Brace yourself for the best Strawberry Pound Cake you've ever tasted. We tested this recipe over and over until we finally obtained a cake that delivered the perfect strawberry flavor and that signature moist (yet indulgently dense) pound cake texture. Not to mention it's completely gorgeous, making it ideal for holidays and hosting any time of year!
This thing is everything a pound cake should be: simultaneously dense and perfectly tender. It stays moist for days, and we use real strawberries. The whole cake was created to ensure the strawberry flavor is present and rings out loud and clear. And that's true of both the inside and outside, thanks to an easy strawberry glaze.
Great flavor paired with a beautiful presentation is one of our favorite combos around here. You'll definitely experience it once you've made this cake but for even more of the killer combo, try our Peach Cobbler Pound Cake and Blueberry Pound Cake as well!
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY POUND CAKE
- Make the strawberry purée
- Prep the pan
- Make the cake batter
- Bake the cake
- Make the strawberry glaze
Love a good pound cake? So do we! Try our lemon pound cake next!
MAKE THE STRAWBERRY PUREE
The first thing you'll want to do when making a Strawberry Pound Cake is make your strawberry purée. We will be using strawberry purée in both the cake batter and the glaze. Don't be intimidated by the word purée! All it means is we are essentially going to pulverize some whole strawberries down to (near) liquid form!
To make a purée, you'll need to have either a food processor fitted with a blade attachment or a blender. Wash and dry your strawberries, remove the stems, and drop them into your food processor. Secure the lid and process until the strawberries are completely broken up and puréed.
Set aside one cup of strawberry purée for the cake itself and a quarter cup of strawberry purée for the glaze.
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL START
A lot of baking fails stem from these 3 main stumbling blocks: An oven that is still heating up, cold ingredients, and a pan that wasn't prepared properly.
So let's quickly go over some super simple ways to majorly up your chances of baking success!
PREHEAT YOUR OVEN
Preheating your oven is a very important step when it comes to successful baking! You want to give your oven more than enough time to get to the proper temperature. An oven that is not properly preheated can negatively affect the texture of your Strawberry Pound Cake. That being said, preheat your oven to 300°F.
NO COLD INGREDIENTS!
Room temperature ingredients, in general, are a major factor when it comes to perfectly baked cakes! Make sure that your strawberries, butter, eggs, lemon, and buttermilk are all at room temperature before you begin combining ingredients.
PREP THE PAN
What good is baking a cake if you can't get it out of the pan?
Another important and often overlooked step when it comes to a successful bake is to prepare your pan! For this recipe, you will want to have a 12-cup bundt pan.
Note that lighter-colored pens are better for baking, as they do not cause over-browning. Not to mention, a nonstick pan is a baker's best friend!
Now, even if you are using a nonstick pan, you will still want to have a baking spray with flour on hand.
In testing for this Strawberry Pound Cake recipe, we found that using your standard butter-and-flour method caused the exterior of our cake to turn darker than we would have liked; it was far too brown! But, when we used baking spray with flour, our results were absolute perfection.
Truly, I can't emphasize enough how totally worth it the low-cost investment of a baking spray with flour is, especially when it comes to pound cakes that will spend a great deal of time in the oven!
Baking spray with flour also allows you to reach every nook and cranny, which is especially important when it comes to a bundt pan with lots of divots and crevices. You can find baking spray with flour on the baking aisle at your local grocery store, near the other cooking sprays. Baker's Joy or Pam baking spray with flour will work great.
MAKE THE STRAWBERRY POUND CAKE BATTER
Now that we've got the strawberry purée done, the oven preheated, and the pan ready to go, we can move on to mixing up our Strawberry Pound Cake batter!
We will kick it off with the dry ingredients. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Just whisk these ingredients together, and that's all there is to it. No sifting is required for this recipe – winning!
Next, we will move on to the wet ingredients. We will begin with the granulated sugar and unsalted butter. It is very important for this Strawberry Bundt Cake recipe that your butter is at room temperature. If your butter is too cold or too melty, it cannot properly cream with the sugar.
So, add the room-temperature butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed for about 3 to 4 minutes. If you'd prefer, you can use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment instead. As soon as your mixture appears visibly lightened in color and fluffy, you can move on to the eggs.
Again, just like butter, it is very important that your eggs are at room temperature. Add your eggs to a measuring pitcher along with the pure vanilla extract and mix until the eggs are completely broken up. Add the egg mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until well combined.
Now, you'll add in the food coloring. We prefer gel food colors over liquid food coloring. Gel food coloring will give your baked goods brighter and more brilliant colors than liquid food coloring. A pink gel food coloring is ideal, but red will work in a pinch!
Adding the food coloring at this point in the recipe allows the color to mix into the batter seamlessly. Once the coloring is evenly distributed throughout the Strawberry Pound Cake batter, you'll add in one cup of reserved strawberry purée, along with the zest and the juice of a lemon.
Mix to combine, and don't worry if the mixture appears grainy or slightly separated at this point. Once the dry ingredients start to go in, the looks will get back on track.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions. As you are adding in these ingredients, take care to mix on low. Overmixing can cause your Strawberry Bundt Cake to bake up tough.
Transfer your cake batter to the prepared bundt pan and place it in the center of your preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes, then rotate the pan and continue baking for another 35 to 45 minutes.
HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOUR STRAWBERRY POUND CAKE IS DONE
To determine whether or not your cake is ready to pull from the oven, you can use either a cake tester or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake. The cake tester should come out clean, or with just a few crumbs still clinging to it.
ALLOW THE STRAWBERRY POUND CAKE TO COOL
Once the cake is finished baking, pull it from the oven and transfer it to a wire rack to cool in the pan. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then, invert the cake over the wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
Because pound cakes are so large and dense, you should know they do take quite a while to cool. If you are planning to top off your cake with a strawberry glaze, you will need to let the cake continue cooling for about 2 hours more.
MAKE THE STRAWBERRY GLAZE
The strawberry glaze is extremely easy to make! All you have to do is add powdered sugar, the remaining quarter cup of reserved strawberry purée, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
Use a handheld mixer on low speed to begin combining the ingredients. As soon as the glaze appears to have mostly come together, you can increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the glaze is completely smooth.
Before icing your Strawberry Pound Cake, we recommend placing a large sheet of wax paper underneath the cooling rack in order to catch the drips that cascade down the crevices of the cake.
Spoon the glaze all around the top of the cake, and allow it to set for another 1 to 2 hours.
SERVE AND ENJOY!
Carefully transfer the cake to a cake stand or your favorite serving platter. Serve with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, or a scoop of strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
6 MORE STRAWBERRY DESSERTS YOU’LL LOVE
- Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits
- Strawberry Cupcake
- Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
- Strawberry Brownies
- Strawberry Cookies
- Strawberry Scones
Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits
Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Strawberry Scones
Strawberry Brownies
Strawberry Cookies
Strawberry Pound Cake has all the textural qualities you would want in a pound cake, plus its bursting with strawberry flavor, inside and out!
- 3 cups whole strawberries, room temperature, stem-end removed
- Baking spray with flour (like Bakers Joy or Pam With Flour)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pink gel food coloring
- 1 cup strawberry puree
- zest and juice of a lemon
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup strawberry puree
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Generous pinch of salt
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Place the strawberries in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Process until the strawberries are completely broken up and puréed.
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Measure out 1 cup of purée for the cake and set aside an additional ¼ cup of purée for the glaze. Discard the remaining purée or save it for another use.
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Preheat your oven to 300°F and have ready a 12-cup bundt pan, generously spritzed with baking spray with flour.
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Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
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Add the granulated sugar and butter to a large bowl, and use a handheld mixer to mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
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Add the eggs and the vanilla to a measuring pitcher or small bowl and whisk until the eggs are completely broken up. Add the mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until well combined.
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Add in the food coloring and mix until evenly distributed. Add the 1 cup of reserved strawberry purée, along with the zest and juice of a lemon. Mix to combine. After the strawberry purée goes in, the mixture may appear grainy or slightly separated; this is ok.
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Mixing on low, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions.
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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and place on a center rack in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, rotate the pan, and continue baking for another 35-45 minutes more.
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Once the cake is fully baked, transfer it to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. After the cooling time is up, invert the cake onto the rack and allow it to cool completely, for at least 2 hours.
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Add the powdered sugar, ¼ cup of reserved strawberry purée, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt to a large bowl and mix on low speed. Once the mixture appears mostly combined, increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth.
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Place a sheet of wax paper underneath the cooling rack in order to catch any spills. Spoon the glaze over the top of your cake, allowing it to fall down the sides. Allow the glaze to set for 1-2 hours.
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Once the glaze is set, transfer the cake to a cake stand or serving platter, and enjoy!
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