Description
This fresh strawberry cake is moist, tender, and bursting with strawberry flavor. If you’ve been searching for a strawberry layer cake, this is the one! It’s a beginner-friendly recipe that bakes up beautifully every time, making it the perfect dessert for spring and summer —or any birthday celebration!
Ingredients
- 1 Box Strawberry Cake Mix (Duncan Hines)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3 Eggs (Room Temperature)
- 1/4 cup Strawberry Puree (Notes)
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (Melted)
- 3/4 cup Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Strawberry Extract/Emulsion
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep: Preheat oven to 345°F. Prepare (4) 6 inch cake pans or (3) 8 inch cake pans with baking spray or a homemade pan release. You can also use parchment paper rounds at the bottom of the pans for extra insurance.
- Melt Butter: In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter at 15-30 second intervals until completely melted. Set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: Measure sour cream and milk into a small, microwave-safe bowl. If not already at room temperature, microwave for 30 seconds to bring to room temperature and set aside.
- Strawberry Puree: If not close to room temperature, thaw the frozen strawberries in the microwave. Use a small food processor to create the strawberry puree. This should only take about 15 seconds to get to the right puree consistency. Set aside.
- Eggs: If eggs are not room temperature, add whole eggs into a bowl with warm water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Crack eggs into a separate bowl, and set aside. Doing this gives you a chance to fish out any unwanted egg shells!
- Dry Ingredients: Add flour, sugar, strawberry cake mix, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk or spoon to gently combine the dry ingredients.
- One Bowl: Combine all ingredients into the larger bowl containing the dry ingredients, including the strawberry puree. Don’t forget to add the vegetable oil, strawberry extract or emulsion, and vanilla extract (or imitation vanilla)!
- Mix It Up! Whisk or mix ingredients together with an electric hand mixer
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, starting on low and increasing speed to med-high. Scraping bowl periodically to make sure all ingredients are incorporating and not stuck on the bottom. Mix until batter is smooth and fluffy, usually 1-2 minutes! - Pour into Pans: Pour batter into prepared cake pans. If you can, use a food scale
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to evenly distribute batter between pans for consistent cake layer size. - Bake: Bake for 30-35 min for 6 inch pans, and 28-33 min for 8 inch pans. Insert a toothpick or knife into the center of the cake – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, it’s good to go. You can also gently press your finger into the top of the cake, if it springs back slowly, it’s done!
- Cooling: Let cakes cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, and transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Buttercream: Try this American Buttercream Recipe or Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting to bring these beautiful strawberry cake layers together!
Equipment
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Fat Daddio’s Cake Pan (6 Inch)
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Notes
Make sure the frozen strawberries aren’t rock solid before tossing them into the food processor. Let them sit out for about an hour, or pop them in the microwave to thaw. If you want chunkier pieces, just pulse the processor a few times. For a smoother purée with no chunks—just a boost of flavor—blend for about 15 seconds.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe
For a taller cake, use the (4) 6 inch cake pans.
Keep in mind, all oven’s bake differently. I highly recommend an oven thermometer for oven temperature accuracy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American