Fresh Strawberry Cake With Cream Cheese Icing
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Fresh Strawberry Cake is my Mama’s favorite and a guaranteed showstopper. I mean look at this y’all. I’ve served this at baby showers, bridal showers, brunches and made for birthdays as well. My favorite place to serve it, though, is at my own dinner table.
When Are Strawberries In Season?
I’ve had strawberries on the brain lately. The national strawberry season can be January all the way through to November so it is usually easy to find them at stores. Prices may vary depending on the time of year you want them. In deeper parts of the South they are usually ready for harvesting April and May.
When I get them I tend to eat them all on the way home, then throw the container in the trash on my way in the house. The trick is always to hide the evidence! So it’s a big restraint for me to have enough left to make fresh Strawberry Cake! Check out some of my other delicious cake recipes like Triple Chocolate Cake (a.k.a Chocoholic Cake), Red Velvet Bundt Cake, Chocolate Velvet Cake With Cream Cheese Icing and Coca Cola Cake ~Oh So Good!~.
I mean Y’all, look at that beauty. It tastes even better than it looks!
The ingredients you will need for the cake are:
- White cake mix
- Strawberry gelatin mix
- Cooking oil
- Milk
- Fresh strawberries
- Three eggs
Helpful Kitchen Tools
- Wash your strawberries and cut the tops off, slice them up a bit.
- Put them in a big old plastic bag and crush them a bit. You can use a rolling pin if you want to be civilized but somedays call for a few fun karate chops!
*The amount of strawberries needs to be one cup after they are crushed, not before.
You can use any method of crushing that you like but I find a plastic bag and a can of somethin‘ works just great.
- In a large mixing bowl, place cake mix, milk, oil, eggs, and gelatin.
- Mix that up with an electric mixer until you have a smooth, creamy, pink batter, about two minutes.
- Add in your crushed strawberries, juice and all.
- Mix that up again.
- Now grease and flour two round cake pans.
- Divide your batter evenly among the cake pans
- Bake these at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit in the pans for ten minutes before turning out to cool completely.
Now let’s make us some cream cheese icing.
Ingredients needed for cream cheese icing
- Cream Cheese (check out our recipe for easy-peasy homemade cream cheese).
- Butter
- Powdered sugar.
Important note: If you want to decorate your cake as I have done in these photos, you will need to double this recipe.
Another note: Your cream cheese and butter really need to be room temperature so set them out earlier in the day before starting this.
- Place your butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix ’em up til they’re nice and creamy smooth, scraping down sides as needed.
- Ice your cake however you like.
Look how pretty this fresh strawberry cake is!
And this cake is just as delicious as it is pretty!
Now cut it quick! The youngun’s are a waitin’!
Store this cake in the refrigerator. It’s even better served cold!
Ingredients
- 1 Package Plain White Cake Mix
- 1 Cup Chopped strawberries with juice
- 3/4 Cup Milk
- 1 Package Strawberry Gelatin 3 ounce
- 3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 3 Eggs
Icing
- 8 ounce Cream Cheese room temp
- 4 Tablespoons butter room temp
- 3 Cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Grease and flour two 8 inch round baking pans or one 9x13 inch pan.
- Wash and cut the tops of strawberries. Coarsely chop them. Gently mash strawberries by placing them in a large plastic bag and rolling over it with a rolling pin or large can.You need to measure out one cup once they are mashed.
- Place cake mix, milk, gelatin mix, vegetable oil, and eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about two minutes or so. Add in strawberries and juice, mix again until well combined. Pour into baking pans.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If using two round pans, allow to sit for ten minutes before turning out of pans to cool completely. If baking in 9x13 pan, simply allow to cool in pan.
- Combine all icing ingredients and mix with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Ice cooled cake.
- Store cake in refrigerator.
- Ice cake. Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
The versatility of strawberries…
There are so many strawberry dishes that I love. My personal favorite is my Mama’s strawberry pie, My husband’s favorite is Strawberry punchbowl cake, and my son favors good old fashioned strawberry shortcake.
“The distance between who I am and who I want to be is separated by my actions.”
~Brian Solis
Christy,
Thanks for the strawberry cake recipe. A lady at our former church made one that looks like this. I never got the recipe from her and am so glad to get one finally.
Also, I made the chicken salad/casserole and took it to my church. Some of the folks there remember Granny Jordan, and said it tasted like one of her dishes.
Keep the recipes coming!
Oh my Miss Elizabeth!! Did you know Granny Jordan, too? I’m so glad you took the time to leave this comment, I feel like its Granny looking down and smiling on me. I’ve often wondered what she’d say about Southern Plate.
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy,
That cake looks great! I love making my own Cream Cheese Frosting! I put it on coconut cake! So good!
Thanks for the great recipes and ideas!
I love your site!
Amanda
Amanda I have NEVER had cream cheese on coconut cake! Where have you been all my life!!!
How yummy! And good idea considering I just bought 1gal of strawberries a few minutes ago. Girl, what a sweet way to get to know you. I feel like since our babies are the same age…we could just sit down in the yard and gab away while we let them play! I thought about “Jesus recycles” when Emily was tellin’ me about Jesus gettin’ to go on a donkey ride while all the people threw palm trees at him! Oh…if y’all just lived in South Carolina!
Keri you are so right! We could sit down in the grass and make necklaces for them out of weeds. I wonder who would find the most four leaf clovers? I found five the other day, one right after the other, while I was pacing barefoot in the yard talking on the phone. I didn’t have the heart to pick them though, I felt lucky enough just seeing them 🙂
I’ll be headed up to South Carolina in October! Maybe we could at least gab over a diet dr pepper!
Gratefully,
Christy
Girl…I will be the one waiting in the (long) line to hug your neck, holding a 4 week old baby, with my monogrammed cooler full of icy diet dr. pepper just waitin’ for ya!
This sounded delicious. I really wanted to serve this for dessert on Easter. I followed the directions to a tee. When the cake was finished baking, I carefully removed the layers from the oven and put them on cooling racks. After 10 or so minutes I went to remove the layers from the pans so they could cool completely. Lo and behold, the layers had fallen. I was SO upset. After I cooled off, I went back to the store and bought a second set of ingredients. Followed the directions again … same exact results. I’m done.
Hello Upset, I sure wish we had another name for you as that is quite negative and I’m sure doesn’t define you! A friend and I have been testing cake mixes lately and we’ve found that Duncan Hines has changed their formulation and a few of their mixes are constant flops, sinking each time. I wonder if you happened to use a Duncan mix? This kills me because I have been a devotee for years of that brand of mix.
Yes, my cake did the same thing. I believe it’s the Duncan Hines cake mix I used. So next time I will use a different mix . I think it’s a great cake …Thanks Christy !!!
I’m just heartsick over Duncan Hines but I’ve quit using it almost entirely now. I’m sorry you had this issue too!
Hey , all you new folks out there. You have found a treasusre mine when you found this site. Not only are the recipes wonderful ,tasty
and most easy to make , there are traditions handed down through
Christy’s family. Christy is the most heartwarming and wonderful person I have met . So down to earth and my kind of person. Her hubby and children are involved also and it is so family oriented.
I know you will come to love her as much as I do.
Love you Dahling Christy.
Oh Miss Betty,
I can’t even begin to tell you how dear you are to me. I love you so very much!!! You are one of the key people I was talking about in my video when I said I can’t ever see the world as a bad place with folks like you in it.
Gratefully,
Christy
Strawberry cake is one of my favorites. I have a wonderful strawberry frosting that would go great on this. Just let me know if you’d like to have it.
Girrrrl you know who you’re talking to here, right? I’d be thrilled to have your recipe!!!!! If you want, feel free to post it right here and then we can all enjoy it! If you prefer, email me at christy@southernplate.com
You know I want it and you are an angel for offering!
Gratefully,
Christy
Cream Cheese icing.. Thats all I needed to see. Im on my way to the store!
Hello,Can i use Sour Cream instead of milk??
Hey! Are you talking about in the cake itself or in the icing?
For the icing did you use unsalted butter or regular?
I use whatever I have, it works great with either 🙂
That’s so pretty and festive! It reminds me of red velvet cake, but more subdued! I’m sure the strawberry flavor must be great! I can’t remember ever having a strawberry cake!
Hey Sonya! Thank YOU so much! It really is a lovely cake, dense and cake like but then the unexpected burst of strawberries! Wish you were closer, I’d bring you a slice!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂
Was the amount of oil correct in the recipe( 3/4) cup, my cake turned out to mushy ,
Hey Geraldine! Yes, the amount is correct. I wonder if it is due to the smaller cake mix sizes.
What is the correct size for the cake mix?
Hey Sandy, I used the Duncan Hines 15.25 oz cake mix pictured there in our images.
Hope you enjoy the cake!
Can you use the frozen strawberries, instead of crushing up fresh ones ?
Sure can!
Oh my Christy , that strawberry cake looks sooo good , and look at that thick frosting , your making my mouth water girl.Thank you sooo much for posting this lovely recipe.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon Dianne!!
Made this for my daddy’s birthday!! Turned out sooo great (added strawberry’s to frosting). Thanks for this awesome recipe!!