Growing up and still to this day my all-time favorite cake is strawberry shortcake. This strawberry shortcake recipe is incredibly easy to make and is the perfect blend between a light and fluffy cake and whipped cream and strawberries.
Sometimes I will use this angel food cake recipe for the base and other times I will use this specific cake recipe for it, depending on my mood. They both taste amazing covered in strawberries and cream. If you are a strawberry shortcake fan, you are going to love this amazing cake!
Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients
In order to make strawberry shortcake from scratch you will need several simple ingredients:
- Flour – Use all-purpose or cake flour.
- Baking powder – This will provide most of the leavening for the cake.
- Salt
- Eggs – The eggs will add richness as well as add some leavening.
- Cream of tartar – This will be used in the meringue.
- Sugar
- Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Vanilla extract – This will add lots of flavor to the cake.
- Milk – I usually use whole milk, but any milk will work including almond milk.
- Strawberries – Fresh strawberries rinsed and dried.
- Heavy cream – This will be used for the sweetened whipped cream filling and topping.
Tools and Equipment
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Bowls
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Cake pans or Springform pan
How to make strawberry shortcake at home
Preheat the oven to 350F/176C. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder with a whisk or sifter.
Make the meringue for the cake
Separate the eggs from the egg whites. Add the egg whites to a bowl along with a pinch of cream of tartar. Mix the egg whites with a hand mixer or stand mixer until you have soft peaks.
Take about a half cup of sugar and add it to the egg whites. Then mix until you have stiff peaks. It doesn’t have to be exact but as close to stiff peaks as you can.
This is the meringue. Set it aside for a few minutes.
Place the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and the rest of the sugar in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
Next, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Then add the milk, and mix until combined
Add the rest of the flour and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
Finish the strawberry shortcake batter
Time to finish the easy strawberry shortcake batter. Add about a quarter of the meringue to the cake batter and stir it in really well.
After that, add the rest of the meringue, but this time only fold it in gently with the batter. This will help lighten up the batter and make the cake airy and fluffy, and not dense. Now the cake batter is ready to go.
Bake the cake!
Grease the cake pan, either a large 10-inch or 2 8-inch ones with shortening or butter. Pour the batter into the pan, then tap it on the counter to level it out. Or use a cake spatula and spread the top evenly.
Next, bake the shortcake in the oven at 350 degrees F. (176 C) for 50 to 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
Once the cake comes out of the oven, let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove it from the pan, and place it on a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
Make the sweetened whip cream filling/topping and the strawberries
Rinse and dry your fresh strawberries. Then slice them into small slices about a quarter of an inch thick.
Place them in a small bowl and add a bit of sugar if you like to sweeten them, or leave them as is.
Add the heavy whipping cream to a bowl along with 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix until thick.
If you used the 10-inch cake pan, you will need to cut it in half, a bread knife or cake knife will work well here.
If you used two smaller cake pans instead, skip this step.
Then spread on about half of the sweetened whipped cream. Now add about half of the sliced strawberries.
Finish the homemade strawberry shortcake
Next, add the top of the cake, then spread the rest of the whipped cream on the top, and finish adding the rest of our strawberries.
The cake is done at this point, but I like to add an extra step. 🙂 It kicks it up a notch. But if you don’t like your cake to be super sweet, you can skip this next step.
Make a simple glaze with powdered sugar, melted butter, and milk. Then drizzle all over the top and the sides of the strawberry shortcake.
And voila! The cake is done. Time to serve up a slice.
Enjoy the homemade cake! To me, there are few things better than a simple cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. So yummy!
How long does homemade strawberry shortcake last?
This cake will last 2 to 3 days in the fridge. After that, the strawberries start to break down and become unappetizing. It can be frozen as well for a few months.
Can I use Angel Food Cake or another cake for strawberry shortcake?
Sure! I regularly use my angel food cake recipe for the cake part and then everything else is the same. You can also use this easy 3-ingredient sponge cake recipe as well.
Here are other cake recipes you might like:
3-Ingredient Strawberry Icebox Cake
Strawberry Shortcake
Equipment
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Bowls
- Spatula
- Whisk or Sifter
- 10-inch cake pan or 2 8-inch cake pans
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour 120g
- 1 tsp. of baking powder 4g
- 1/4 tsp. of salt 1g
- 3 eggs separated
- 1/8 tsp. of cream of tartar pinch
- 1 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar 250g
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 1 tsp. of vanilla extract 5ml
- 1/2 cup of milk whole milk, 2%, etc. (120ml)
Strawberry Topping/Filling
- 1 basket of strawberries washed and dried (1 to 1.5 lbs, 300g, doesn’t need to be exact)
- 1 Tbsp of white granulated sugar 12.5g
Sweetened Whipped Cream Topping/Filling
- 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream 240ml
- 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar 50g
Glaze (Optional)
- 2 cups of powdered sugar 220g
- 2 to 3 Tbsp of Milk 22 to 33 ml
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter melted (15g)
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F/176C.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg whites in a medium bowl along with a pinch of cream of tartar and mix until soft peaks form.
- Add a half cup of the 1 and 1/4 cups sugar to the egg whites and mix until stiff peaks form. It should resemble shaving cream. This is the meringue.
- In a large bowl mix the egg yolks with the vanilla extract and the remaining sugar (3/4 cups). Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Mix the flour mixture, egg yolk mixture, and milk until well combined.
- Add a quarter of the meringue to the cake batter and stir it in.
- Next, fold the remaining meringue into the batter until no white streaks are left. The cake batter is ready.
- Grease 10-inch or 2 8-inch cake pans with butter or shortening.
- Pour the batter into the pan and level it by tapping the pan on the counter or using a cake spatula.
- Bake the cake at 350F/176C for 50 to 55 minutes on the middle rack until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove it from the pan/s and let cool the rest of the way.
Make Strawberry Filling/Topping
- Rinse and dry the fresh strawberries then slice them into 1/4-inch slices. Mix with 1 tablespoon of sugar if desired to sweeten them.
Make Sweetened Whipped Cream Filling/Topping
- Mix the heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup of sugar until it is nice and thick.
Put it all together
- If you used a 10-inch cake pan you will need to cut the cake in half with a bread knife or cake knife, if you used 2 8-inch pans, skip this step.
- Add the bottom cake layer to a cake board or cake pedestal. Then spread on half of the sweetened whipped cream. Follow that up with half of the strawberries.
- Now add the top layer of cake and spread the rest of the sweetened whipped cream and add the rest of the strawberries. The cake is done like this or proceed to the next step if desired.
Add the optional Glaze
- Mix together the glaze ingredients (powdered sugar, melted butter, and milk). Then drizzle the glaze on the top and the sides of the finished strawberry shortcake.
- Serve up a slice and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Do you like the easy homemade strawberry short cake recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. Save the Pin to Pinterest! If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
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Such a delicious cake! Loved the fresh strawberries on top!
Thank you!! Glad you like it. 🙂
This is my husband’s favorite dessert and the first time making it. Thank you so much, it was easy to make and more importantly everyone loved it!
Glad you tried this strawberry shortcake recipe and everyone loved it! 🙂
So delicious and easy to make! Will be remembering this recipe for the summer!
Thank you!! 🙂 Glad you like this strawberry shortcake recipe. 🙂
I’m allergic to strawberries so I’ll use cherries. I hope it doesn’t change much in taste.
Cherries will work fine 🙂