This Strawberry Cake is just about the quickest and easiest cake you will ever make. Loaded with 500g / 1 lb of strawberries IN and ON the cake, it’s a great way to use strawberries when they’re in season! Yogurt makes the crumb moist, it’s not too sweet and you’ll love the hint of lemon.
No stand mixer, no creaming butter. Just one bowl and a wooden spoon!
Strawberry cake
A pink sponge cake with pink frosting made entirely with fresh strawberries without cheating* is a recipe that’s officially been in development for 3 years.
I’m confident 2020 will be The Year when I finally crack it. I’m getting close – and I’m SUPER excited to share it with you. And while infinitely doable by any home cook, it is quite an involved recipe.
So for now, here’s the cake you make with all those strawberries – the best easy cake recipe you will ever make bursting with fresh strawberries!
* No cheating = no food colouring, no strawberry flavouring, no fancy pants ingredients like freeze dried strawberries.
The cake is made with a yogurt and oil based batter which keeps the crumb beautifully moist for days and gives it more structure than delicate sponge cakes made with creamed butter so it can stand up to the weight and considerable juices that sweat out of the strawberries.
It’s still a beautifully soft crumb, it’s just not as delicate as traditional butter and sponge cakes. I’ve used it for Blueberry Cake and this Lemon Yogurt Cake if you’d like to read feedback from people who have tried it (spoiler: it’s good!)
What goes in Strawberry Cake
So here’s what you need:
Strawberries – 500g/1 lb to be exact! Some goes in the cake, most goes on top;
Flour, sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla, salt – all the usual suspects in cakes;
Lemon – the freshness of lemon works so well in cakes made with berries! Proof -> Strawberry Cheesecake, Blueberry Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake Bars, Blueberry Lemon Loaf; and
Oil and yogurt or sour cream – as noted above, this is what keeps the crumb really moist as well as adding a touch of tang, reinforcing the brightness we get from the lemon.
How to make this easy Strawberry Cake
Being that this doesn’t have creamed butter in it, it’s a one-bowl, hand mixed batter. Whisk Wet ingredients first, then mix the dry in.
Some of the strawberries go inside the cake – not too much, I was a little overenthusiastic about this at first but the strawberries made the batter so wet and weighed it down so much it took 1 hour 40 minutes to cook! Most go on top – they hold their form pretty well but burst with juice when you bite into them.
I’m so unoriginal that whenever I see strawberries and baked goods, I immediately think cream. So for me, a (big!) dollop of freshly whipped cream is mandatory for serving.
Though recently, I really showed my wild side when I served it warm with ice cream – and it was to die for. As with most cakes, the inside is a little “pudding like” when it’s still warm from the oven (hence why most cake recipes sternly instruct you to be patient and let the cake cool fully before serving).
But for this Strawberry Cake, that “pudding like” texture with the warm strawberries just seemed to enhance the eating experience. Especially with that (adventurous! risky!) scoop of ice cream I plonked on the side.
It’s terrific both ways – at room temp OR warm. You choose! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Strawberry Cake (really easy cake recipe)
Ingredients
Strawberries
- 500g / 1 lb strawberries , hulled (ie tops removed)
WET:
- 1 cup sugar , caster/superfine best but granulated ok too
- 1/2 cup oil , canola or vegetable oil
- 2 eggs , large (~50g/1.75 oz each)
- 1 tbsp grated lemon rind
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (1 large lemon)
- 1 cup plain yoghurt , unsweetened (Greek or just plain)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
DRY:
- 2 1/4 cups flour , plain/all purpose
- 4 tsp baking powder (or 1 1/4 tsp baking soda)
- Pinch of salt
SERVING:
- Whipped cream
- Extra strawberries
- Icing sugar/ powdered sugar , for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Grease and line a 23 cm / 9" cake pan with baking paper/parchment paper. (Any type of cake pan is fine)
Strawberries:
- For inside of cake: Dice some strawberries into ~1.5cm / 1" pieces to make 1 cup (about 1/3 of the strawberries)
- Topping: Cut the remaining strawberries in half.
Cake:
- Place Wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk well for 1 minute.
- Add Dry ingredients then whisk well until lump free.
- Pour half into cake pan, smooth surface. Scatter over diced strawberries.
- Top with remaining batter. Smooth surface, then top with halved strawberries, cut face down.
- Bake 50 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. (Note 1) If you need to cook longer, cover with foil if it starts getting too golden.
- Stand 15 minutes in the cake pan before turning out onto cooling rack.
- Cool 15 minutes+ before serving warm or at room temp. Dust with icing sugar, and serve with cream or if serving warm, ice cream!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published as this Upside Down Strawberry Cake in August 2017 which, due to lack of reader interest (ie virtually ZERO readers!) and some technicality issues, has been replaced with this sparkling new easy Strawberry Cake recipe!
More strawberry recipes
Life of Dozer
When the video camera kept focussing on his big golden head instead of the darn cake!!!
I don’t know what I did wrong… I used the correct sized pan, but it rose so much it spilled over the edges and made a huge mess. That said, the flavour is incredible! I just cut the dark edges off from where it baked over the edge and ate it anyway and it was so moist and flavourful. I’m going to try it again and hopefully figure out what I did wrong.
Hi Shannon, sounds like you mis-measured the baking powder – you definitely used 4 teaspoons of making powder (or 1 1/4 tsp bi carb)? N x
Nagi, I checked and my pan was only 8 inches! I’m going to get a 9 inch pan and make it again!
Either way, it is delicious and the best use of my backyard strawberries so far this summer 🙂
Wonderful and easy. I was a bit anxious – took an extra 30 mins and used low fat plain yoghurt – still worked beautifully. Dare say tasted better the next day too!
Your your strawberry cake was amazing. What was even more amazing was that I managed it without stuffing it up, as I am a self-confessed terrible baker.
I subbed plain yoghurt for coconut yoghurt as my daughter is lactose free. Was enjoyed by all. Will definitely be baking it again. Love the daily Dozer updates too. He is ADORABLE.
Your your strawberry cake was amazing. What was even more amazing was that I managed it without stuffing it up, as I am a self-confessed terrible baker.
I subbed plain yoghurt for coconut yoghurt as my daughter is lactose free. Was enjoyed by all. Will definitely be baking it again. Love the daily diaper updates too. He is ADORABLE.
Hi Nagi, this looks amazing. Could I sub fresh plums for strawberries? Or would they give off too much juice? Thanks (I have a glut of plums at the moment)
Oh I haven’t tried Alyson – would love to know if this works (I imagine it would!) N x
Oh Nagi, this looks lovely! I don’t have strawberries, I DO have blueberries. I think I’ll try this with blueberries, what do you think?
Hi Jody – it will work perfectly as this cake is based off this recipe too https://salesdock.info/blueberry-lemon-yoghurt-cake/%3C/a%3E N x
Delicious cake recipe! I tried it last night for a family dinner, and needed a quick & easy recipe so I tried this. I only had sweetened yoghurt in the fridge (Gippsland plain smooth & creamy) so I halved the amount of caster sugar, but everything else was the same. It was great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Thank you Nagi once again!
I managed to ruin this ! I added extra oil as the mix looked too thick and added half the strawberries inside. It didn’t cook in the middle even with lots of extra time. Mine tasted like rancid oil !! Next time i’ll try again with good oil and blueberries/ lemon and actually follow the recipe!!!
I made the Massaman beef at the same time ( half my problem , along with the bubbles I was consuming! ) Massaman beef was brilliant 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I too made the Strawberry Cake last night. My husband is not a huge fan of cake or strawberries (unheard of), but he absolutely loved it. Beautifully moist with a hint of lemon.
Thank you 😌
You’ve totally converted him Judi! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it 🙂 N x
I made your lovely cake yesterday ,my husband absolutely loved it ,cannot stop eating it ,it was so moist and came out perfect .He ask me to email you and thank for all your wonderful recipes that we enjoy so much . J&J
Than you so much Jen, that’s so lovely to hear ❤️
I made this in the UK, had to convert the cup measurement to grams but has come out beautifully. Not too sweet just perfect!
Hi Ceri – you can use the metric button on my page to convert any recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake though 🙂 N x
Whipped this up very quickly yesterday for 8. Made it a little in advance then popped it in the microwave for 3 mins to warm before serving (with vanilla ice cream). It was lush! Everyone raves about it. One slice left for my breakfast
Can I use less sugar? What do you suggest for a substitute or add along with less sugar?
Hi Mary, the cake isn’t super sweet as it is – I haven’t tried with less sugar or any substitutes sorry! N x
Can you use a sugar substitute?
The cake is delicious, but I have a question about baking temperature. Are you suppose to bake it at 390F or 350F for 50 minutes?
Hi Melinda, 390, however if your oven runs cooler it may take up to 30 minutes longer. N x
Made this tonight – looks just like yours and tastes fabulous-especially decedent with fresh strawberry sauce and ice cream. I have a feeling that it will all be gone by the time I get up in the morning. Thank you yet again for another delicious recipe.
Wahoo, I’m so glad it’s a hit!! N x
Absolutely delicious, it was a complete hit, the family loved it!! Thanks Nagi, another keeper xx
That’s great to hear Raelene! N x
Looks beautiful Nagi. Can we use frozen strawberries?
Hi Janis, yes you can, but thaw first 🙂 N x
If doubling recipe, could I use. 9 x 13 pan?
Hi Mary, I imagine this would work fine – you’d just need to adjust the cook time. N x
Hi Nagi,
I cooked this recipe yesterday! and Oh my lord it was supermegadelish!!
So moist and the flavour was so good!
Thanks for the advice about the temperature of the oven, my cake had to be in for an extra 30minutes, and I covered it with foil, as you said, :-), and it was perfect!
I’m so glad you loved it!! N x
I must be the only one who had a disaster. Dry, tasteless even with loads of sugar sprinkled on top. I will try to make a simple syrup with some lemon zest to improve it. It is a large cake – too bad.
Hi Roanne, sorry you are having problems here – did you make any changes to the recipe by any chance? It definitely should be dry to tasteless. N x
It SHOULD be dry and tasteless? Well then, the recipe worked. I made no changes.