Strawberry Shortcake Cake

When it’s summertime make this homemade strawberry shortcake cake! A moist vanilla cake gets topped with fresh strawberries and sweet whipped cream. This is the perfect special occasion cake for the summer! Easy one layer cake that can be made the day before!

 

When it comes to a summer cake, nothing is better than strawberry shortcake am I right? Now growing up, strawberry shortcake meant eating one of those tiny, spongy cakes or a store-bought pound cake from the grocery store.

Now that I’m an adult with a serious baking problem, err I mean, passion, I love making strawberry shortcake biscuits. 

But sometimes a girl just wants cake. And although I’ve made an angel food cake in the past for the craving, I wanted a bit of an easier cake recipe this time.

So for this traditional strawberry shortcake cake I started with my vanilla cake recipe. But instead of making layers of moist vanilla cake for this recipe I wanted just a single layer cake.

I cut the recipe in half, then topped with macerated strawberries. Macerated is just a fancy word for letting the fresh berries sit in some sugar for a bit to release their juices.

And of course this strawberry shortcake recipe wouldn’t be complete without topping the fluffy cake and juicy strawberries with homemade whipped cream. This is the perfect dessert for summer that you have to make now!

Why This Recipe Works

• One layer tender vanilla cake recipe perfect for sharing
• Perfect summer dessert to make when its strawberry season
• Impressive but easy dessert for a dinner party!

Ingredients Needed

• Cake flour – If you don’t have any, make your own homemade cake flour.
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Unsalted butter – Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature so it’s creamed together with the sugar. 
• Neutral-tasting oil  – I used canola oil but vegetable oil, or avocado oil also works.
• Granulated white sugar
• Eggs – Make sure your eggs are at room temperature. Read my full tutorial on how to bring eggs to room temperature fast.
• Vanilla extract
• Buttermilk– If you don’t have any, make your own homemade buttermilk.
• Whole Strawberries
• Heavy cream
• Powdered sugar – I used powdered sugar for the whipped cream but you can also swap and use granulated sugar. Read my tutorial on how to make homemade powdered sugar.

How To Make Strawberry Shortcake Cake

For the yellow cake

Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour one 8 or 9-inch round cake pan. Set aside. I like to line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper for easy release then grease and flour again.

Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 

Cream butter oil and sugar. In a second mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, oil and sugar together until smooth and combined for about 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add eggs, vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Beat to combine.

Alternate dry ingredients with buttermilk. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Do not overmix. Stop mixing once the last of the flour has been mixed in. I like to give the last few stirs with a spatula to ensure it’s not overmixed.

Bake. Spoon cake batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes. The cake is done when it’s golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely, removing the cake pan and parchment paper.

Make the strawberries:

In a small bowl stir together the sliced strawberries and sugar. Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries, you can adjust the amount of sugar needed. 

Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes, so the berries release some of their juices. If making ahead, store covered in the refrigerator.

Make the whipped cream:

Chill beaters and bowl for 10 minutes before starting the recipe.

With an electric mixer, whip cream, sugar and vanilla on low then increase to medium-high until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and curdled looking.

Can be made up to 1 day ahead, just cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Assemble the cake:

Once the cake has cooled, spread the whipped cream on top. Layer on top with the strawberries. Slice and serve.

Baking Tips

• You want your eggs to be room temperature before you begin. If you add cold eggs to the creamed butter mixture it will cause your butter to seize up and create a broken or curdled-looking batter. I place my eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before I use them.
• Make sure you are measuring your flour correctly so you don’t end up with too much in your cup which could yield a dry cake. Measuring with a scale is best but if measuring using cups, then be sure to spoon the flour into your cup and then level it off. Do not scoop directly from the bag or pack it down into the cup, which could yield 25% more flour than intended.
• Grease and line pan well. You want the cake to release after baking! I like to spray with a baking spray made with flour and then line the bottom with parchment paper. I then give it one more spray. You can also use butter or shortening to grease. And then lightly dust with flour.
• Test cake with toothpick for doneness. Test the center of the cake about 5 minutes before the oven timer goes off. The toothpick should have moist crumbs, but no wet batter.

Recipe Variations

• Sweeten with strawberry jam – You can always add more strawberry flavor by stirring in some strawberry jam to the whipped cream.
• Top with frosting – Skip the whipped cream and top the cake with my easy cream cheese frosting or my vanilla frosting instead.

Make ahead and Storage Instructions

You can bake the cake layers the day before and wrap well in plastic wrap once they are cooled and keep at room temperature and top with strawberries and whipped cream before serving.

You can store any leftover cake covered in your fridge for up to 2 days. Any longer and I would freeze this cake. You can freeze this cake for up to 3 months in your fridge. Just make sure to wrap well (I like to wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap and then place in a zip loc bag or a final layer of tin-foil. Then thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes To Try

If you’re craving more strawberry desserts try my decadent strawberry cheesecake with homemade strawberry topping and Golden Oreo crust.

Or my strawberry cheesecake cookies made with a cheesecake filling and white chocolate chips!