French Strawberry Cake is mixed in one bowl with fresh summer strawberries. It bakes up with a tender custardy middle and crunchy sugary topping.
If you like this cake, check out my Chocolate Strawberry Cake next!
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
French Strawberry Cake will be your new favorite sweet treat. Reminiscent of a classic French Apple Cake, it has a crumb that is tender, sweet and custardy. And a delightful sugar crunch topping. This cake is so easy to make. And it’s a great way to show off freshly picked summer strawberries. This cake is a fan favorite!
More favorite strawberry recipes
I have Southern Cast Iron magazine to thank for this original recipe. I picked up their Spring 2016 issue because the collection of recipes looked so irresistibly delicious. Their Strawberry Skillet Cake was the first I chose to make from that issue. But my cast iron skillet at the time was too large. So I decided to bake it in a traditional 9-inch round cake pan.
After being wowed by the look of it coming out of the oven, my kids and I were even more impressed with the flavor. This 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 have officially christened this cake to be known as a ‘French Strawberry Cake‘.
Ingredients for french strawberry cake
- Strawberries – Fresh strawberries are best for this cake. I’ve only ever baked it with fresh strawberries. But some readers have had success using frozen strawberries.
- Butter, Eggs, Sour Cream and Vanilla – I have only tested this recipe using full-fat sour cream. Some readers have had success replacing the sour cream with plain yogurt.
- Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder and Salt – I’ve only tested this recipe using all-purpose flour. The granulated sugar is divided, with one cup sugar mixed into the cake batter. And a quarter cup sprinkled on top. Most readers describe the cake as not overly sweet or just sweet enough.
Pro tips
- 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 might 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 my pictures.
- Read through the many reader comments below for more helpful information regarding this cake.
- I bake the cake and serve it straight from its 9-inch round cake pan.
- Some readers have had success baking it in a springform pan. And then transferring it to a platter before serving.
Kitchen tools
- My favorite inexpensive paring knife for slicing the strawberries
- Nine-inch round cake pan for baking the cake
- My favorite set of magnetic measuring spoons and measuring cups for baking
Video
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.
- 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 the butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
- Fold in strawberries using a rubber spatula. Spread the batter evenly 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 toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan and slice and serve the cake from the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
Foodtastic Mom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (Amazon Associate), an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any highlighted, clickable Amazon links you see are affiliate links that I may earn advertising fees on when you click to purchase.
Thank you so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of Foodtastic Mom. Be sure to PIN to Pinterest and print this recipe! Like and tag ‘Foodtastic Mom’ on Facebook and Instagram if you make this recipe! And of course leave a star rating if you make any of my recipes and enjoy them!
Be sure and follow Foodtastic Mom on TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram!
More versions of this cake
fraisier cake, sponge cake, moisture, preheated oven, large bowl, bite
Angie says
Made it. It is scrumptious!
foodtasticmom says
Awesome. Thanks for the comment!
Jocelyn Hutton says
Love this recipe it turns out delicious every time l
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Jocelyn!
Madi says
This cake is so gorgeous! I’m so excited to make it!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Madi!
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons says
What a beautiful cake! Looks delicious!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you it really is 🙂
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
Those strawberries look delicious – great video!
foodtasticmom says
Thanks so much Megan!
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy says
Such a gorgeous cake!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Jennifer 🙂
Cassie Smallwood says
This looks to die for! Will be a great dessert for spring! Thanks for sharing!
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome and thank you for the positive comment!
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 🙂
foodtasticmom says
That’s great. I love when people get creative in their own kitchens. Love using peaches too!
Amanda says
Could you substitute the sour cream for Greek yogurt?
If so would the amount still be the same?
foodtasticmom says
Yes I think that would be a good substitute and stick with the same amount.
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.
foodtasticmom says
Wonderful thank you so much Ann 🙂
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!
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!
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!
foodtasticmom says
Wonderful. So glad you enjoyed it!
Diane says
Taste so good! Will be making many times. Turned out perfectly.
foodtasticmom says
Great thank you Diane!
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!!
Mary Swanzy says
I also used a square 8 in pan, and it turned out great!
foodtasticmom says
Good to know it worked in a square pan. Thanks and I’m glad you liked it!
foodtasticmom says
Wonderful. So happy to hear all these positive comments. Thank you Mary!
Maja says
omg, this was amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
I may try the recipe with apples, maple extract and sugar cinnamon topping.
foodtasticmom says
I love the sound of that combo! I actually did something similar. Check out my recipe for “Kentucky Apple Skillet Cake”
Rob c says
Absolutely amazing- cake was soft and very moist and all around just perfect strawberry’s did not sink- I always add extra vanilla and it worked perfectly- will continue to make this recipe, even without strawberry’s !!
foodtasticmom says
Yay so glad you liked it! Thanks for the positive comment.
Pam I says
I made this yesterday and so easy and so good. Thanks, will be making again for sure!
foodtasticmom says
Wonderful. So happy it turned out well for you!
Debby says
Help the recipe doesn’t say whether or not you take the cake out of the pan to finish cooling or not . I’m literally along it now and really need to know thank you. It looks and smells wonderful
foodtasticmom says
Sorry for the late reply. My website used to alert me when I had replies but doesn’t anymore! I cool it in the pan. I’ll go back and edit to say that.
Gale Crudup says
Do you apply the extra fresh strawberries on top for presentation before baking or after?
Thanks!
Can’t wait to try!
Gale
foodtasticmom says
Sorry for the lateness of my response. You apply them to the top before baking. Enjoy!
Diana Murray says
Made this cake yesterday, used frozen strawberries but the result was still so good. I’m sure it will be a favourite in our house, am going now to buy more frozen red globes of summer!
foodtasticmom says
That is so good to know because I was sure that frozen strawberries would make the cake to “wet”. So glad it turned out for you!
Janet Brown says
I am thinking this would also be very good with blueberries or peaches. This is something that will remain in my deserts for light & fluffy.
foodtasticmom says
Yes I agree. I’ve made it with fresh sliced apples and it turned out just as good. So I want to try other fruit as well 🙂
Julie G says
Did you use the same amount of apples when you tried it?
foodtasticmom says
This is how I made it with apples. I used 3 small apples. You could use four apples and leave out the pecans if you want to. Also the bourbon is optional.