Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake
This delicious from scratch Homemade Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake is made with roasted strawberries and it contains no artificial colors or flavors. Paired with fluffy strawberry cream cheese frosting, this fresh strawberry cake makes a beautiful, and tasty, treat for any occasion.
This Homemade Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake is the perfect cake to celebrate any occasion! The cake is made up of a delicious strawberry flavored cake made with fresh, roasted strawberries – no artificial flavors or colors here. The cake is topped with a quick and easy fluffy strawberry cream cheese frosting. This moist and fluffy cake is bursting with sweet strawberry flavor that is perfectly complemented by the tangy cream cheese frosting.
For more strawberry desserts, check out this Strawberry Lemon Tart, Strawberry Crumble Cookies, and these delicious Strawberry Swirl Fudge Brownies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- Made with roasted strawberries to give it a more intense flavor.
- All natural – no artificial flavors or colors.
- Beautiful for any special occasion.
- A true crowd pleaser for celebrations and birthdays.
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Fresh Strawberries – Strawberries are the star of the show here. Try to find red, ripe, sweet strawberries for this cake recipe.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by mixing ¾ cup whole or 2% milk with ¾ tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes before using it in your recipe.
- Egg Whites – Cartoned egg white or separated eggs work perfectly fine in this recipe. If you use whole eggs, save the yolks for another recipe.
- Vanilla Extract – Always use pure vanilla extract (not imitation) for the best tasting baked treats!
- Freeze Dried Strawberries – Freeze dried strawberries add a lot of flavor without making the frosting too runny. They also make the frosting a gorgeous pink color! I find freeze dried strawberries at my local grocery store or you can order them online.
- Cream Cheese – Use full fat cream cheese for a rich frosting.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
This strawberry cake recipe is essentially a white cake that has strawberry puree added into the batter. Using high-quality ingredients is key to producing a high-quality cake. However, it is even more important to understand how to combine those ingredients and the mixing procedures involved. Even the smallest error can result in a cake with undesired texture and volume. To make this strawberry cake, we will be using the creaming method. The creaming method is one of the most popular methods for mixing high-fat cakes. This method produces moist cakes with fine crumbs. Don’t be intimidated though, I will walk you through all of the steps to make sure your homemade strawberry cake turns out perfectly!
- Make roasted strawberry puree. Slice the strawberries and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and roast for about 20 minutes. Remove the strawberries from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Puree the roasted strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Sprinkle sliced strawberries with sugar and roast. Remove the strawberries from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Puree the roasted strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Prepare strawberry cake ingredients and pans. Place your refrigerated ingredients on the counter and allow to come to room temperature. In the meantime, prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan by greasing with butter and lightly flouring it, or spraying with nonstick spray. You can also line the baking pan with parchment paper overhanging the sides for easy removal of the cake.
- Sift the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sifting the dry ingredients will remove any clumps and create a smoother batter.
- Cream butter and sugar. Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. This should take about 8-10 minutes.
Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Combine the liquid ingredients. Combine the egg whites, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate bowl or large glass measuring cup. Whisk to combine.
Combine the egg whites, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate bowl or large glass measuring cup. Whisk to combine.
- Incorporate dry and liquid ingredients. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternating with the liquids until completely blended and smooth. Use the following order: ⅓ dry ingredients → ½ liquids → ½ dry ingredients → remaining liquids → remaining dry ingredients
Add the sifted dry ingredients alternating with the liquids until completely blended and smooth. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternating with the liquids until completely blended and smooth. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternating with the liquids until completely blended and smooth.
- Pour batter into cake pan and bake. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Cool cake. Once the cake has finished baking, remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing transferring the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
- Add the strawberries. Add the pureed strawberries and freeze dried strawberries. Mix until well combined.
- Mix in the confectioners sugar and salt. Carefully add the confectioners sugar and salt. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Assemble the cake. Once the cake has cooled, top with the sheet cake with the frosting.
EXPERT TIPS
- This cake is best served right away or at room temperature – if you are preparing the cake in advance, keep it in the refrigerator. Before you are ready to serve the cake, remove it from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Egg whites are used rather than whole eggs to give the cake a fluffier texture.
- The strawberries are roasted to help intensify the strawberry flavor in the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the best results, you should opt for fresh strawberries! Many strawberry cake recipes use frozen strawberries or strawberry flavored gelatin to get an intense flavor. That classic strawberry flavor can be achieved by using fresh strawberries. The process is very easy and doesn’t have any artificial flavors or colorings that are found in flavored gelatin.
Roasting the strawberries before pureeing them intensifies their flavor. To make the puree, simply sprinkle sugar over sliced strawberries and roast. Once out of the oven, place the strawberries in a blender or food process and puree. Let the mixture cool before using it in the recipe.
Since this strawberry cake recipe uses fresh strawberries, the batter will be slightly pink and once baked, the color will barely show but the flavor will still be there!! If you would like a pink tinted cake, mix in a couple of drops of pink food coloring to the batter before pouring into the baking pan.
If you have any leftovers, you will need to cover and store your cake in the refrigerator. This Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake can be stored for up to 1 week covered in the refrigerator.Â
Yes! Click here to make this sheet cake into a Strawberry Layer Cake.
More recipes you’ll love!
Strawberry Sheet Cake
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Food processor
- 9×13-inch baking pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound sliced strawberries about 2 cups
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 6 egg whites about 1 cup, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
- 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add the sliced strawberries to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar onto the strawberries. Toss them gently then roast in the the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add the strawberries to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about ½ cup puree.
- Keep the oven at 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 9×13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on low speed until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the strawberry puree, buttermilk, egg whites, and vanilla until well combined.
- On low speed, add â…“ of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, then half of the wet. Add half of the remaining dry, then liquids. Finish with remaining dry ingredients. Beat until smooth.
- Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan before frosting.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- To make the frosting, add freeze dried strawberries and 1 cup of the powdered sugar to blender or food processor. Process until powder. Transfer to a separate bowl with the remaining powdered sugar. Next, add the fresh strawberries to the blender. Process until smooth. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on high speed for about 1 minute, or until smooth and creamy. Beat in the strawberry puree. Gradually add the powdered sugar and salt. Beat on medium-high speed until completely smooth and fluffy.
- Assemble the cake: Spread it onto your cooled cake with an offset spatula. Serve right away or store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
- Fresh Strawberries: For the best results, you should opt for fresh strawberries! Many strawberry cake recipes use frozen strawberries or strawberry flavored gelatin to get an intense flavor. That classic strawberry flavor can be achieved by using fresh strawberries. The process is very easy and doesn’t have any artificial flavors or colorings that are found in flavored gelatin.
- Roasting Strawberries: Roasting the strawberries before pureeing them intensifies their flavor. To make the puree, simply sprinkle sugar over sliced strawberries and roast. Once out of the oven, place the strawberries in a blender or food process and puree. Let the mixture cool before using it in the recipe.
- Pink Strawberry Cake: Since this strawberry cake recipe uses fresh strawberries, the batter will be slightly pink and once baked, the color will barely show but the flavor will still be there!! If you would like a pink tinted cake, mix in a couple of drops of pink food coloring to the batter before pouring into the baking pan.
- Storage: If you have any leftovers, you will need to cover and store your cake in the refrigerator. This Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake can be stored for up to 1 week covered in the refrigerator.Â
- Strawberry Layer Cake: Click here to learn how to make this sheet cake into a Strawberry Layer Cake.Â
