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…
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!
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.
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.
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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French Strawberry Cake
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
Nutrition
More strawberry recipes:
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Strawberry Shortcake Baked Donuts
- White Chocolate Strawberry Mini Cheesecakes
- Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake Pie
- Spinach Strawberry Salad
- Summer Broccoli Pasta Salad
Ann says
I made this cake yesterday and it was a huge hit. It’s nice and light and really easy to make. The custard consistency in the middle really put it over the top. I noticed you made this with sliced apples also. I’ve already been asked to make another one. How many apples should I use? Also, can I substitute 1/2 cup buttermilk for the sour cream? Thank you for such a great recipe.
foodtasticmom says
Depending on the size of your apples, you’ll use about 3 – 4 cups of sliced apples. I’ve not substituted the sour cream with buttermilk before. I know others have used yogurt instead of sour cream. The sour cream has a much thicker texture than buttermilk. I’m not an expert level baker, so I’m not sure if that will work or not. Good luck! And I’m so glad the first time you made this cake that it was a hit!
Christine says
This is one my favorite recipes! It’s also requested a lot by my friends and family. In fact, I’ve been asked to make 4 of them this week – two strawberry and two blueberry.
I am curious on your thoughts of storage (in that off-chance there’s leftovers). Should it be refrigerated?
foodtasticmom says
If it’s just a day, I leave it out on the counter. Beyond that, I refrigerate the cake. It’s good cold! 🙂 I’m always so tickled that this recipe is so well loved… and that it works so well with other fruit. Thanks for taking the time to leave your positive feedback, I appreciate it!
Nancy says
Can this cake able to be frozen?
foodtasticmom says
I have not frozen this cake myself before. I’m not sure how it would work since there are so many strawberries in the cake. My fear is that the cake would get mushy after thawing. If you want to try it, here’s a good article on ‘How to Freeze Cakes’ (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-freeze-cakes/)
Karen Tousignant says
This is absolutely delicious! I used more strawberries, so yummy!
foodtasticmom says
Good to know you can stuff even more strawberry goodness in this cake! 🙂
Monica says
I have made this cake probable a dozen times since finding this recipe, I have not met a single persone who does not end un in love with this cake. Whenever i make them I make two at a time just cuz I know one will not last very long before its completely eaten up.
Apart from being absolutely heavenly it’s pretty easy to make and the instructions are perfect.
Thank you Jill for bringing so much joy to our dining tables 🙂
foodtasticmom says
Love to hear this, thank you so very much Monica!!
Kathybathy says
I made this recipe after we went strawberry picking and ended up with buckets of berries. I decided to try it out and am so glad I did. I’m not a natural cook and I read through all the directions and this was simple for a beginner like me. It took longer in my oven, but it turned out great. I had friends over the next day and they finished it off and begged for the recipe. I can’t wait to make it again
foodtasticmom says
It’s been a while since I’ve gone strawberry picking. Now I want to go! So happy you are your friends enjoyed the cake!
Lindy says
I made a cupcake version with blueberries. It cooked for about 20 minutes in a silicone muffin pan. They didn’t come out as custardy as the full size cake, but still delicious! Very light and i love the crackle top!
foodtasticmom says
I love that this recipe is so versatile! Thank for taking the time to rate and review!
Juna says
Is it ok to use thawed out strawberries instead of fresh strawberries?
foodtasticmom says
As long as they aren’t mushy. If there’s a lot of extra liquid after thawing the strawberries, be sure to drain them before putting them into the cake. Let us know how it turns out!