Strawberry Cake from Scratch
Made from scratch with no artificial food coloring or flavoring, this cake celebrates the pure, natural flavor of fresh, ripe strawberries.
Equipment
- 1 Set of Measuring Cups
- 1 Set of measuring spoons
- Blender or Food Processor
- Standing or Hand Mixer Wire Whip and Flat Beater
- 3 Cake Pans 8-inch
- Cake Stand
- Flat Spatula
- Offset Spatula
- Standing Mixing Bowl or Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Set of Mixing Bowls
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Strawberry Powder Freeze Dried Strawberries
- 8 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter Softened
- ½ Cup Sour Cream
- ¾ Cup Milk
- ½ Cup Strawberry Puree 1 lb of Fresh Strawberries
- 3 Eggs Room Temperature
- ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Sugar
Frosting Ingredients
- 16 Ounces of Cream Cheese Softened
- 8 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter Softened
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Strawberry Powder Freeze Dried Strawberries
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- ½ Cup Strawberry Puree 1 lb of Fresh Strawberries
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Remove eggs, sour cream, butter, and cream cheese from the fridge. Set on the counter for 30 minutes to become room temperature.
- Wash 2 lbs of strawberries and remove the stems. Reserve about five whole strawberries for a decorative topping.
- Chop the strawberries in quarters and blend the strawberries on high. Depending on the blender power you may need ⅓ cup of water to aid blending until there are no more chunks.
- In a medium sized pan, pour the strawberry puree into the pan and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, creating a strawberry reduction (cooking out the moisture for a thickened sauce).
- Set aside to cool for approximately 15 minutes. Reserve a ½ cup of the reduction for the frosting.
- In a food processor or blender on high speed, bring the freeze dried strawberries to a fine powder texture. Set aside for the cake batter and frosting.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and evenly grease three eight-inch cake pans.
- In a medium size bowl, combine the dry ingredients; flour, salt, and baking powder together.
- Using the whisk attachment in a large bowl, combine the oil, butter, and strawberry powder until smooth for about one minute on medium speed.
- Slowly pour in the sugar, followed by vanilla extract whisking on medium speed until well combined.
- Crack eggs into a separate bowl to add to the batter mixture one egg at a time, mix batter between each egg on medium mixer speed.
- Add the strawberry reduction followed by sour cream to the creamed eggs and sugar gradually to combine all the wet ingredients.
- Change to the paddle attachment, if using a standing mixer. Add the dry ingredients gradually in small increments to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk. Mix until smooth.
- Pour the batter into each cake pan evenly with an ice cream scooper, paddle or measuring cup. Place the cake pans on the middle oven rack and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, start making the cream cheese frosting. Pour the heavy cream into a large bowl and whisk on high speed until peaks form. Set aside to fold into the frosting.
- Next, whip the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract, strawberry reduction and powder until it becomes a light pink color.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time to the creamed mixture, whip on a high speed. Lastly, fold in the heavy cream until there are no white streaks.
- Check the cake at the 20 minute mark, bake until the center is set (testing with a toothpick, a few crumbs is okay) and remove from the oven promptly.
- Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for approximately 30-45 minutes before adding the frosting.
- While the cake cools, chill the frosting in the refrigerator.
- Frost the cake generously and decorate with the extra strawberries.
- Chill the frosted cake for approximately 20 minutes for easy slicing to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
Strawberry Cake Tips:
- If you desire a brighter batter color, add beet juice (approximately two tablespoons) for a light pink color. The beet juice will not impact the taste and will add moisture to the batter.
- If you plan to use food coloring, use a few drops of red food coloring to the batter.
- Adding acidity from lemon juice or vinegar can help your strawberries retain their color while baking.
- Sift the flour to avoid large lumps in the batter.
- A few lumps due to the sour cream in the batter is okay, avoid over-mixing.
- Use an ice cream scooper or measuring cup to evenly pour batter into each cake pan.
- Use an ice cream scooper to evenly layer frosting. The batter should yield three layers.
- Simmer the strawberry reduction until it thickens, once you can see the bottom of the pan when using a flat spatula down the middle.
- If you have extra strawberry reduction after preparing the cake layers and frosting, use the leftover in between each layer or for decoration.
- Use a low mixing speed when adding your flour to avoid over mixing.
- Ensure all ingredients are incorporated by scraping the sides and bottom of your mixer bowl between each step.
- To determine if the cake is done you can identify the following: there is no jiggle of the cake, the can bounces back with a touch of a finger, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with only a few crumbs.
- To prevent curdling texture in your batter, add eggs one at a time.
- The cake can be stored using an airtight container or foil for 4-5 days, refrigeration is required. You can set your cake on the counter to come to room temperature before serving. Serve cake slices at room temperature.
- Cake slices can be frozen individually, wrap each cake slice in Saran Wrap tightly, followed by foil and put in a freezer safe plastic bag. Cake is recommended to be stored for three months to retain the desired texture and moisture. For frozen slices, allow the cake to come to room temperature by sitting on the counter for approximately one hour.