mint leaves and a strawberry on top if desired.