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This one-bowl, no-mixer Fresh Strawberry Cake comes together quickly, has a tender, moist crumb and lots of fabulous fresh strawberries!
Do you have one recipe that you HAVE to make each year when the local strawberry season rolls around? This fabulous Fresh Strawberry Cake is always on my "must-make" list. Of course, it doesn't hurt a bit that it comes together in less than 15 minutes (hands-on time) and turns out pretty as a picture!
A delicious but fleeting season
At this time of year, I find myself buying a big bucket of strawberries quite frequently. It's just the two of us, for the most part, but the strawberry season passes so quickly that I want to enjoy them in every way possible. And as fast as I buy them we devour them, either on their own or with yogurt, in salads, bars, pizza (yes!), jam, galettes...
Is it blog-worthy?
You might be surprised to know that there are a LOT of recipes I make that never appear on the blog. I'm forever trying new things, but it's only a few that meet the standard of being "blog-worthy". That's definitely the highest accolade and we find ourselves describing many recipes as "good but just not blog-worthy".
But this cake... this Easy Fresh Strawberry Cake had us smitten with the first bite and we declared it immediately to be a "blog-worthy keeper"! Everyone we've served it to has gone crazy over the fabulous fresh strawberry flavor and moist, tender crumb.
I love that because this cake isn't overly sweet and it can be served for breakfast or brunch as well as making a lovely light dessert.
Ridiculously Easy
If you've been following the Café for a while now, you might be thinking that "Ridiculously Easy" is our mantra. And that is 100% correct! We have a large category of recipes that we've dubbed with this moniker and we've grown to love this simple manner of cooking as much as our readers do. You can read more about our RE recipes in this post but my condensed definition is: "Recipes that make you look like a kitchen rock star with minimal effort on your part."
This Fresh Strawberry Cake definitely fits the Ridiculously Easy bill with just one bowl and no mixer needed. We love how the simple ingredient list (eggs, sugar, oil, flour and buttermilk) allows the berries to shine and be the star of every bite.
Diced strawberries are studded throughout the cake while pretty halved berries on the top make a beautiful, rustic presentation.
No icing needed
No icing is necessary for this delicious strawberry cake, but I like to give it a sprinkle of powdered sugar for a delicious and pretty finishing touch.
Don't let this strawberry season pass without making this easy, amazing Ridiculously Easy Fresh Strawberry Cake. I think it will go on your "must-make" list too each spring when the sweet, delicious crimson berries show up!
Café Tips for making this Easy Fresh Strawberry Cake
- If your berries are a mixture of sizes, use the large berries for dicing and pick out the prettiest and most uniform size berries for the top. I like to use a medium-size strawberries for topping the cake.
- Make sure you have a fairly deep 9-inch cake pan for this recipe. An 8-inch is too small. I really like these OXO Good Grip Cake Pans. They're super sturdy, come out of the dishwasher beautifully and will last a lifetime (unless, of course, you're a crazy cook like I am; maybe just half of a lifetime in that case!).
- If you want to use powdered sugar on top of the cake, add it no more than an hour before serving. Otherwise, the powdered sugar tends to "melt" into the cake.
- Grease your pan well with baking spray. Baking spray is a mixture of flour and shortening, which keeps the cake from sticking in the pan better than a simple oil spray.
- This recipe also calls for lining the pan with parchment paper. This ensures that the cake releases from the pan without leaving any little chunks of cake stuck. I love these pre-cut parchment paper circles. They save lots of time and make baking cakes a little easier.
- Every oven is a little different so it's best to judge doneness with a toothpick or, even better, with an instant thermometer. The internal temperature of the cake when it's done should be 205-210˚F.
- This Easy Fresh Strawberry Cake makes a fabulous dessert, but it's not overly sweet, so it's also wonderful for breakfast and brunch and would make a delicious sweet treat for an afternoon tea. It's one of those any-time-of-the-day cakes!
- Leave the cake unadorned or sprinkle with a shower of powdered sugar. For a really pretty presentation circle the cake with some tiny fresh flowers and greenery. I cheated a little and found some wild blackberry bushes in bloom. I thought they looked a lot like strawberry blossoms so I used them around the perimeter of the cake for a fun and festive touch!
Thought for the day:
For I am the Lord your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
The first bite of this amazingly delicious, super easy, Fresh Strawberry Cake will blow you away. And you can have this one-bowl, no-mixer dessert in the oven in less than 15 minutes!
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup mild-flavored oil sunflower, safflower, avocado, corn, vegetable, grapeseed or canola oils will all work
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup diced strawberries
- 8 medium whole strawberries
- powdered sugar for dusting optional, for dusting
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Preheat oven to 350˚Spray a 9-inch cake pan with baking spray. Rub with a paper towel to coat all of the surfaces and line the pan with a circle of parchment paper. Set the pan on a piece of foil and wrap it around the outside of the pan, leaving the top open (this will prevent the outside of the cake from getting too brown). Set aside.
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Set the diced strawberries on several thicknesses of paper towels.
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In a medium-large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar for about 1 minute until sugar is well incorporated and the mixture is smooth and pale yellow.
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Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla, baking powder and salt. Whisk until smooth.
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Sprinkle the flour over the top and whisk just until the mixture is smooth and lumps have disappeared. Transfer half of the mixture to the prepared pan and spread to an even layer.
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Sprinkle the diced berries over the batter then add the remaining batter and smooth the surface. Top with berry halves (cut side down), evenly distributing over the surface and pressing them down just slightly into the batter.
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Bake for 45-55 minutes until cake springs back when lightly touched in the center and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a plate and immediately invert again onto a cooling rack so that the strawberry side is up.
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Cool completely and then sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.
See Café Tips above in the post for additional instructions and more detailed tips.
Adapted from Natasha’s Kitchen
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Nanci says
Am anxious to try this for my company this week. I made a very similar case from another blog. The differences were that the strawberries were just on the top of the cake and therefore not throughout which I want. It also called for butter not oil. Turbanado sugar was sprinkled on the top before baking which gave it a nice crunch coating. Also it used a 9” springform pan and that worked well.
So I will follow your recipe and report back but use the springform and add the sugar topping.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Enjoy, Nanci!
Nanci says
I made this cake as written except for using a springform pan and adding turbinado sugar sprinkle on top before baking. Everyone loved it, and especially served with vanilla ice cream. For some reason even though I used a toothpick to check doneness, the very center was a little gooey. Would you suggest using a temperature gauge instead? This is a keeper!!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Nanci, so happy you enjoyed this recipe.
Two tips to ensure the center of your cake is done - first of all, if you're strawberries are really juicy, you can drain them a bit by placing the cut berries on several thicknesses of paper towels before folding them into the cake.
Second, use an instant thermometer to ensure doneness instead of the toothpick trick. The temperature in the center of the cake should read 200-210˚F.
Karin Hicks says
Hi Chris, what a wonderful cake. I have made it and it disappeared very quickly with people quickly packing up leftovers to take home!
Please could you add the conversion button to metric. Much easier for us Europeans! Many thanks in advance.
Love and blessings, Karin
Chris Scheuer says
So happy you enjoyed it, Karin! We love this one so much!
I have added the metric conversion, thanks for pointing that out.
Julie Symmes says
Yet another delightful recipe. This beautiful and delicious cake was the perfect ending to a special birthday lunch for a girlfriend. It is simple to prepare, so pretty to present, and everyone wanted to take home an extra slice or two! Thanks, Chris!
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment, Julie. I'm so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Cindy Wingrove says
I am going to make your Easy Fresh Strawberry Cake for Easter. I have a 9”” spring form pan but not a regular 9” cake pan. I think this would work just fine but thought I’d ask your expert opinion anyway! Thank you for all your delicious recipes!
Easter Blessings to you and your family,
Cindy
Chris Scheuer says
I think it should be fine, Cindy!
Priya says
I have made this cake about a dozen times this summer, and it comes out perfectly every time. It is the easiest cake I have ever made. Everyone loves it every time. I’m not even a great baker and now I e developed this reputation as one as a result of this cake (I give you credit every time).
I used this for a double layer birthday cake a couple times, once using homemade butter cream and the other time with homemade whipped cream. I think the whipped cream was better. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. I love your blog, both the recipes and the inspiration for prayer.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Priya! I'm so glad you're enjoying this recipe.
Mariana W. says
Hello! Could this recipe be doubled and made in a 9x13 pan?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Mariana, I would think that should work fine although I haven't tested the recipe in a 9x13 pan so I can't tell you the baking time.
marion says
Your recipes feel like cheating - my friends and family are always so impressed and act like I must've slaved away in the kitchen. I have made this recipe three times already - once with strawberries (per the recipe), and yesterday I made two with a mix of blueberries and raspberries.
The cake took longer to cook (which other commenters have mentioned), but that didn't bother me. Cake will cook eventually! I am in the Canadian PNW, and I think each time I baked the cake for around an hour and twenty minutes. I dip a thin metal rod (dont have toothpicks) and when it comes out clean I know it's done. So if you're trying this recipe, don't worry too much about the cooking time--your local climate, home and appliances will affect all of that. Just let it keep cooking until it comes out clean.
I think the mix of raspberries and blueberries is my favourite--the tartness of the raspberries plays well with the sweet blueberries and the buttermilk crumb ties it all nicely together. In case this helps anyone here's a list of minor modifications I made:
Flour: 1 cup cake flour, 1 cup AP white flour
Berries: A cup and a 1/2 (TOTAL so for the topping as well) when making the blueberry/raspberry mix
Oil: half grapeseed, half olive oil (i have a California olive oil i'm trying to use up, works great in cakes!)
Read all the cafe tips, they are so useful. I dried all the berries as much as possible before putting them on the cake so the water wouldn't affect the batter.
Amazing recipe, thank you from Vancouver, BC!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a detailed comment, Marion! I'm sure others will find it helpful.
Catherine Sanna says
I over bought on strawberries this year, so have been seeking out recipes. I made your cake tonight. Delicious. Thanks for the tip of using a thermometer to test doneness. I've also made two batches of your strawberry freezer jam. Thank you for the detailed tips. They really help.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for letting us know, Catherine!