If you're looking for a dessert to show off your baking skills this summer, you'll want to save this Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe. It delivers great flavor and beautiful presentation to every table it graces.
This strawberry pound cake is not only gorgeous, but it's everything you could possibly want in a pound cake--moist, dense, and delicious thanks to real strawberries in every single bite.
When I was testing this recipe last summer, I served my daughter's friend a little slice of this pound cake. Over a year later, she is still raving about it. Every time I see this little girl at school, she longingly asks, "Mrs. Anthony, do you remember that strawberry cake from last summer? It was so tasty." She even does the prayer hands. The exchange is adorable, and clearly, I just need to make this kid another cake already.
With years of professional baking under my belt, I have developed expert skills in the science of baking and am extraordinarily picky when it comes to both the flavor and texture of cakes. You can trust this recipe to deliver in every way--it's deliciously unforgettable!
And if strawberry desserts are your absolute favorite, don't miss the beautiful and delicious strawberry trifle!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
Flavor | This dessert is everything a pound cake should be: simultaneously dense and perfectly tender. Bonus alert: it stays moist for days. For maximum strawberry flavor, we use real strawberries, not strawberry extract in both the cake and the strawberry glaze. I landed on this final recipe after 4 rounds of testing (that's a lot of cake by the way), ensuring the strawberry flavor was present and rang out loud and clear.
Pan Release | One thing determined during the recipe testing was that the right pan coating is equally as important as the cake science here. What good is baking a cake if you can't get it out of the pan? Some other recipes overlook this tidbit, which leaves a pound cake burnt and off-putting in color, but not this one.
Presentation | Looks also matter when it comes to shared desserts, and for a gorgeous strawberry pound cake, you'll need to achieve the right cake coloring. Rotating the pan halfway through the bake time also ensures an even bake, and food coloring adds just the right amount of pink to the cake.
Strawberry Pound Cake Ingredients
- Strawberries | Use fresh, ripe strawberries. Remove the stem and hull the strawberries before using.
- Baking Spray with Flour | Baking spray with flour allows you to reach every nook and cranny in 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.
- All-Purpose Flour | Do not sub in cake flour; it will negatively affect the structure of your cake.
- Baking Powder | Do not mix up with baking soda! Baking soda will cause your cake to over-brown.
- Fine Sea Salt | More mild than table salt, but fine enough to dissolve quickly into cake batter.
- Granulated Sugar
- Unsalted Butter | Room-temperature butter is crucial for baking so that it mixes properly.
- Eggs | Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you begin.
- Pure Vanilla Extract | Adds flavor to baked goods. We much prefer this extract over the artificial flavor of strawberry extract.
- Pink Gel Food Coloring | This ingredient is optional but makes a big difference when it comes to the color of your cake. Gel food coloring will make your baked goods brighter and more brilliant than liquid food coloring. Pink gel is ideal, but red food coloring will work in a pinch!
- Zest and Juice of a Lemon | Lemon and strawberry complement one another so well. The citrus oils in the zest of the lemon make a huge difference in flavor. Don't skip the zest!
- Buttermilk | Another ingredient that should be at room temperature before the baking begins.
- Powdered Sugar | You will need powdered sugar to make a strawberry glaze to top off your strawberry pound cake!
How to Make Strawberry Pound Cake
1. Make the Strawberry Purée | To make a purée, have either a food processor fitted with a blade attachment or a blender. Drop your prepared strawberries into your food processor. Secure the lid and process until the strawberries are completely broken up and puréed. Set aside 1 cup of strawberry purée for the cake itself and a ¼ cup of strawberry purée for the glaze.
If you end up with extra purée, don't toss it! Freeze and use it to whip up a batch of strawberry cupcakes next time.
2. Mix Dry Ingredients | In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk these ingredients together, and that's all there is to it. No sifting is required for this recipe--winning!
3. Cream Butter and Sugar | 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 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.
4. Mix Eggs and Vanilla | Add your eggs to a measuring pitcher along with the pure vanilla extract and mix until the eggs are completely broken up.
5. Combine Egg, Butter, Sugar, Food Coloring, & Purée | Add the egg mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix on medium speed until well combined., then add food coloring (if using), and strawberry purée. 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.
If you're looking for more summer fruits to put to delicious use, you'll also adore our peach cobbler pound cake recipe!
6. Alternate Buttermilk & Dry Ingredients | Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions. As you add these ingredients, take care to mix on low. Overmixing can cause your strawberry bundt cake to bake up tough.
7. Bake, Rotate, & Cool | 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. 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.
Another important tip! If you plan to top off your cake with a strawberry glaze, you need to let the cake continue to cool for about 2 hours more.
8. Make the Strawberry Glaze | 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, increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the glaze is completely smooth.
To shake things up, as an alternative, you could use the lemon glaze recipe from our lemon pound cake. It's thick, gorgeously white, and would look and taste phenomenal on this strawberry pound cake.
9. Ice the Cake & Let It Set | Before icing your strawberry pound cake, we recommend placing a large sheet of wax paper under the cooling rack to catch the drips that cascade down. Spoon the glaze all around the top of the cake and allow it to set for another 1 to 2 hours.
10. Serve & Enjoy | Carefully transfer the cake to a cake stand or your favorite serving platter. Serve with fresh strawberries compote and whipping cream, or a scoop of strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
Tips for Baking Success
If you want to bake successfully, you'll need to be prepared. Surprisingly, many cake baking fails happen before the mixing begins. Here are four main stumbling blocks to avoid:
- Not choosing the right pan | For this recipe, a 12-cup bundt pan is ideal. Note that lighter-colored pans are better for baking, as they do not cause over-browning. Not to mention, a nonstick pan is a baker's best friend!
- Not Prepping the pan | 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.
- Failing to preheat the oven | Your oven needs enough time to get to the proper temperature before your cake goes in. An oven that is not properly preheated can have a negative outcome on the texture of your pound cake. That being said, preheat your oven to 300°F.
- Using cold ingredients | Room-temperature ingredients 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 combine ingredients.
Your Summer Baking Bucket List
Strawberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Strawberry Purée:
- 3 cups whole strawberries, room temperature, stem-end removed
For the Cake:
- baking spray with flour, such as 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 purée
- zest and juice of a lemon
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
For the Glaze:
- 2-¾ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup strawberry purée
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- generous pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the Strawberry Purée:
- Place the strawberries in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Process until the strawberries are completely broken up and puréed.
- 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.
Make the Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 300°F and have ready a 12-cup bundt pan, generously spritzed with baking spray with flour.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Mixing on low, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions.
- 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.
- 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.
Make the Glaze:
- 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.
- 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.
- Once the glaze is set, transfer the cake to a cake stand or serving platter, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Tammy Leigh Elrod says
Enjoyed making this. I love strawberry anything and wasn't hard to make.
Kelly Anthony says
Loved reading this! Thank you, Tammy!