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!
Table Of Contents
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.
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!
- 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.
Strawberry Cake
With 500g / 1lb strawberries IN and ON the cake, this really is bursting with fresh strawberry flavour! This may well be the fastest and easiest cake recipe you'll make this year. Yogurt keeps the crumb beatifully tender and moist, and it keeps perfectly for days.
Instructions
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!
Notes
1. Bake time - I know 200°C/390°F (180°C fan) sounds high for a cake, but for this one it needs a higher temp. If your oven runs weak so it takes longer to bake, it can really affect the bake time of this cake due to the juiciness of the strawberries! At 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) it took me 30 minutes longer, and a bit more moist inside (but still a terrific soft tender crumb).
2. Different measures in different countries - tablespoon and cup sizes differ slightly from country to country. In most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome of the recipe, but for baking recipes, you do need to be careful.
This cake recipe is forgiving enough such that the difference in cups won't matter - I've made it mixing up US and Australian cups (the greatest size variance) and the outcome was exactly the same.
3. Storage - keeps well for 5 days, the crumb stays nice and moist thanks to the yogurt and oil. If it's hot and humid where you are, keep it in the fridge and bring to room temp before serving. If it's cold where you are, it doesn't need to be kept in the fridge. Also freezes 100% perfectly.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271calSodium: 22mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 2gSugar: 20gProtein: 4g
