Hello, everyone! This is Khrista, from ezeBreezy – Life Simplified and I am so, so excited to share a yummy cake recipe with you today. This Strawberry Cake With Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting is moist, tender, and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor. The whipped cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy with a hint of lemon adding the perfect touch to this delicious cake.
I’ve been seeing some beautiful, bright, fresh strawberries at our local market and it’s so exciting! I just love strawberries:) Whether you use them in a pie or even a fruit salsa, strawberries are a great way to celebrate the sweet taste of spring.
The minute I saw perfectly plump strawberries at the store, I knew it was time to make one of my favorite cakes.
The fresh fruity flavor of this strawberry cake makes it the perfect dessert for any occasion this spring and summer. It’s definitely going to be on our table this year for our Easter brunch. Sheet cakes are perfect for a crowd – they are easy to throw together, and they’re big enough that everyone gets the perfect size piece.
Fresh strawberries are diced and folded into both the cake batter and whipped cream cheese frosting giving this sheet cake the perfect infusion of strawberry flavors.
This recipe calls for the use of buttermilk; it makes this cake moist and tender. Since I don’t always have a carton of buttermilk on hand, I like to keep a container of buttermilk powder in the freezer ready to go. You will just add the powder to your dry ingredients and then add water in with your wet ingredients. If you’ve never used buttermilk powder, go run and grab some. It’s the perfect solution when you have a buttermilk crisis in the kitchen!
The whipped cream cheese frosting is the perfect combination of cream cheese and fresh whipped cream. I love the use of cream cheese in this frosting because it adds a touch of tanginess to the sweet cream of the frosting. Heavenly:)
**FROSTING QUICK TIPS**`
When making the whipped cream, be sure to use well-chilled cream right from your refrigerator; room-temperature cream will not incorporate air as well. It’s also a good idea to use a chilled metal bowl. Keeping things as cold as possible will yield you the best whipped cream.
The strawberry frosting uses confectioners’ sugar instead of regular granular sugar. I like to use confectioners’ sugar when making a whipped cream that’s used in a frosting because it contains a touch of cornstarch which stabilizes the whipped cream, preventing it from weeping as it sits.
This Strawberry Cake With Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting can be made a day ahead and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Just remember to set it on the counter to get to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour*
- 3 tablespoons strawberry-flavored gelatin
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup buttermilk*
- 2/3 cup chopped fresh strawberries
- Strawberry Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting - see notes below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and pale in color – about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at time, beating for a few seconds between eggs. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, stir together cake flour, strawberry flavored gelatin, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture and alternate with buttermilk, ending with flour mixture. Blend on low speed until incorporated. Fold in diced strawberries.
- Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Allow a couple of inches of parchment paper to drop over the edges of the pan. Spray parchment with cooking spray and pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth batter evenly.
- Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Using flaps of parchment paper as handles lift cake from pan. Turn cake over onto wire rack (carefully remove parchment paper) and cool completely. Spread Strawberry Frosting on top and sides of cake.
Notes
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients: 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened -- 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, divided -- 3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries -- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream -- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions: Beat cream cheese and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar until smooth; add strawberries and beat until just blended.
Beat cream and lemon juice at medium speed until foamy; increase speed to medium-high. Slowly add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Using a spatula, fold half of cream mixture into cream cheese mixture; fold in remaining cream mixture.
Use immediately.
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
I look forward to being back here next month to share another exciting idea or recipe with you, but until then you are always welcome to stop by ezeBreezy – Life Simplified. You can also find me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram!
Khrista
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An easy dessert to make for the 4th of July!
Yes! I love strawberry desserts all summer long!
This cake come out deliciously! I wanted my icing to be thicker (I didn’t use a mixer though – did everything by hand). Will make at the next family event! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can you use strawberry puree instead of the strawberry jello?
Hi Debbie, The strawberry jello gives it that bolder color which might not matter to you. Secondly, it gives the cake a stronger strawberry taste. Even if all that doesn’t matter to you, my biggest worry is the amount of additional moisture the purée would add to the cake vs using the powdered jello mix. The added moisture could affect cook time and cake texture.
If you try the puree let me know how it works out.
Would this work for cupcakes? I’m thinking about the need to spray the parchment paper… whether I’d need to spray the cupcake liners too. (A previous attempt at strawberry cupcakes that used jello in the mix stuck to the liners so badly they were inedible. Looking to avoid that!)
Hi Sarah, Here are some good tips to help stop the cake from sticking to the liners. Watch the youtube video…it has great suggestions. I’m going to use them too! https://www.handletheheat.com/prevent-cupcake-liners-sticking/
I don’t know that it is the jello in the recipe but possibly other factors. The post above should be helpful!
Will definitely be making this cake for my upcoming Memorial Day BBQ! Looks so pretty. Yum!
Iam from austraila and was wondering is cake flour plain flour or self raising flour that you use in your recipie
Sorry, it has taken so long to reply. The difference between cake flour and plain flour is the amount of protein in the flour. Here is an article that can explain it better than I can and can help you measure the flour correctly for the recipe. Hope this helps! https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/all-purpose-flour-vs-cake-flour-whats-the-difference
I see buttermilk in the recipe can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk?
Hi Tonya, Here is a link to substitute buttermilk if you don’t have any on hand. http://joythebaker.com/2013/11/baking-101-the-best-buttermilk-substitutes/
Some good ideas…hope this helps!
Susan
Thank You for sharing this. I am going to make my granddaughter’s birthday cake and use this recipe
I hope everyone enjoys it!
Hi! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe! I am making this for a baby shower and wondered if it can be made ahead and frozen before frosting. Wasn’t sure due to the strawberries. Thanks again!
I just found this recipe and made it for my daughter’s birthday party tomorrow. I have not frosted the cake yet. Can I frost it tonight and keep the cake in the fridge, or is it best to do it right before serving. Trying to prepare everything ahead of time.
Sorry, Kim, I just saw your comment. I think you could frost ahead of time and keep in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Going to try this tomorrow!!
Can you use lemon juice concentrated ? Would you use just half of what’s needed
Hi can u make this cake in two 9 inch pans
Yes, that should not be a problem. Just make sure you have enough icing to put a layer between the cake layers. Also, the bake time will probably be shorter if divided into two pans.