This Homemade Strawberry Cake is soft, sweet, and full of fresh strawberry flavor. And luckily, it is an easy cake that feels special enough for birthdays, holidays, or spring and summer gatherings.
This delicious 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 moist, easy strawberry cake layers and a creamy strawberry frosting make it phenomenal.
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!
If you love fruity desserts, try our Strawberry Shortcake or Strawberry Cupcakes.
Why you’ll love it + Why it works:
- Fresh Strawberry Flavor: There are fresh strawberries in the cake batter and the frosting for extra flavor and freshness!
- Easy to Make: Uses a cake mix base for simple prep. This cake is made easily but does NOT skimp on flavor.
- Boosted Flavor: Gelatin enhances the strawberry taste and color.
- Moist Texture: Oil and strawberries keep the cake soft.
- Smooth Frosting: The puree blends into a creamy, spreadable frosting.
Strawberry Cake Ingredients
Cake
- White cake mix (1 package): Provides a simple base for the cake. Do NOT use the instructions or ingredients listed on the box. Only use the white cake mix and follow the recipe ingredients and instructions.
- Strawberry gelatin (1 package): Boosts the strawberry flavor and color.
- Sugar (3 tablespoons): Adds extra sweetness.
- All-purpose flour (3 tablespoons): Helps improve the cake texture. See How to Measure Flour.
- Water (1 cup): Combines the ingredients into a smooth batter.
- Canola oil (½ cup): Keeps the cake moist and soft.
- Eggs (2): Adds structure and helps bind the batter.
- Strawberries (1 cup, chopped): Adds fresh flavor and texture.
Frosting
- Butter (½ cup): Creates a creamy frosting base. See How to Soften Butter Quickly.
- Strawberries (½ cup, pureed): Adds natural strawberry flavor to the frosting.
- Powdered sugar (4½-5 cups): Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- 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 white cake mix, strawberry gelatin, sugar, and flour.
In a small bowl, whisk 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 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 butter until light and fluffy. Stir 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.
For a sturdier and pipeable 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 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.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Fresh strawberries: Use fresh, ripe strawberries for the best flavor.
- Tendr batter: Do not overmix the batter to keep the cake soft.
- Cool cakes: Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
- Crumb coating: Frost on a thin layer of frosting to help “seal” the crumbs before completely frosting.
- Smooth frosting: Add powdered sugar gradually to control frosting consistency.
- Different baking pan: Bake cupcakes at 350°F for about 20 minutes. Bake in a 9×13-inch pan at 325°F for about 32-37 minutes.
- Add a filling: Add a layer of Strawberry Jam or fresh slices of strawberries in between the homemade strawberry cake layers.
Easy Strawberry Cake Recipe
Video
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.
Notes
- Fresh strawberries: Use fresh, ripe strawberries for the best flavor.
- Tendr batter: Do not overmix the batter to keep the cake soft.
- Cool cakes: Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
- Crumb coating: Frost on a thin layer of frosting to help “seal” the crumbs before completely frosting.
- Smooth frosting: Add powdered sugar gradually to control frosting consistency.
- Different baking pan: Bake cupcakes at 350°F for about 20 minutes. Bake in a 9×13-inch pan at 325°F for about 32-37 minutes.
- Add a filling: Add a layer of Strawberry Jam or fresh slices of strawberries in between the homemade strawberry cake layers.
- 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.
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.
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This recipe was first shared July, 2020.
HOLA Lil Luna, mi nombre es Aura Zavarce, te quiero preguntar, si esta receta de 1x alcanza para 2 moldes de 8″/20cms. te pregunto porque AL DUPLICAR LA RECETA TAMBIEN VEO QUE RINDE PARA 2 MOLDES DE 8″. GRACIAS DE ANTEMANO POR TU RESPUESTA.
¡Hola, Aura! La función 2x solo duplica las cantidades de los ingredientes. Los pasos de la receta también deberán ajustarse según sea necesario. Si la receta original se prepara en 2 moldes de 8 pulgadas, al duplicarla necesitarás 4 moldes de 8 pulgadas. ¡Espero que esto te sea de ayuda! (The 2x feature only multiplies the ingredients. You will have to adjust any steps accordingly. So, if the recipe originally uses 2- 8inch pans, then you will need 4 pans when you double it.)
Is this cake dense? Also, if I make the frosting ahead of time, should I let it come to room temperature before putting it on the cake?
The cake is soft and moist, not dense, with a light texture from the strawberry flavoring. If you make the frosting ahead, let it come to room temperature and give it a quick stir before spreading it on the cake.
Can this recipe be used in a bundt cake pan?
Yes, you can bake this cake in a Bundt pan. The main adjustments are to grease and flour the pan well, and increase the baking time to approximately 40-50 minutes.
This strawberry cake is FANTASTIC! And easy. Thank you so much!
You are so welcome! Thank you for trying it!
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.
Looks & sounds delish.
This may be a dumb question but did you use ap or sr flour?
I use all-purpose 🙂 Enjoy!!
This was easy to make. I made it for my daughters birthday. She loved it! I will definitely make this again!
I am happy to hear that! Thank you for trying it!
I’m making this rIght now for Our Labor Day bbq. Wish me luck! Im doing The two layers in a 9×13 pan since there will be lOts of people. It smells delicious as its baking!! Thanks for the great recipe! It was super easy to make!
You are so welcome! I hope it’s a hit! Thank you for trying it!
I made this for my birthday. I would probably not use quite as much frosting as I did the first time. the cake was really good and i would DEFINITELY make it again.
StrawBerry cake reminds me of summertime. Light and fresh and full of strawberries. So good!
This looks like something I would love! Can’t wait to try it.
Such a cute cake but also delicious. This seriously highlights strawberries!
The softest cake ever! My favorite is the creamy frosting! We used this for a birthday cake & it was a hit!
This was such a light and fluffy cake! Was the exact fix for my sweet tooth; looking forward to enjoying this for dessert again tonight!