Make your favorite strawberry shortcake into an easy, rustic 1 layer cake! This strawberry shortcake cake is made with a super moist and tender shortcake and topped with freshly whipped cream and (obviously) fresh strawberries!
Make your favorite strawberry shortcake into an easy, rustic 1 layer cake! This strawberry shortcake cake is made with a super moist and tender shortcake and topped with freshly whipped cream and (obviously) fresh strawberries!
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
This cake is everything you could ever want in a summer cake. It’s super simple to make, easy to prep ahead, and combines simple flavors that pretty much everyone loves. Like…what’s not to like about strawberries and whipped cream? Especially when it’s atop a delicious vanilla cake?
What is a strawberry shortcake cake?
This spin on individual strawberry shortcakes takes the same dense, tender, buttery texture of a strawberry shortcake biscuit and slaps into a 9 inch cake pan. The result is a super pretty cake that is super easy to make and has all the delicious light flavors of summer. This strawberry shortcake cake is the perfect thing to whip up for a summery dessert for a dinner party, Mother’s Day brunch or just because!
Ingredients for strawberry shortcake cake
The best part about this cake is that it’s SO easy to make and only calls for 8 simple ingredients. Here’s your shopping list:
All purpose flour
Baking Powder
Granulated Sugar
Vanilla Extract
Butter
Milk
Heavy Whipping Cream
Strawberries
Our tips for the best strawberry shortcake
Use in-season strawberries — Personally, I don’t recommend using frozen or out of season strawberries for this recipe. In-season berries will give you the best flavor, and they won’t need much sugar to sweeten them.
Use cold butter — When making the biscuit dough, the butter should be fridge cold. If the butter is too warm, it won’t mix with the dry ingredients well and your biscuits will be flat.
Top the cake with sugar — I know it might seem like a small step, but it creates the most gorgeous, tasty golden brown top to your homemade shortcake.
Let the shortcake cool completely before assembling — Do NOT try and assemble this strawberry shortcake cake while the cake is too warm. If you do that, the whipped cream will run all over the place and your cake will be a mess–which is really sad.
Can you make this strawberry shortcake cake into individual strawberry shortcakes?
Heck yeah you can! Simply use 2/3 cup milk instead of 1 cup in the recipe below and roll out your dough on a well floured surface! I put a note in the recipe card with this information too 🙂
How to store strawberry shortcake cake
I recommend assembling this cake just before you plan on serving it. This way, the biscuits won’t have time to get soggy under the layers of whipped cream and berries. To make serving this cake easier, serve the biscuits from the top layer first and work your way down. There’s no good way to cut this cake, so it’s best to just serve individual biscuits.
As for storing leftovers, in all honesty they don’t keep very well (not that you shouldn’t save what’s left!). If the biscuits are stored with the berries and whipped cream, they tend to get soggy in the fridge.
Make your favorite strawberry shortcake into an easy, rustic 1 layer cake! This strawberry shortcake cake is made with a super moist and tender shortcake and topped with freshly whipped cream and (obviously) fresh strawberries!
Make your favorite strawberry shortcake into an easy, rustic 1 layer cake! This strawberry shortcake cake is made with a super moist and tender shortcake and topped with freshly whipped cream and (obviously) fresh strawberries!
1pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and cut into thin slices
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (or to taste!)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 8 inch round pan with parchment paper on the bottom and either spray the sides with cookie spray or butter and flour them. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and mix to combine.
Cut the cold butter into small pieces and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture starts to clump together.
Make a well in the center and add the milk and vanilla extract. Mix until just combined.
Transfer the batter to your prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to spread the batter into an even layer. If desired, top with coarse sugar (I highly recommend).
Bake for 35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before running a butter knife along the edge of the cake and turning it out of the pan. Allow to cool completely before topping.
While the cake cools, make the whipped cream and prep the strawberries. Place the sliced strawberries in a medium sized bowl with the sugar and stir to combine. Cover and set aside.
Beat the heavy cream in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form and the whipped cream holds its shape.
When ready to serve, spoon the whipped cream over the top of the cake and top with strawberries!
I just made this cake last night and loved it! I 3/4’ed the recipe and put in a 6-inch round pan. I don’t like my desserts too sweet so I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and my family and I thought it was perfectly sweet. I have been on the hunt for a hybrid biscuit/cake for strawberry shortcake and this read my thoughts exactly. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Perfect dessert for a hot summer day—will definitely be making again. I reduced my fresh strawberries a bit and then put them on the cake for an added burst of flavor.
Hi Randi! If you double the recipe you should be able to make it in a 9 x 13! I’ve actually never tried that, but I would think the bake time would be between 30 and 40 minutes!
Hi just wondering if you can use caster sugar instead of coarse sugar for the top of the cake? Ik the sugar isn’t needed but i really want to add something
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
I just made this cake last night and loved it! I 3/4’ed the recipe and put in a 6-inch round pan. I don’t like my desserts too sweet so I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and my family and I thought it was perfectly sweet. I have been on the hunt for a hybrid biscuit/cake for strawberry shortcake and this read my thoughts exactly. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
★★★★★
Perfect dessert for a hot summer day—will definitely be making again. I reduced my fresh strawberries a bit and then put them on the cake for an added burst of flavor.
Yum! I’ll have to try baking the strawberries in the cake next time we make this!
Hi! Do you know how I could scale this up to make it into a sheet cake? I really want to make this but in a larger size!
Hi Randi! If you double the recipe you should be able to make it in a 9 x 13! I’ve actually never tried that, but I would think the bake time would be between 30 and 40 minutes!
Could this be made in a 9x13in dish? Trying to make a bigger serving for a group!
Absolutely! Double it and bake it off in a 9 x 13!
Hi just wondering if you can use caster sugar instead of coarse sugar for the top of the cake? Ik the sugar isn’t needed but i really want to add something
You can use any kind of sugar you like! Caster sugar is pretty fine so you won’t get the same crunch, but it will still add a nice crust on the top!