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Our homemade strawberry cake elevates a box cake mix with fresh berries and flavor all topped with a fresh strawberry buttercream!
Strawberry Cake made easy
This delicious homemade strawberry cake is made easy using one of our favorite shortcuts – A CAKE MIX! Now don’t worry, we took that cake mix base and elevated it to a whole new level!! You won’t even recognize it. 😉
The combination of the moist cake with the creamy Strawberry Frosting is fresh and delicious. The strawberry flavor is very rich. It’s the perfect summertime cake for all of your potlucks, BBQs, and birthday parties.
After frosting this cake, we like to put it into the fridge before serving. It tastes delicious after being chilled, and it makes it easier to cut into slices. Even better – serve it with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream and strawberries on the side!
WHY WE LOVE IT:
- That color!!! The beautiful pink color is stunning – perfect for holidays (especially Valentine’s Day) and summer!
- Cake mix shortcut. This cake is made easy but does NOT skimp on flavor. It’s elevated and delicious!
- Berries. There are fresh strawberries in the cake batter and the frosting for extra flavor and freshness!
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 30 minutes
COOK TIME: 25 minutes
Cake
- 1 (15.25-ounce) package white cake mix – Do NOT use the instructions or ingredients listed on the box. Only use the white cake mix and follow the recipe ingredients and instructions.
- 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry gelatin – Use just the gelatin powder – do NOT add water to it before mixing in the recipe.
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour – see How to Measure Flour
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup canola oil – or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs – room temperature
- 1 cup finely chopped strawberries – fresh or frozen strawberries
Frosting
- ½ cup butter, softened – see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- ½ cup strawberries, pureed – Puree in a food processor or blender. If using frozen strawberries, thaw a bit before pureeing.
- 4½ – 5 cups powdered sugar – sifted
- optional garnish – Top with whole strawberries or Chocolate Covered Strawberries. If using sliced strawberries, don’t add until right before serving.
How to Make Strawberry Cake
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper.
- BATTER. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the box of white cake mix, 1 package of strawberry gelatin, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 tablespoons flour.
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 cup water, ½ cup oil, and 2 eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for two minutes, until well combined. Gently fold in 1 cup finely chopped strawberries.
- BAKE. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cake layers for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
- FROSTING. Beat ½ cup butter until light and fluffy. Stir in ½ cup strawberry puree and mix to combine. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, and mix until combined.
- Add additional powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, to make a frosting that is spreadable and fluffy, but not runny.
- For a sturdier and pipe-able frosting, add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until you reach the desired consistency. If the frosting is too thick, simply add a bit of milk
- DECORATE. Use an offset spatula and spread ¾ cup of frosting in between the cake layers. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides and top of the cake.
- Tip: Start with a crumb coat (a thin layer of frosting that helps “seal” in crumbs). This prevents crumbs from making an appearance in the second layer.
- Tip: Start with a crumb coat (a thin layer of frosting that helps “seal” in crumbs). This prevents crumbs from making an appearance in the second layer.
Cake Variations
- Cupcakes. Divide the batter into about 24 cupcake tins. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes. Watch carefully as bake times vary from oven to oven. Cool and frost.
- Sheet cake. Pour batter into a 9×13-inch pan. Preheat the oven to 325°F and spray the pan. Bake for 32-37 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake to check for s few moist crumbs.
- Add a filling. Add a layer of Strawberry Jam or fresh slices of strawberries in between the homemade strawberry cake layers.
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Homemade Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 (15.25-ounce) package white cake mix
- 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry gelatin
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup finely chopped strawberries
Frosting
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup strawberries, pureed
- 4½-5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round pans and line them with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the cake mix, gelatin, sugar, and flour. In a small bowl, whisk the water, oil, and eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for two minutes, until well combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the strawberry puree and mix to combine. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, and mix until combined. Add additional powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, to make a frosting that is spreadable and fluffy, but not runny.
- To assemble the cake, spread ¾ cup of frosting in between the cake layers. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides and top of the cake.
Video
Notes
- The frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month.
- The cake layers can be wrapped with plastic and stored at room temperature for 1-2 days or wrapped again with foil and stored in the freezer for 2-3 months.
- A fully decorated cake can be covered and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Store the cake and frosting separately until you’re ready to frost and serve.
Frosting. The frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month.
Cake. The cake layers can be wrapped with plastic and stored at room temperature for 1-2 days or wrapped again with foil and stored in the freezer for 2-3 months.
A fully decorated cake can be covered and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or freezer for 2-3 months.
How many cupcakes will this make?
I made this for my mom’s birthday and it was so good and people asked for the recipe.
Oh we’re so happy to hear that!!
I wanted to like this beautiful cake, but found both the cake and frosting excessively sweet and I cannot recommend it. I don’t understand why you added 3 tb of sugar to the already sweetened boxed cake mix and strawberry gelatin. So sorry.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!! Sure appreciate it!
I have baked the strawberry cake then I made a peach cake this recipe is GREAT!!! One question I messed up and got sugar free jello mix can you use it instead of the regular jello mix
You know, I have actually never tried this with sugar free jello mix. I imagine it would still work just fine. Might change the flavor a bit? You’ll have to let us know how it turns out!
I chickened out and made the trip to the grocery store. LOL
made this for a special occasion using vanilla buttercream and it was great!! Everyone loved it. Easy to make and was very moist. I will be making this again!
Yay! So glad to hear you loved the cake. Thanks for sharing!
Hi!
I love this cake it tastes amazing but I’ve made it twice now and the cake just crumbles. The minute I touch it to frost it it comes apart. So how do I get it to look as good as it tastes?
I’m so glad you love the cake. Sorry to hear about the crumbling…. There are a lot of reasons why a cake might crumble… too dry, too moist, overmixing, where you live can affect how the cake bakes… there’s lots of things. But first thing I’d suggest is to make sure your cake is completely cooled. You could even make the cake earlier, wrap tight and keep in the fridge before frosting. But just making sure it has completely cooled. And then kind of trial and error after that figuring out what might be the cause of the crumbling. 🙂
I can’t wait to make this cake for my niece baby
I can’t wait to make this for my niece birthday I will be adding some roses to here make it very pretty for her
Oh that sounds beautiful… and delicious! I hope she enjoys her cake! 🙂
Do you drain frozen strawberries before they are puréed?
You can certainly use plain frozen strawberries instead of fresh. Yes, if there is excess water after thawing them a bit (before pureeing), then you can drain that. If using frozen chopped berries for the cake, they can go directly into the cake batter, no need to thaw.
Hi what could I do to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe? As box mix and gelatin has so much sugar and then you are adding yet more sugar on top of that??
How many strawberries do you think you use for the purée ? Or is that something you buy ?
I’d use about 8 large strawberries, give or take. 1 cup of whole strawberries should break down to be about 1/2 cup of puree, which is just what the recipe calls for.