I love strawberries!
No doubt about that, strawberries have always been a part of my life and recipes. Almost 6 years ago, I blogged about a drool worthy fresh strawberry cake that I made and it has been a BIG hit on my blog, getting pinned and shared all over the place the last few years. The pictures I took are really bad….6 years ago I had no idea how to take decent pics, so it was pretty pathetic. I just went back and edited that post with a good picture and a printable recipe sheet that I’m adding here too.
Best ever strawberry cake
One of my friends I went to college with sent me a funny note recently. She was looking for a strawberry cake recipe and her daughter found one on Pinterest and sent it to her. Yep, it was from MY blog from 6 years ago and I had to laugh. Small world, after all!
After bringing all these beautiful fresh strawberries back from Florida, I had to make another one of these strawberry cakes. So, I’m reprising the strawberry cake recipe today, which I’m also updating on a printable recipe page. We didn’t do that back then, but now recipes can be printed easily.
I pureed the strawberries and used about 3 cups fresh strawberries in this cake. One cup in the batter and one cup in the icing. I had leftovers for adding to the top too, so the strawberry flavor is pretty intense.
The recipe calls for a white cake mix, so I bought a Duncan Hines French Vanilla. Then you add some other ingredients to the cake batter mix, along with 4 eggs.
Mix it all up with a mixer. Puree the strawberries.
Then add the cup of fresh pureed strawberries.
Pour into a 9×13 pan. You could also make this as a layer cake too in round cake pans, I’m sure, if you wanted to. Layer cakes have never been my specialty so I did the sheet cake version.
After baking, it came out golden brown.
Mixed up the frosting, which is butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and strawberries.
The icing is runny and not a hard icing, but it’s very yummy!
Please note that the icing is not a hard icing at all, it’s runny and if you leave out some of the strawberries it should be less runny so be aware of that. I used this icing recipe as I found it online, but the icing needs to be tweaked, it does make a lot of icing (almost too much) and the icing is very runny as is. I’ve read to add more powdered sugar to thicken up icing, so I would use less strawberries and more powered sugar to make the icing thicker.
Let it drip down the cake and then add a dollop of strawberries on top for garnishment. The taste is out of this world!
Invite some friends over and let them eat strawberry cake. It might taste from scratch, but it’s very easy to make and super delicious if you like strawberries! Feel free to pin this one too, I love that it’s been shared so many times! The sweetness is delicious and has such strawberry flavor.
Best Ever Strawberry Cake
Easy strawberry sheet cake made with a box cake mix base, with added ingredients and a cream cheese frosting with strawberries.
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1 (3 Oz) box strawberry jello
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup oil, I used canola oil
- 2 cup fresh or frozen pureed strawberries (one cup for cake & one cup for icing)
- 4 eggs
Instructions
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Combine cake mix, flour, Jello and water. Add oil and eggs, one at a time, beating well between. Add strawberries. Beat 2 minutes. Pour batter into well greased and floured 9×13 pan. Bake at 350* for about 45 minutes.
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CREAM CHEESE ICING: adapted from Paula Deen online recipe
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1 stick butter softened
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1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
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1 cup frozen or fresh pureed strawberries ( or frozen strawberries)
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3 cups powdered sugar
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Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix with mixer until creamy. Pour over cake after it cools from the oven. Add a strawberry to top for garnishment or pureed strawberries to top. Eat and Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Cake recipe Adapted from Cooks.com
For those of you who can’t see the printable recipe above, here’s a screenshot of just the recipe:
I made this for 4th of July and it was a huge hit! So delicious and moist with a dense but still airy texture. I would reccomend halfing the frosting part of the recipe as I had two cups worth left over after drowning the cake in plenty of frosting.
Hi, Ashley, yes that icing needs halving for sure. But so good!
I agree, had plenty of frosting leftover.
My cake came out very flat, heavy and solid. Almost like it was underdone but was not gooey. I may have added 1 cup water instead of 1/2, could this be the reason?
Laura, I think it might have made the difference. I didn’t have any problem with the cake consistency, but the icing should be cut in half unless you want a ton.
I folliwed the recipe exactly as written. It came out of the oven looking perfect. As it cooled it shrunk up and looked awful. I think 45 minutes is too long. It is way overbaked.
My daughter in law and I cooked this cake last night. And made this icing which was delicious. There’s a problem I’ve never run into . We iced it put it in the fridge. Left out a few whole strawberrys for the top. It was for my son’s birthday. When she took it out of the fridge . She cut pieces and served it. I got the fist bite . It was a texture I’d never seen before . Gummy wet and not cake like . Please ! Tell me what could have happened . I was really embarrassed for my son and family .
Hi, Cathy, I am not sure unless it was the extra strawberries inside the cake mix that could have done that. I’ve not had a problem with the cake mix recipe itself, just too much icing left over. Sorry about that, maybe you can try it again. Everyone seems to love it!
Should you put it in the fridge
Hi, there, I did keep it in the fridge.
I don’t know if it’s the recipe or if I did something wrong (I don’t really have any baking experience at all.) It wasn’t fluffy, it turned out really dense and tasted kind of sponge like. The flavor actually tasted really good, but I still feel like I messed something up. Just curious if that’s how it was suppose to turn out or if I could’ve done something wrong
HI, Alyssa, I’m not sure what happened. It’s very moist cake, so I’ve never had it come out dense. Maybe try it again, adding the fresh strawberries could change the way the cake texture turns out.
I made this cake for our Mothers 70th Birthday party. We have an extremely large family so I quadrupled the recipe. The cake and the frosting were amazing. There was enough cake leftover to share with the staff at the restaurant we were at. Everyone raved about how great it was. Thank you so much for sharing this. I know I will be getting request to make it again and again
When it says to add the cake mix, do you add the ingredients listed on the back of the box to the rest of the ingredients??
HI, Holly, no don’t follow the cake mix directions, just add the cake mix and everything else I listed with it.
Has anyone tried this recipe with gluten free cake mix? If so, what changes did you need to make?
I took this cake to a family gathering and it got rave reviews. I used applesauce instead if oil. I also waited to add the sauce/topping until servicing the cake, allowing it to drip down each piece of cake. Yummy!
Hi, Gloria, I’m so glad it was a huge hit, it really is delicious!
Delicious recipe but 45 minutes is too long to cook.. I pulled cake out at 42 minutes and still overbaked. If I shaved few more minutes off I feel would have been perfect! I also made the icing with 2 cups of powdered sugar and kept other ingredients the same and it was great! It was a little bit of extra icing but we kept in the refrigerator and we liked it that way! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you for sharing your experience too! I guess baking time depends on the pan and oven.
I took to work Thursday and it was a HUGE hit, everyone agreed, it is the BEST strawberry cake ever! I used 1 box (2C) of powdered sugar vs. two, like others have done, I didn’t have too much frosting left over. This was so good I am making it again today for Easter to share with my family.
Thanks Rhoda!
HI, Cindy, thank you so much for sharing your outcome too!
This cake is seriously amazing!! I made for my mother-in-laws surprise birthday party and everyone LOVED it!
I read the comments and ended up halving the frosting and then only beating the mixture until it was mixed because I know over mixing can cause a dense cake. It was delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you, Rebecca, I’m so glad it turned out well for you!
I am wondering if people are measuring the strawberries after they are puréed vs. fresh. This could make a huge difference. Their should be 3 cups of fresh strawberries, not 3 cups pureed strawberries.
My daughter is allergic to food dyes, is the a substitute for the jello? Or can it be left out all together?
Hi, Danica, I don’t think it would be the same if you left it out, but I’m not sure of a substitute. Maybe you can find something online.
If I ice the cake and refrigerate it overnight will it become soggy?
Hi, Tabitha, it might become a little soggy but you could wait and ice it later to keep that from happening. I did refrigerate mine after making it and kept it in fridge.
If you don’t want frosting so running add less confectioners sugar. I add sugar a little at a time to my liking of consistency. I made this recipe alot and the frosting can get pretty runny if add 3 cups.
Made this Cade twice so far. It is amazing. I did take it out of the oven after 37 minutes.
Hi I was wondering what would be the baking time for cupcakes? My daughter’s first bday is coming up and I would love to make this for her party.
HI, Andrea, I’m not sure what to tell you on that. I’d just try it and then take them out when they look done and do the toothpick test and see if they are cooked through. I would think it would be similar time to what’s listed.
Do u add additional eggs along with the eggs from the cake box
HI, Liane, don’t follow the cake box recipe at all, just use the box mix and add the 4 eggs and other ingredients as noted here.
I made your strawberry cake in a Bundt pan for two special little granddaughters and it turned out darling! I’m going to wait to frost it until right before serving. 50+ years ago I received a similar recipe from a coworker but decided to check Pinterest for an updated version. I like your addition of flour as well as fresh or whole frozen strawberries as opposed to my original recipe that had a box of frozen berries in syrup. The cake doesn’t need the extra sugar in the syrup. Cute blog!❤️ Bon Appetit’
Thank you, Linda, I’m so glad it turned out for you and you stopped by to let me know!