This strawberry sheet cake is made with fresh strawberries and turns out amazingly moist and tender. It's topped with a creamy from-scratch strawberry frosting that you're going to love.
When I started my research on how to make the perfect strawberry cake, I was shocked to see that most of the recipes out there were made with boxed cake mix and strawberry gelatin.
I decided to adjust my white cake recipe and add cooked strawberry puree to the batter. I cook down the strawberry puree to remove excess liquid that can weigh down the cake and also concentrate the flavor. The results? A moist, tender cake filled with natural strawberry flavor.
If you love strawberries, you must give this cake a try. It's packed with real, fresh strawberry flavor in the cake and frosting. It's the perfect way to use up those in season spring strawberries.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Strawberries - To make the cake and frosting for this recipe, you'll need about 21 ounces of fresh or frozen strawberries. If you're using frozen strawberries, they'll need to be thawed first. If you'd only like to make the cake portion of the recipe, you'll need 16 ounces of strawberries. You may also want a few extras to slice for decorating.
- Butter - Adds moisture and buttery flavor to the cake batter. Unsalted butter (and the listed salt) can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
- Cake flour - I do not recommend substituting the cake flour in this recipe. Cake flour gives your cake its tender texture and small crumb. If substituted with all-purpose flour, your cake will have a coarser crumb that readers often describe as a 'cornbread' texture.
- Leavening - Baking powder cannot be substituted with baking soda - the two are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cake without making it "salty".
- Granulated sugar - Adds the perfect amount of sweetness and moisture to your cake.
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cake.
- Egg whites - Egg whites from a carton or from fresh eggs both work in this recipe. You'll need six large (US) egg whites, which is 180 grams or ¾ liquid cup.
- Milk - I recommend whole milk, which adds the most moisture to your cake. This recipe will work with lower fat milks, but your cake may turn out less moist and will dry out faster.
Making strawberry puree
To make strawberry cake and frosting, you'll first need to puree your strawberries to cook down on the stovetop. Strawberry puree is a concentrated form of strawberries that adds strawberry flavor without the extra liquid that can weigh your cake down. If your puree isn't cooked down first, the flavor is diluted and the cake batter will be too wet to rise properly.
Thaw frozen strawberries first - If you have frozen strawberries on hand, they need to be thawed first.
Hull and halve before pureeing - Hull your strawberries with a paring knife by inserting the knife near the greens on top and rotating around the greens diagonally into the center of the strawberry. By doing so, this removes the greens and the white center of the strawberry which has little flavor. Slice strawberries in half and add to your food processor or blender.
Puree strawberries - Use a food processor or blender to puree your strawberries. Pureeing speeds up the cooking process and ensures your puree turns out nice and smooth. A smooth puree incorporates seamlessly into your cake and frosting.
Cook until thickened - Cook, stirring frequently, until your puree has reduced by about half. The mixture should look thick, almost like tomato paste.
Tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - Egg whites, butter, and milk should all be room temperature before beginning. Room temperature ingredients incorporate seamlessly together to create a smooth, even batter.
Cool puree completely - Allow your strawberry puree to cool completely before incorporating into the batter and frosting. A warm puree will melt your frosting base and can ruin the texture of the cake batter.
Don't overmix the batter - Mix your dry ingredients just enough to incorporate them into the batter. Overmixing can overwork the gluten, causing your cake to turn out tough.
Don't omit or reduce any of the moisture-adding ingredients - Butter, whole milk, eggs, granulated sugar, and strawberry puree all do their part in ensuring your cake turns out moist and tender. Reducing, omitting, or substituting these ingredients can cause your cake to turn out dry.
Testing for doneness - To test for doneness, open your oven and give the pan a light nudge. Is the center still jiggly? Your cake needs more time. If your cake isn't jiggly, gently press into the center. Does it leave an indent? Your cake needs more time. If the cake pops right back, your cake is done.
Do not frost a warm cake - Buttercream frosting melts around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Adding frosting to a hot cake will cause it to melt. Wait until your cake is completely cooled.
Storage
Homemade cakes are best served the same day they are baked for best flavor and texture. However, there are solutions if you need to make your cake a few days (or weeks) ahead of time.
Room temperature - Frosted cake can be stored in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, but will begin to dry out over time.
Frozen - Cake and frosting freezes and thaws beautifully, maintaining its original texture and moisture just like the day it was baked. Unfrosted or frosted cake can be frozen for up to two months. To store a frosted cake, freeze for an hour, unwrapped, until firm. Gently wrap in plastic and store in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 months. Thaw your cake in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature 30-60 minutes before serving.
Refrigerated - I do not recommend this option unless you live in a hot or tropical climate. Refrigerators are a low humidity environment and dry out cake faster than storing at room temperature or freezing. Unfrosted or frosted cake can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days if needed. Wrap unfrosted cake in plastic and store in a sealed container. Bring to room temperature 30-60 minutes before serving.
Hot climates - Buttercream frosting should not sit out in the sun or a hot room for extended periods of time because it melts at about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's summertime or you live in a tropical climate, you may need to store your buttercream frosted cake in the refrigerator until 30 minutes before serving to prevent melting.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the strawberry puree needs to be cooked down before adding to the batter. The reason we cook the strawberry puree is to remove excess liquid that weighs down the batter and makes it too wet to rise properly in the oven. It also concentrates the strawberry flavor.
No. Strawberry jam and strawberry puree aren't the same when it comes to this recipe. Strawberry jam is sweetened and contains other ingredients that dilute the strawberry flavor slightly. Cooked down strawberry puree has a very concentrated, almost tart strawberry flavor (since no sugar has been added). Think of strawberry puree like vanilla extract - it doesn't taste great on its own but makes the finished cake taste wonderful.
I don't recommend it if you're looking for a strawberry flavored cake. This methods works, but then you're just making a vanilla cake with diced strawberries.
This recipe works with a 9x13 baking pan with 2-inch tall sides or a 13x18 sheet pan with 1-inch tall sides. Here are the cake pans I recommend for sheet cakes:
- Nordic Ware Classic Metal 9x13 Covered Cake Pan
- Natural Aluminum Nordic Ware Commercial Baker's Half Sheet (2 Pack)
Yes, this frosting pipes beautifully and can be used for rosettes, borders, and topping cupcakes.
This recipe can be sliced to serve as many as 30-40 people with small slices (think wedding cake slices). Larger squares will yield about 16 slices.
Troubleshooting
One of the most common complaints I see in baking is that the recipe is followed "to a T" and the cake/cookies still turn out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons:
- Ingredients were substituted/omitted/reduced - The fats and sugar (butter, strawberry puree, egg whites, whole milk, and granulated sugar) help keep your cake moist. Using lower fat substitutions, reducing the sugar, or omitting an ingredient entirely will cause your cake to turn out dry.
- Too much flour was added to the recipe - Either use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour accurately (which is how I measure flour and highly recommend to others), or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off with a knife. Scooping with the measuring cup directly from a bin of flour compacts it into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe.
- Cake was overbaked - Baking a cake for too long will dry it out in the oven. Ovens are inconsistent and can run hotter or colder than the next oven. The time that worked for me may not work for you, so I recommend using other cues to tell when your cake is done.
This is a baker's secret that's optional but effective! Brush simple syrup over your cake before frosting. A layer of simple syrup helps keep the cake moist for longer. Simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of water and granulated sugar, brought to a boil on the stove top until dissolved, then cooled to room temperature. I'd suggest about ¼ cup or more for this size cake.
Cake can turn out dense from expired leavening, overmixing the wet and dry ingredients (this overworks the gluten), not whipping the butter and sugar long enough, or adding extra wet ingredients (like adding sour cream or applesauce to make cake "extra moist"). If the balance of wet and dry ingredients is off, this can cause a change in texture, preventing your cake from rising properly in the oven.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cake to sink in the middle.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry puree
- 21 ounces strawberries, if frozen, thaw
Cake
- 3 cups (336 g) cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (345 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 large (180 g) egg whites, or ¾ cup liquid egg whites, room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) whole milk, room temperature
- ¾ cup (190 g) strawberry puree
Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3.5 cups (400 g) confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (63 g) strawberry puree
Instructions
Strawberry puree
- Hull and halve strawberries and add to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. You should have about 2 cups of strawberry puree.
- Add to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 25 to 35 minutes, or until mixture has reduced by half and looks thick (like tomato paste).
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (warm puree will ruin the cake batter and melt the frosting). Optionally, puree can be made the day before and refrigerated.
- Divide the cooled strawberry puree into ¾ cup for the cake batter and ¼ cup for the frosting and set aside.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13x18 or 9x13 cake pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk (or sift) together the dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and granulated sugar, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add egg whites, one at a time, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, until all ingredients are just incorporated and batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
- Add ¾ cup of prepared strawberry puree and stir gently until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan and spread into an even layer.
- 9x13 baking pan: 34-40 minutes13x18 half sheet pan: 18-21 minutesBake cakes, using time estimates above, until cake pops back in the center when gently pressed down, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back dry or with dry crumbs, not wet batter. Ovens can run hot or cold, so I recommend relying more on how your cake looks and less on time.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add half of the confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Add remaining confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add salt, vanilla extract, and strawberry puree and mix until fully incorporated.
- Spread frosting in an even layer onto cooled cake.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- If your strawberry puree looks thin and watery after 35 minutes, keep cooking. Finished mixture will look thick, like jam or tomato paste.
- Strawberry puree makes enough puree for the cake and frosting. If you'd like to make a non-strawberry frosting, reduce the strawberries to 16 ounces. Add ¼ cup of whole milk to the listed frosting recipe for a vanilla buttercream.
- Assembled cake is best served the same day as baking for best flavor and texture, but will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature.
- Cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then allow to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!