French strawberry cake is a delicious dessert cake with a custard-like center and a sugary, crackled crust. It’s brimming with juicy strawberries and best of all, it only takes 10 minutes to mix up.
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Don’t confuse this rustic cake with the much fancier Fraisier cake, also a French cake made with fresh strawberries, but with layers of genoise sponge cake with a mousseline cream filling. This French strawberry cake is instead, a version of the simple French apple cake, only with strawberries, of course!
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Why we love this cake
- Simple: No fancy decorating required with this cake. Just one bowl, & one layer and no frosting required.
- Not too sweet: Most of the sweetness in this cake is from fresh, ripe strawberries.
- Strawberries: French strawberry cake is a perfect treat when fresh berries are abundant. (We can’t get enough of them during strawberry season and use them in salads, creamy desserts, muffins, popsicles and more).
- Texture: The cake is moist and creamy from the strawberries, but has a sweet, crunchy top.
Ingredient Notes
Ingredient quantities and complete instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Butter. Use unsalted butter, if you have it. Otherwise salted butter is fine. Just omit the salt from the recipe.
- Sugar. This recipe is made with granulated white sugar. I haven’t tested it with any other sugar, but we do want the strawberries to shine and white sugar’s sweetness is neutral in flavor.
- Eggs.
- Vanilla extract. I always use pure vanilla extract for cakes and cookies.
- Flour. I am using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. However, I have made this strawberry cake many times, in my before GF days, with regular all-purpose flour and it was always delicious.
- Baking powder & salt
- Yogurt. I use full-fat plain Greek yogurt. You can use sour cream, or buttermilk instead.
- Strawberries: Fresh strawberries are a necessity here. Frozen strawberries will add too much moisture to the cake. Look for fresh, ripe strawberries.
How to make French strawberry cake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium speed, or using a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it’s fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed until combined.
- Add half of the flour along with the salt and baking soda and beat on low speed until smooth.
- Add half of the yogurt and beat, continuing on low speed, until smooth. Repeat steps three and four with the remaining flour and then the remaining yogurt.
- Fold in the strawberries.
- Spread the cake batter in a baking pan.
- Sprinkle sugar over top of the batter.
- Bake.
Pro Tips
- Strawberries. After washing the strawberries, dry them as much as possible with paper towels. Slice them at least in half, or if the berries are very large, in quarters.
- Butter and eggs. For best results, have the butter and the eggs at room temperature before beginning to make the cake. If you forget to take them out of the fridge, you can soften the butter in 10 second intervals in the microwave, just don’t let it melt. For the eggs, just submerge them in warm (not hot) water for five minutes to bring them to room temperature.
- Sugar: If you prefer a sweeter cake, you can use up to a cup of sugar.
- Baking pan. This French strawberry cake recipe is made in a nine inch springform cake pan. If you use a smaller pan, the cake will be deeper and you may need to increase the baking time. I’ve made this cake in a pie plate and that works too, as does a cast iron skillet, as long as it’s a nine inch pan.
- Baking times. The baking time can vary a lot. Keep an eye on the cake during the last 10 minutes. You may need to remove it from the oven sooner or leave it in longer. Use the toothpick method to check for doneness. If it’s done, a toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
- Fruit. This cake recipe works equally well with other berries or any fresh fruit. Try raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or sliced peaches, plums, apples or pears.
- Storage. Store the strawberry cake, in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for five days.
Serving Suggestions
French strawberry cake is delicious as is with a cup of tea, coffee, or a glass of wine. It also makes a perfect spring or summer dessert when topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipping cream. We love this especially as the finishing touch for summer dinners like grilled chicken, or summery shrimp salads.
Still want more strawberry recipes? Try these next!
For even more strawberry recipe ideas, check out 21 Strawberry Recipes to Make This Summer
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!
Recipe
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French Strawberry Cake
French strawberry cake is a delicious dessert cake with a custard-like center and a sugary, crackled crust. It’s brimming with juicy strawberries and best of all, it only takes 10 minutes to mix up.
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Servings: 12
Calories: 181kcal
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° Lightly grease the bottom of a nine inch cake pan or springform pan, or line with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, or using an electric mixer on medium speed, in a large bowl, cream the butter and half cup of sugar together until fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and continue on medium speed until well combined.
Add the baking powder, salt, and half the flour, beating on low speed until smooth.
Add half the yogurt and beat until smooth.
Repeat with the remaining flour, then the rest of the yogurt.
Fold in the strawberries.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Evenly sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining two tablespoons of white sugar.
Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- Strawberries. After washing the strawberries, dry them as much as possible with paper towels. Slice them at least in half, or if the berries are very large, in quarters.
- Butter and eggs. For best results, have the butter and the eggs at room temperature before beginning to make the cake. If you forget to take them out of the fridge, you can soften the butter in 10 second intervals in the microwave, just don’t let it melt. For the eggs, just submerge them in warm (not hot) water for five minutes to bring them to room temperature.
- Sugar: If you prefer a sweeter cake, you can add up to a half cup more sugar.
- Baking pan. This French strawberry cake recipe is made in a nine inch springform cake pan. If you use a smaller pan, the cake will be deeper and you may need to increase the baking time. I’ve made this cake in a pie plate and that works too, as long as it’s a nine inch pan.
- Baking times. The baking time can vary a lot. Keep an eye on the cake during the last 10 minutes. You may need to remove it from the oven sooner or leave it in longer. Use the toothpick method to check for doneness. If it’s done, a toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
- Fruit. This cake recipe works equally well with other fruits and berries. Try raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or sliced peaches, plums, apples or pears.
- Storage. Store the strawberry cake, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for five days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 291IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg