Strawberry Sheet Cake has plenty of fresh strawberries in the cake and the frosting. This pretty cake is a crowd-pleaser all spring and summer long!
If you love strawberries, then this Strawberry Sheet Cake is for you! This beauty is jam-packed with strawberries in both the cake and the frosting. The whole package is an easy-to-make dessert that’s sure to become a favorite for berry season.
I just love strawberry desserts, and I also love the simplicity of one-layer cakes. This cake has both of those things going for it. Plus, it’s just as delicious as it is gorgeous!
Tips for Success
- Measure accurately. Use a kitchen scale to measure by weight if possible.
- Use a light-colored metal pan. That will give you the most evenly baked cake. Dark pans will bake the outside edges and the bottom faster, potentially leaving the center under-baked.
- Pay attention to the mixing method. You may recognize this method of mixing as the muffin method. This method of mixing is often used when there’s less sugar in a recipe. With all the strawberries in the batter, you can make this cake with less sugar than a more traditional cake. Mixing the batter this way will mix everything well while still giving a soft crumb.
- Use fresh strawberries if possible. I will almost always use fresh fruits in baking if possible. The flavor and texture is just so lovely. If you must use frozen, be sure to rinse and dry them very well.
- Don’t skip the buttermilk. It helps make give this cake its wonderful texture and flavor. If you need a substitute in a pinch, try one of these buttermilk substitutes.
- Adjust the sweetness of the frosting to your tastes. With all those sweet strawberries in there, I prefer to dial back the sugar for a little less sweet frosting. If you’d prefer your frosting a little sweeter, you can add up to another 3/4 cup of sugar to suit your tastes.
- Refrigerate any leftovers. Cream cheese frostings generally don’t hold up very well at room temperature. Tightly covered, this cake should keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, wrap tightly and freeze it. Thaw slices overnight in the refrigerator. Bring the refrigerated cake to room temperature before serving.
This is such a pretty cake with its strawberry-filled frosting. It’s sure to be an eye-catcher! You can top it with even more fresh strawberries, but I usually keep it simple with no extra garnish. The frosting is so pretty that I hate to cover it!
Keep this cake in mind for your spring and summer celebrations. From Mother’s Day and Memorial Day all the way until Labor Day, do yourself a favor and make this Strawberry Sheet Cake every chance you get!
More Strawberry Cake Recipes
- Strawberry Crunch Cake
- Lemon Strawberry Shortcake
- Berry Vanilla Cake
- Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
Strawberry Sheet Cake
This pretty Strawberry Sheet Cake will satisfy all your strawberry cravings!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 & 1/4 cups (270g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup (158ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (approx. 160g) strawberry preserves
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (113g) chopped fresh strawberries
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 & 3/4 cups (413g) confectioners' sugar, sifted*
- 1 cup (170g) chopped fresh strawberries
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9"x 13"x 2" baking pan.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, preserves, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the well in the flour mixture, and stir to combine. Stir in strawberries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack.
To make the frosting:
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, mixing until combined. Stir in the strawberries.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
*Add up to another 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar if you want a sweeter frosting.
Recipe adapted from Bake from Scratch.
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11 Comments on “Strawberry Sheet Cake”
YUM! I love strawberry desserts! This sheet cake looks delicious!
Fresh strawberries in the cake AND the frosting! Brilliant! I’m in. Jennifer, I was thinking that I’d like to make this in a 10 x 15 sheet pan like your wonderful banana bars with browned butter icing – which is still a favourite here all these years later and in my regular rotation (thank you for that recipe!). I’ve compared the two recipes and it looks like I could do it but I want to check with you first. My question is would you make any changes to the strawberry cake recipe to make it in a jelly roll pan (10 x 15) instead of a 9 x 13? Thank you!
Hi, Maria! You’ll need to reduce the baking time because the cake won’t be as thick. I’d probably check for doneness after 20 minutes. You may also want to make more frosting because you’ll have more surface to frost. I’d try scaling the frosting by 25%.
Thank you so much, Jennifer! I will definitely modify the recipe taking those two things into account. So excited to be making this for a large family dinner Sunday (also the banana bars!) – long May two-four weekend here in Canada :). For a crowd, I find the bar form easier to serve, and easier for people to eat instead of cake. Not very dignified, I know, but I can place small squares on the platters with other bars and cookies and they can use their fingers – napkins will be plentiful! Thank you again ;).
I’ll be trying this next!
Enjoy! 🙂
Late question. Could I use a yellow cake mix and just add the preserves?
Hi, Liz. You can, but keep in mind that you won’t get exactly the same result. This cake is fairly different from a standard yellow cake. It has less sugar to account for the sweetness from the strawberries. With a cake mix, the texture will be different and it will be sweeter.
So I made this cake a couple of days ago. A few things I don’t really like but I still thought I would give it a try.
So I find that although I love butter I find that cakes made with canola or olive oil are just such a nicer cake and tend to not dry out so fast as those made with butter.
And the really worst thing is this frosting. Not that it is a bad frosting but why the outrageous amounts? Seriously if I would use the full recipe of icing my husband would refuse to eat it. I do not know of anyone who would use that much and not everyone likes that leftover icing to try to use up before it gets shoved to the back of the fridge and forgotten.I wish I would have made exactly half.
I made this cake yesterday and it was delicious, as was the frosting (my husband had three pieces)!. . I just found it peculiar that with using self rising flour and a tablespoon of baking powder the cake did not rise. much. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!
Hi, Sandy! You don’t need self-rising flour for this cake. Using that plus baking powder can make the cake rise too quickly and then fall and be flatter than it should be.