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French Strawberry Cake

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Welcome! You are in for a treat with this French Strawberry Cake. Mixed in one bowl with the season’s freshest strawberries, this cake bakes up with a custardy middle and crackly, sugary top. This cake has thousands of fans. Read on to see why…

slice of french strawberry cake on plate with whole strawberry and whipped cream

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This French Strawberry Cake will be your new favorite summertime treat. Reminiscent of a classic French Apple Cake it has a crumb that is sweet and custardy with a top that bakes up light and crumbly. This cake is the perfect way to show off those fresh picked strawberries!

overhead view of french strawberry cake in pan

 

I have Southern Cast Iron magazine to thank for the original recipe. I picked up their Spring 2016 issue because the collection of recipes looked so irresistibly delicious. The Strawberry Skillet Cake was the first I chose to make but my cast iron skillet is much bigger than 9-inches in diameter. So I decided to see how this cake fared in a traditional 9-inch cake pan.

overhead view of french strawberry cake slice

After being wowed by the look of it coming out of the oven my family and I were even more impressed with the taste. The cake is moist and custardy in the middle. I looked up the ingredients for a classic French Apple Cake and other than the addition of sour cream this is basically the same cake but with strawberries instead of apples. So I am calling it French Strawberry Cake.

side view of french strawberry cake in pan

 

Watch how to make French Strawberry Cake:

Helpful tips for making French Strawberry Cake:

  • From the comments it is reinforced that oven temperatures vary wildly. My oven bakes this cake in about 40 minutes. For others they’ve left the cake in for much longer. The center of this cake when baked will still have a custard-like texture. Not raw but more moist than other cakes you may be used to.
  • Be sure to dry your strawberries thoroughly before mixing them into the batter.
  • Save a few strawberries (about 1/2 cup) to place on top of the cake before sprinkling it with sugar if you want the cake to look like the photographs.
  • Use full-fat sour cream, not low fat.
  • Full fat, plain Greek yogurt may be used as a substitute for the sour cream.
  • Read the comments below for more helpful information regarding this cake.
  • I bake the cake and serve it straight from the 9-inch baking pan. Find the baking pan I use for this cake here.

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Made in one bowl. So easy but so impressive! #frenchstrawberrycake #cakerecipes

French Strawberry Cake | Foodtastic Mom #frenchstrawberrycake #cakerecipes

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French Strawberry Cake
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4.91 from 113 votes

French Strawberry Cake

French Strawberry Cake makes a stunning presentation straight out of the pan it is baked in - plus it is mixed together in just one bowl. An easy and impressive cake for strawberry season.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 430kcal
Author Jill McOwen

Ingredients

  • 1 stick unsalted butter softened
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar divided
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 16 ounces fresh strawberries sliced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip together the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
  • Fold in strawberries. Spread the batter in the prepared cake pan.
  • Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar evenly over the top of the cake batter.
  • Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.
  • Let the cake cool completely in the pan and slice and serve the cake from the pan.

Notes

I used a 9-inch, light silver metal cake pan for this cake. I also used fresh, not frozen strawberries.
The cake is meant to be "custard-like" in the middle. Not under baked but not "crumby" like a traditional cake.
Some people have reported needing to bake the cake longer than the recommended time of 35 - 40 minutes. Color of cake pans, size of strawberries and individual ovens will all factor into the correct baking time.

Nutrition

Calories: 430kcal
French Strawberry Cake

More strawberry recipes:

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maja says

    omg, this was amazing! Thank you for the recipe!

    I may try the recipe with apples, maple extract and sugar cinnamon topping.

    Reply

  2. Mary Swanzy says

    This recipe was great!!! I added about 1/2 tsp of nutmeg to the batter, and I sliced the strawberries a bit smaller, just to guarantee some in every bite. I thought it was great and plan to make it again!!

    THANK YOU!!

    Reply

  4. Debbie says

    Absolutely lovely. Made today for dessert at a friend’s house. Everyone loved it. I used a ceramic dish instead of aluminum because it was a gift from the friend’s we visited. Other than having to bake 15 minutes extra, I followed the recipe exactly. Perfect. So now we have come home and I just put another one in the oven for dessert!

    Reply

  5. Laura says

    Hello! A friend gave me a huge bowl of strawberries that had to be used or frozen or they’d be too old in just a day or two. I clean and cut them up and put them in the freezer to give me time to think of a way to use them. I’d love to give this recipe a try, but I’m worried that because I froze them I’ll have problems with a wet center that doesn’t cook like a few other commenters. Do you think I could thaw them and pat excess moisture off of them with a paper towel? I guess I could use them for smoothies, but good cake looks so good! Thanks for your input!

    Reply

    • foodtasticmom says

      I was thinking the same thing. But if you read down in the comments, another follower actually used frozen strawberries in this recipe and said it turned out great! The extra moisture was what I worried about. I’d say if the berries were frozen from fresh just mix them in the batter and bake. It might take a little longer for the baking time but it should (fingers crossed) be OK. Let me know!

      Reply

  6. Ann says

    I made this yesterday and it was a hit. Absolutely delicious. My 14 year old grandson (very picky) ate it and even said it was good. So glad I found your website.

    Reply

  8. Lori says

    Used 1/2 butter and 1/2 cream cheese. Used 1/2 cup Zsweet sugar alternative and just 1/4 cup sugar. Used 1/3 cup whole wheat flour for part of the flour.. Only sprinkled a little Zsweet on top. I had a can of peach slices I needed to use, so I subbed those for the strawberries lol. Only thing for my taste, is I’d use 1/2 tsp salt next time (1/4 tsp more than called for.) Even with all these adjustments, this was great! My oven runs hot. 35 minutes was perfect. Thanks for this great recipe 🙂

    Reply

  16. Angela says

    This looks amazing!!! Do you think this recipe would turn out in the throw away aluminum pans? I wanted to make a few & give them to family. I’ve never had much luck using them..especially with breads, so let me know what you think. Tysm!

    Reply

  18. Shaunna says

    I’m about to make this for the second time! My family loved it so much that they asked me to double the recipe to make a bigger cake. What are your thoughts? Will that work?

    Reply

    • foodtasticmom says

      I’d be concerned about making one big cake as there have been a few comments about the center being difficult to get “done” in some people’s ovens. So I’d just make two separate cakes 🙂

      Reply

  19. Laura says

    I’ve made this 3 times already. Thank you for the recipe! Absolutely delicious. Everyone had loved it. It reminds me of strawberry shortcake. Like others have noted,testing with a toothpick isn’t the best way to go because it is so custardie. It takes 42 min in my oven.

    Reply

  20. Jen says

    Im at 45 minutes and still very much raw in center… Yes I used fresh strawberries. Hope this turns out as it’s Easter dessert.

    Reply

  21. Jan Lynch says

    I made this today for Easter. The cake was delicious! It looked nothing like your picture. Mine was really dark. It wasn’t light like your cake. I wonder if anyone else’s came out different.

    Reply

  22. Sandra says

    Made this for Easter, the night before, used fresh strawberries, and used the 9 inch cake pan, and the batter overflow the pan why? I used all the strawberries in a 16oz. container like it called for. Plus had to cook it longer to almost 55 min. It smell and taste really good, but I might cut down on the strawberries the next time I make it. Also will be trying it with apples when my trees are fill with fresh apples this fall.

    April 17, 2017

    Reply

    • foodtasticmom says

      I make a Kentucky Apple Skillet Cake – same recipe using apples and it is delicious! I’m sorry you had trouble. Everyone’s ovens are definitely treating this recipe differently. Other people have had to bake the cake longer than I had to as well.

      Reply

  23. Heather @ Dredge and Drizzle says

    Hey Jill! I’m stopping by other blogs saying hi to fellow bloggers who are also attending EFC in a couple weeks. I can’t believe it’s almost here!

    I saw this cake and OMG. I had to schedule it to a few of my boards. Gotta get the ol’ springform pan out!

    Hope to meet you at the conference!

    Reply

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