Strawberry Sheet Cake
This pink cake with mashed sweetened strawberries and strawberry jello just tastes like summertime.
Difficulty Rating: Easy
Recipe Created By: Karen Norton
Recipe From: Tennessee Home and Farm
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
- 1 small box dry strawberry jello
Strawberry Icing:
- ½ stick softened butter or margarine
- 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
Tips & Notes
This recipe may take longer to bake, depending upon the type of baking dish and oven used. The frosting can be runny because of the strawberry juice. You may need to add more berries or powdered sugar to get the frosting to the right consistency.
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9x13 pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, make the icing.
- Mix together all icing ingredients until smooth – may need to add more powdered sugar or strawberries for a spreading consistency. Mix well first before you add extra sugar or strawberries.
- Once the cake is cool, spread the icing on the cake.
- Store the cake in refrigerator; it's best when it's chilled for at least 2 hours.
Recipe From: Farm Flavor - www.farmflavor.com
http://farmflavor.com/strawberry-sheet-cake/
http://farmflavor.com/strawberry-sheet-cake/
My 15 – year -old daughter made this for us and it was SOOOOOOO goooooood. We all loved it. The only thing she did different was baked a bit longer and added strawberries to the top. I would have liked it even better actually without the frosting. it was a bit too sweet, but everybody else like it with, so it’s up to you how you do it. But otherwise EXCELLENT! We will be having this again.
A heavier, moist cake, but delicious. Lots of compliments after making for my Bunco Party last night. After reading the comments below I made a few substitutions – I added all wet ingredients (used 3/4 oil and 1/2 c mashed strawberries not sweetened) blended with mixer; then added dry ingredients & mixed for about another 2 minutes. Baked for 35 min. Let cool a bit then toped with icing while still warm. For icing: 1/2 stick real butter melted, 1/2 c mashed strawberries – unsweetened, 1 tbsp milk, 3 cups powder sugar – Frosting looks like picture. I think the seasonal strawberries are so sweet that they did not need to be further sweetened. Put in fridge for 24 hours before serving.
Yum, this was sooo good. But when I first took it out of the oven I wasn’t so crazy about it. Definitely put in the fridge overnight after baked to really enjoy. All the flavors come together after that. This is definitely a recipe I will make again and again. It was a huge hit and so easy. Lots of flavor.
Best cake ever! We don’t use the full 2 cups of sugar in the cake mix and only need around 2 cups of icing sugar.
My young son and I are on a mission to try as many variations as we can think of. So far we’ve done strawberry, raspberry, mixed berry, lemon and blueberry and plain lemon. We substitute applesauce with lemon zest and juice of a lemon for the fruit mix!
Next up will be orange. Cannot thank the inventor of this cake enough. It’s a great, easy fun project for a 3 year old and a mother who is running out of entertainment ideas in this heat!!!
This “Strawberry Sheet Cake” calls for 2 cups sugar for the ingredients. That seems like a lot of sugar. Is the amount an error? Please inform. I would love to bake the cake for a birthday for our son. It is so pretty.
Thank you,
Monetta McDowell
Hi Monetta,
Yes, it is a lot of sugar, but that is the suggested recipe for this particular strawberry sheet cake. I recommend heading over to http://tnhomeandfarm.com/strawberry-sheet-cake to read through the comments of our readers. This cake was rather divisive when we published it in our magazine, Tennessee Home & Farm. Many people loved the cake, but others had some problems with consistency. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to determine the problem because it turned out great for us, but it may be related to the type of oven or type of baking dish used. I’d recommend trying it out before serving it for a party just to make sure!
Thanks, and good luck!
Jessy Yancey
editor, Farm Flavor
Why is it called a sheet cake if it says put in a 9 X 13 pan?
Why are you picking apart the things that don’t matter?
Because it does matter….if it is labled sheet cake then it should go in a sheet cake pan…
This looks like a easy version of strawberry cake I can not wait to try it!! Yummy!
Linked up at Seven Thirty Three’s Sugar & Spice: http://733blog.blogspot.com/2011/12/sugar-spice-90.html
Made this cake and it was delish! It does require a longer cooking time if you use a 9 x 13 pan. I baked it for about 40-45 minutes. If you were to use a traditional sheet cake pan (ie: jelly roll pan) the cook time would be about 20 minutes since the cake would be much thinner.
Thanks for the tip on the cooking time, Venus! Glad your cake turned out well!
Has anyone tried substituting apple sauce for the oil in this recipe, if so does it turn out alright? I typically try to sub the applesauce for oil in other cakes and have good results… but this is a lot of oil to substitute.
I try to do the same thing, but the first try I usually do about 1/2 and 1/2 and see how that goes. I do the same with the sugar. One 1/2 sugar substitute (I like Splenda)and half sugar. Of course eggs are egg substitute. I rarely can tell a difference and if there is, it isn’t worth the extra clogged arteries and high blood sugar.
This cake is delectable!!! A real treat for any Strawberry lover.
happy day
I passed this recipe along to a friend who made this today for us to try at church. It was very good. She used mashed “unsweetened” strawberries and it was just right. Delicious!
I followed this recipe exactly and after cooking for 30 minutes it was still watery in the middle. I put foil around the edges to not burn and put back into oven. We’ll see what happens.
Baked for 10 more minutes and it was fine.
Tammy, thanks for the feedback! We’ve had several notes about the cooking time — it seems to vary depending upon your oven, and the size pan used. We’d rather have people do the toothpick test and put it back in the oven instead of overcook it, though!
Jessy
editor, farmflavor.com
Did you wait for the cake to cool or ice it when it was warm?
Michelle, you do need to wait for it to cool. We’ve updated the instructions to be more specific. Thanks for the question!
Could you bake this cake in a bundt pan?
Brooke, I believe you could – you’d just need to adjust the baking time accordingly, since it would be thicker. Although please note that is a heavy, dense cake, so I’m not sure how easy it would be in a bunt pan. But if you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Jessy, editor @ FarmFlavor.com
Your name caught my attention. My maiden name was Norton and my dad was from Beachgrove, TN
looks easy and yummy. Like that it uses canola oil and real strawberries. Will definite try!
strawberry cake
I made this yesterday!..Loved it!
Only used 1 Cup sugar in the cake and 2 Cups in the icing (I chopped the strawberries really fine instead of mashing so less liquid therefore less sugar needed). It was still really sweet so i don’t think I could have eaten it using the sugar stated.
I tested out substituting some yogurt for the oil by only changing 1/4 C but it seemed that the cake was a bit dense so I won’t be doing more than that next time… and there will definitely be a next time.
My Mother started making this same cake as my birthday cake in 1965. It is the BEST and i have never found a cake i’ve like better! Makes adorable cupcakes too.
Do you have to adjust the cook time for cupcakes?
Hi Leah,
I would say the cook time would be slightly less for cupcakes. Definitely keep an eye on it, and it’s done when a toothpick comes out clean.
Thanks,
Jessy
I used to have this recipe and lost it. I am so glad I found it on here.
[...] meal also included a wonderful Strawberry Cake (pictured below) that I made the night before, as it is supposed to sit overnight. Now, if I [...]
I just pulled this cake out of the oven and it looks and smells delicious!! I also had to cook mine longer. About 47 minutes. I LOVE cake. It is my favorite sweet. It is not too sweet for me, as I cut a little sliver off for tasting purposes only.
. It’s yummy. I also recall my mother making this cake as a child and I am beyond thrilled to have stumbled upon this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us!
This was a moist wonderful tasting cake. All my friends who tasted it wanted the recipe. I did add one cup of chopped pecans to the icing which added so much to the flavor. I will make it time and time again. Thanks for the recipe. I always look forward to seeing them in the magazine and it is even better viewing them on the internet.
Mary, I love the idea of adding chopped pecans to the icing – thanks for sharing!
Jessy Yancey, editor
[...] finds – the some of the ones I’ll be using this year: Love is… Subway Art Strawberry Cake Printable Cards Valentine Pretzels Love Coupons I’ve Got a Crush on You! [...]
This strawberry sheet cake is one of the best cakes I have eaten .
[...] and their parents. I made delicious strawberry cupcakes in honor of the day. I found a recipe for Strawberry Cake via Pinterest and I mostly followed the recipe other than their form and the [...]
Have this in the oven right now…smells heavenly! Late Valentine’s for my hubby as he was out of town on the 14th. Icing is made and tastes delicious. Can’t wait to get the whole thing together and taste..thanks for this recipe…so easy!
Hi! I wondered if you could use frozen strawberries or if that would make a negative change in the cake? Thanks!
Hi Jill,
I think it would be fine to use frozen berries as long as they are well thawed before using. They tend to be a bit more watery, so you may have to adjust the amount of powdered sugar for the icing (see Tips & Notes box). Hope your cake turns out well!
Jessy
editor, farmflavor.com
This is such a wonderful cake – moist and delicious and easy to make!! Everyone loved it! Definitely a keeper recipe! I did add about 20 minutes to the cook time using a 9×13 glass pan. I am looking forward to trying this recipe again using other fruit flavors – orange, mixed berry, lemon… YUMMM!!!
I made this cake today and it is GREAT!! After reading the comments I increased the strawberries in the cake to 1/2 cup & only put in 3/4 cup oil. My icing is thicker than the photo above and I only used the 3 cups of powdered sugar. I did not change the icing recipe at all. It looks beautiful & tastes Delicious!! Thanks for sharing this recipe w/everyone, definitely a “KEEPER” :~)
new….
I just finished making this cake, and also changed a couple of things. Didn’t have canola oil so I used grapeseed oil. I used fresh strawberries with just a little sugar added to bring out the juice and let the strawberries sit for about an hour or so ahead of time before mashing them. I didn’t have self-rising flour so I added baking powder and salt to the all-purpose flour. It took about 50 minutes to bake in a 9×13 pan. My oven always seems to take a little longer though. I poked holes in the top of the cake after I took it out of the oven and poured the frosting over the top of the cake while still warm. Hope that wasn’t a mistake! I’m going to put it in the refrigerator and then we’ll eat it tomorrow night.
Thanks for your feedback, Delane – I hope the cake turns out well! The cake definitely tastes better when refrigerated overnight (or at least a couple of hours). Enjoy your dessert tonight!
I have cake in the oven…smells heavenly….although I thought I had strawberry jello to go in the cake but turned out it was strawberry cream jello pudding which I used instead….we will see how it turns out…..
Cathy,
Let us know how it turns out. We’re always looking for substitutions that work and stories about any modifications you make to the recipe that other readers might enjoy.
Thanks!
Blair Thomas
FarmFlavor.com
THis looks so good. love strawberries.. Makes a greata dessert for spring… thanks…
this cake is great. I only have one question is it suppose to fall in the center,or am i doing something wrong ?
Debbie,
The self-rising flour should keep the cake from falling in the middle, but we’ve had some mixed reviews and note that it does vary depending on your oven and the type of pan used. Glad it at least tasted great!
Jessy Yancey
Editor, Farm Flavor
My Mom has made this for years. She uses frozen berries and not as much sugar. She even makes for out of state family and mails to them. It really is better if 2-3 days old, just wrap with aluminum foil and try not to get into it. She now has converted to gluten free so she can eat it again.
I will be making this recipe when the strawberries are a little more fresher in the stores. It looks really good.
Good recipe for a strawberry cake and it appears to be easy to make. Thanks, I will try it.
I do know watery strawberries or too much of it will make the cake sink in the middle.
Very true – strawberries are porous and absorb water like a sponge.
Wouldn’t make this again. The cake come out brown, not pink. There is too much sugar in the recipe. The frosting looks curtled from the unmelted butter. I wouldn’t serve this to anyone. It took 45 minutes to get done also.
I made this but different, i used a white cakemix, made it like the box says, added a box of strawberry jello, them some crushed strawberries, came out wonderful, then for the icing i used half of a stick of butter, about 2 cups of crushed strawberries and 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar, used the mixer and it came out smooth, so i modified it to my liking and made it easier for me, and it came out great! Thanks