Fresh Strawberry Cake 

Where I live, we have Amish communities close to us. My mom recently went and stocked up (and stocked me up) on seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables. I had a huge bag of fresh strawberries, so I thought a strawberry cake would be the perfect thing to make with some of them! 

This is a homemade strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream icing. It is so delicious!! The best treat for spring and summer! 

You will have to puree some strawberries and cook them down for this cake, but it’s not hard at all and makes such a difference in the cake! 

Ingredients 

For the strawberry reduction:

-4 to 4 1/2 cups of strawberries with stems removed 

-4 tablespoons sugar 

-1 tablespoon lemon juice 

For the cake:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 

-1 3/4 cup granulated sugar 

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

-3 large eggs, room temperature 

-2 1/2 cups 1-1 measure gluten free flour (I used King Arthur brand for this cake) 

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda 

-1/2 teaspoon salt 

-1/2 cup milk of choice 

-2 teaspoons white vinegar or lemon juice 

-1 1/2 cups of strawberry reduction 

For the buttercream:

-1 cup butter, softened 

-1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

-4 cups powdered sugar 

-1/2 cup finely chopped (with juice) or pureed strawberries 

-1 to 2 tablespoons of milk if needed 

Instructions

For the strawberry reduction:

-Add strawberries to a food processor or blender and process until liquified. 

-Add pureed strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to small saucepan and place on stove over medium heat. 

-Once the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and cook for about 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally. 

-Once cooked, let cool completely before using in your cake batter. 

For the cake:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

-Combine milk and vinegar in a cup and set in refrigerator to keep cool until needed. 

-Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a large bowl. 

-Add vanilla and mix until combined. 

-Add eggs and mix until combined. 

-In separate bowl, add gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk together. 

-Add the dry ingredient mixture slowly to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. 

-Add milk and vinegar mixture slowly to bowl while mixing. 

-Add strawberry reduction and mix until well combined. 

-Let batter rest for 10 minutes. 

-Pour batter into two 9 inch round pans greased or lined with parchment paper. You can also use a 9×13 inch rectangle pan if you want. 

-Bake for about 30 minutes. 

For the strawberry buttercream:

-Cream butter and vanilla using stand or hand mixer. 

-Add salt if using. 

-Add half the powdered sugar and mix until combined. 

-Add strawberry puree or chopped strawberries with juice. Mix well. 

-Add remaining half of powdered sugar and mix it until well combined. 

-Add milk or additional powdered sugar if needed and mix well. 

-Ice your completely cooled cakes. 

Notes 

-It is much easier to make the strawberry reduction the night before and let it set in fridge until you need it. 

-Letting gluten free batter rest before baking helps the texture seem more normal. 

-I do think this cake is better slightly chilled, so put it in the fridge for a couple hours before serving. 

-This can be made dairy free by replacing the butter and milk with nondairy products. 

-I have only tried this with King Arthur brand 1-1 gluten free flour. If you use a different brand, it may be different.