Strawberry Snack Cake
This fresh strawberry snack cake from scratch with homemade cream cheese frosting is made in an 8×8 pan without cake mix or Jello. Its natural pink color comes from fresh strawberries.
Happy official first day of summer!
In my mind along with the rest of society, summer started with Memorial Day, but according to the calendar, today marks the first day of summer where it’s the day with the most hours of sunlight during the whole year.
I think that’s worth celebrating because I’m always so grumpy during winter when it gets dark at 4 PM. Having a few extra hours of daylight definitely calls for cake.
Since it’s the middle of June, I’m usually making all the strawberry recipes such as my Strawberry Layer Cake and Homemade Strawberry Cupcakes.
I thought it was fitting to add another strawberry cake to the list with this Strawberry Snack Cake.
Snack cakes are always fun to make because you don’t need a specific reason to bake one other than having a craving for cake. Topped with small batch cream cheese frosting, this recipe is 100 percent made from scratch.
Most strawberry cakes call for Jello for its flavor and color, but I rely on fresh strawberries to bring you both.
Because I bake and frost the cake all in one pan, you can easily make and take this dessert to summer parties, get togethers, or a friend’s house.
Or you can make and take from your kitchen to the living room.
Cooking down the strawberries makes the flavor and color more concentrated compared to using straight-up strawberry puree.
The key to making this pink cake without using red food coloring or Jello is choosing the ripest strawberries you can, ones without any white on them. The riper, the more color and flavor you’ll get.
However, sometimes this isn’t always possible, so if you find your cake batter lacking in color, you can add about 3-5 drops of red food coloring to help it out.
Even though I go strawberry picking every summer, I still find myself buying fresh strawberries from the store when I don’t have any berries left in the fridge.
Sometimes running to the store is more convenient when it’s Tuesday night and you need fresh strawberries the next day.
Want even more strawberry flavor? Top it with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting or Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.
How will you be celebrating the first day of summer? Let me know in the comments below!
Strawberry Snack Cake
This fresh strawberry snack cake from scratch with homemade cream cheese frosting is made in an 8×8 pan without cake mix or Jello. Its natural pink color comes from fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
Frosting Options (Pick One)
- Cream Cheese Frosting (get recipe here)
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (get recipe here)
- Strawberry Buttercream (get recipe here)
- Vanilla Buttercream (get recipe here)
- Chocolate Buttercream (get recipe here)
- Lemon Buttercream (get recipe here)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8 pan.
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup strawberries, water, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes or until the strawberries cook down. Remove from the heat and cool at least 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour and cornstarch. Stir in the baking powder and salt.
- In another large bowl, beat together the butter and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg and egg whites, one at a time, until mixed in then add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients). Stir in the cooked strawberry mixture and remaining 1/2 cup chopped strawberries* (see Note about batter color).
- Spread the batter into the pan and bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
- Decorate with frosting of choice.
If using buttercream, store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
If using cream cheese frosting, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Let sit at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes before serving to get rid of the chill.
Notes
- The key to making this pink cake without using red food coloring or Jello is choosing the ripest strawberries you can, ones without any white on them. The riper, the more color and flavor you’ll get. However, sometimes this isn’t always possible. The batter will not get any brighter after Step 4 and may even lose some of its color during baking. If you find your cake batter lacking in color after adding the strawberries, you can add about 3-5 drops of red food coloring at the end of Step 4 to help it out.
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I love strawberry cake! It looks so beautifully fluffy and delicious! I celebrated my first day of summer by eating strawberry ice cream so we are definitely on the same page!
I think we should combine forces and serve your strawberry ice cream with my strawberry cake ;)
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Yum! This strawberry snack cake is perfect! Since we’ve been in lockdown, our grocery trips are limited and I only had frozen berries on hand, and they worked out just fine. I chopped the strawberries while they were still frozen then followed the recipe from there. I thought buttercream would be better than cream cheese frosting on this cake, so I made your small-batch vanilla buttercream. Awesome! I really wanted strawberries in the frosting so I added some chopped at the end, but it didn’t work out (my fault! oops!). As soon as I added the strawberries, it broke the buttercream and I couldn’t get it back smooth again. Oh well–I still frosted the cake with it because it was still delicious even though it didn’t look great. If you ever develop a strawberry buttercream recipe, I’d be really interested in trying it. There must be some trick I don’t know about for how or when to add the strawberries. Thanks for a delicious, quality recipe. You made me day!
Glad you enjoyed the cake! Have you seen my recipe for strawberry cream cheese frosting? You puree the strawberries then cook down the puree so it’s not too watery. That would be the best way to incorporate them into a frosting. I can certainly look into making a strawberry buttercream: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2017/07/10/strawberry-cream-cheese-frosting/
Okay, thanks!. That might have been the issue–too watery I can true the pure/cooking thing next time.. In retrospect I thin, the cream cheese frosting would have been better suited for this cake since it’s a denser cake, more like a carrot cake denseness than a birthday cake sponginess. I’m not great about sticking to recipes as they’re written–in this case I definitely should have! But I’d still love a strawberry frosting for cupcakes and regular cake.
I think a strawberry buttercream frosting is a great idea for other cakes, so thanks for the suggestion!
Hello…Love your recipes & I am looking forward to making this cake! One question I have, is about the pan. Can you flip it out of the pan after baking, and frost the sides as well? I was thinking of making this for a small birthday gathering.
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not! You may want to line the pan with parchment paper to make it easier.