Description
A delightfully moist and fresh strawberry sheet cake topped with creamy strawberry cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries. Perfect for spring and summer gatherings, this easy recipe uses fresh or frozen strawberries to create a flavorful and vibrant dessert that's sure to impress.
Ingredients
Scale
Strawberry Sheet Cake:
- ¾ cup vegetable oil (170g)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (56g)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup milk (80g)
- 340g fresh or frozen strawberries (makes about 1 ½ cup of puree)
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (360g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (20g)
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Optional: few drops of pink gel food color
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 12oz cream cheese, room temperature (340g)
- ⅓ cup strawberry jam (80g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (60g)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream (80g)
- Pinch of salt
Assembly & Decoration:
- Fresh strawberries to taste, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350F (conventional, no fan) and line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, add vegetable oil, melted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until the mixture is smooth and creamy, approximately 2 minutes.
- Puree Strawberries: Place fresh or thawed strawberries in a food processor and blitz until pureed, leaving some texture if preferred.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Add the strawberry puree and milk to the wet ingredient mixture. Whisk until everything is well combined.
- Sift and Add Dry Ingredients: Sift the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Gently whisk into the wet ingredients just until no lumps remain. Avoid overmixing to maintain a tender crumb.
- Add Optional Color: If desired, add a few drops of pink gel food coloring and gently fold into the batter for a vibrant hue.
- Bake the Cake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center; it should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature.
- Prepare Frosting: In a bowl, place room temperature cream cheese, strawberry jam, granulated sugar, heavy cream, and a pinch of salt. Whisk on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy without lumps, taking care not to overmix to prevent runniness. Optionally, add food coloring if a pinker frosting is desired.
- Assemble the Cake: Once the cake is completely cooled, carefully remove it from the pan or leave it in the pan as preferred. Spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the cake surface.
- Decorate and Serve: Garnish the frosted cake with lots of fresh sliced strawberries. Slice into 10 to 12 servings and enjoy at room temperature.
- Storage: Store leftover cake in the refrigerator to keep the frosting fresh.
Notes
- This recipe yields a light layer of cream cheese frosting; increase frosting ingredient quantities if a thicker layer is preferred for more frosting-to-cake ratio.
- If using frozen strawberries, ensure they are fully thawed at room temperature for about 30 minutes before pureeing.
- For a more vibrant color, a few drops of pink gel food coloring can be added to both the batter and frosting.
- The cake is best served at room temperature but should be refrigerated if storing overnight.
- Use parchment paper or grease the pan well to prevent sticking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 1/12 of cake)
- Calories: 380 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg
