Last Updated March 1st, 2021 at 08:39 am by Lisa
Real fresh strawberry cake screams fresh with no artificial ingredients like food coloring or jello, and made with sweet juicy summer strawberries and topped with amazing strawberry buttercream frosting.
This strawberry cake dessert uses real strawberries baked in the cake and strawberry preserves in the buttercream with and is deliciously natural!
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This strawberry cake has a little story. While getting my hair done, a homemade strawberry cake was delivered and shared with the customers.
My hairdresser (aka "miracle worker") friend Tina, offered a piece and of course, I said yes!
It was delicious, and I came home inspired to bake a strawberry cake.
A real strawberry cake with fresh ingredients like real strawberry buttercream.
And this happened...
My niece Kylie (total cutie pie right?) came over, and we love to make sweet things together.
Kylie had the idea to keep the cake as natural as possible and skip the food coloring and jello traditionally used in strawberry cake recipes.
We baked this cake together early one morning, and we tasted and ate so much strawberry buttercream frosting for "breakfast" it was ridiculous!
Now that is what I call being a perfect Aunt, and setting an excellent example.
Fresh Strawberry Cleaning and Storage Tips:
As soon as you get your strawberries home:
- Place the strawberries in a bowl and rinse with cool water and a splash of vinegar. PRO TIP: The vinegar cleans the berries but doesn't leave any taste...really I promise, and I do this all the time!
- Drain and place the strawberries in a clean bowl covered with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for a day or two.
- Your strawberries are now clean to eat or use in a recipe straight out of the fridge.
Why Bake A 5 Layer Strawberry Cake?
I chose to do a 5 layer cake, for 2 reasons.
One, it is pretty. That is good enough.
But then consider that 5 layers delivers more strawberry buttercream frosting per bite. Now that is all the reasoning I need.
A good strategy for cake eating right?
Of course, you can make this same strawberry buttercream cake in a single cake pan, or a double round. Your choice!
PRO BAKING TIP: Use a crumb coat:
How To Get a Smoothly Frosted Cake?
- Using an offset spatula spread a thin layer of buttercream frosting on your cake and chill for 30 minutes
- The final coat of buttercream frosting will go on the cake really nicely, and you avoid cake crumbles in your frosting!
Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting will have you licking the spoon! The strawberry buttercream is absolutely unbelievable.
Your baking efforts will be rewarded with this pretty little 5 layer strawberry cake.
So cute, pretty, and natural, don't you agree?
What ingredients do I need to make this Fresh Strawberry Cake?
for the strawberry buttercream frosting
- 4 sticks unsalted butter soft/room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 teaspoons real pure vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 12 ounces strawberry preserves
for the strawberry cake:
- ½ cup strawberries mashed/chopped
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour organic preferred or cake flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk (or sub milk)
- 1 cup strawberry preserves
- 2 baskets fresh strawberries for decoration on top of cake
How do I make this Fresh Strawberry Cake?
Make the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Step 1: In the mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, (or a hand-held mixer), mix the butter and powder sugar at a low speed until blended.
Step 2: Next, increase speed until light and fluffy for another 3 minutes. Add the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream and beat on medium for 1 minute.
Step 3: If needed, add a bit more cream to make it smooth and creamy.
Step 4: Add strawberry preserves, for "food" color and flavor.
Step 5: Keep refrigerated and cool until ready to use. (see notes for frosting storage tips)
Make and Bake the Strawberry Cake:
Step 1: Puree strawberries in a blender, or chop finely. Set aside.
Step 2: Prepare cake pans. (I used a small 5 layer cake pan set from a craft store.) Lightly coat the pan/s with butter or coconut non-stick spray, dust with flour, and tap out excess. Set aside.
Step 3: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
Step 4: In a stand mixer, blend butter and sugar until creamed. Next, slowly add in eggs and vanilla.
Step 5: With the mixer on low, gently add dry ingredients until just combined then add the buttermilk (or milk) until combined. Do not overmix.
Step 6: Add strawberry puree (strawberries mashed/chopped) and preserves by hand using a rubber spatula to combine.
Step 7: Divide batter into prepared cake pan/s, spread evenly. The batter is pretty thick.
Step 8: Bake 20 minutes at 375, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Bake time will depend on the size of your pans.
Assemble the cake:
Step 1: Cool cake, then tap out of pans and spread cake layers with a thin coat of buttercream frosting.
PRO TIP: It helps to place some buttercream frosting on your cake plate to hold the first layer of cake down. Once each cake layer is frosted and stacked. Run your offset spatula around the cake side to make it smooth. Chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Then spread the final layer of buttercream frosting, and swirl or coat evenly.
Step 2: Decorate with strawberries cut in half and about the same size. Press into the buttercream frosting, and put one on top of the cake.
Step 3: Buttercream frosting will melt at room temperature, be sure to keep this cake refrigerated until ready to serve.
PRO TIP: You can freeze your buttercream frosting! When you are ready to use it for another recipe, simply store in a sealed ziplock bag with all the air pushed out. Place on counter to soften, squish the bag around to get the frosting ready to use and you are ready to add frosting to another dessert!
Summer will now never be the same without a slice of Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.
Kylie and I had such a fun day baking, tasting, and decorating the strawberry buttercream cake, She learned to measure, bake, and frost a 5 layered cake for the first time.
Thanks for all your help Kylie, you did a fantastic job. And Aunt Lisa loves you!
All the Best Dishes,
Lisa
XO
More Amazing Strawberry Recipes:
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Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
for the strawberry buttercream frosting
- 4 sticks unsalted butter soft/room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 teaspoons real pure vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 12 ounces strawberry preserves
for the strawberry cake:
- ½ cup strawberries mashed/chopped
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour organic preferred or cake flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk (or sub milk)
- 1 cup strawberry preserves
- 2 baskets fresh strawberries for decoration on top of cake
Instructions
Make the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- In the mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, (or hand-held mixer), mix the butter and powder sugar on low-speed until blended.
- Next, increase speed until light and fluffy for another 3 minutes. Add the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream and beat on medium for 1 minute.
- If needed, add a bit more cream to make it smooth and creamy.
- Add strawberry preserves, for "food" color and flavor.
- Keep refrigerated and cool until ready to use. (see notes for frosting storage tips)
Bake the Strawberry Cake:
- Puree strawberries in a blender, or chop finely. Set aside.
- Prepare cake pans. (I used a small 5 layer cake pan set from a craft store.) Lightly coat the pan/s with butter or coconut non-stick spray, dust with flour, and tap out excess. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, blend butter and sugar until creamed. Next, slowly add in eggs and vanilla.
- With the mixer on low, gently add dry ingredients until just combined then add the buttermilk (or milk) until combined. Do not overmix.
- Add strawberry puree (strawberries mashed/chopped) and preserves by hand using a rubber spatula to combine.
- Divide batter into prepared cake pan/s, spread evenly. The batter is pretty thick.
- Bake 20 minutes at 375, or until toothpick comes out clean. Bake time will depend on the size of your pans.
Assemble the cake:
- Cool cake, then tap out of pans and spread cake layers with a thin coat of buttercream frosting. It helps to place some buttercream frosting on your cake plate to hold the first layer of cake down. Once each cake layer is frosted and stacked. Run your off-set spatula around the cake side to make it smooth. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes. Then spread final layer of buttercream frosting, and swirl or coat evenly.
- Decorate with strawberries cut in half and about the same size. Press into the buttercream frosting, and put one on top of cake.
- Buttercream frosting will melt at room temperature, be sure to keep this cake refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
PRO BAKING TIP: Use a crumb coat to get a smoothly frosted cake.
- Using an offset spatula spread a thin layer of buttercream frosting on your cake and chill for 30 minutes
- The final coat of buttercream frosting will go on the cake really nicely, and you avoid cake crumbles in your frosting!
Made this with 2 layers instead of 5. Didn’t add strawberries to the buttercream icing. It was delicious and moist. Recipe doesn’t say whe to add the buttermilk (I added with wet ingredients in the batter). Also recipe batter calls for fresh strawberries and puréed strawberries so I just used 2 baskets of puréed fresh strawberries , is this a misprint? Cake was excellent !!
Hey Kim! Thank you for making the strawberry cake and for your comment. You are right! I had a typo, in fact, this was one of my first recipes I ever put on my website and so I rewrote the entire recipe to clear up the mistakes. The 2 baskets of strawberries are for decoration, but I am thrilled it works to add that much strawberry puree. Appreciate your understanding, now the recipe is great thanks to you. Oh, and a huge thanks for rating the recipe!
Strawberry cake is my cake of choice for my birthday but I always feel like the store-bought strawberry frosting and cake mixes taste more like sugar than strawberries. I made your recipe for my birthday this year and it tasted SO much more authentic and strawberry-y. I was fighting off family and friends for the last piece and promised to make it again for Easter. I cannot wait!
When should i add the preserves to the cake?
Hi Debbie! Thanks for baking the strawberry cake. Add the strawberry puree into the cake batter at the same time as the preserves. Somehow that was not on the recipe card (so sorry!), I just updated the recipe. Hope that helps and let me know how it goes! All The Best, Lisa