Strawberry Pound Cake

Friends, it is time for one of the quintessential cakes of summer: the Strawberry Pound Cake.

For me, strawberries capture everything that is summer: they’re bright, sweet, sticky (????), and they’re not in season nearly long enough. This strawberry pound cake is one of my favorite things to enjoy in the summertime; it’s unfussy but beautiful, and it always delights.

It’s the most perfect base for vanilla ice cream (or gelato!), and it tastes like you spent all day working on it.

Family, this does not take all day to come together. But it will challenge your patience during the cooling time, since that intoxicating aroma will have you wanting to dig in immediately after it’s done baking.

Be patient though. It’s worth it.

Come learn with me! BwB’s monthly Masterclasses are fun, informative, and only $20! Sign up here!

My Hot Take on Strawberry Pound Cake

Here’s the thing, friends. Fresh strawberries, all by themselves, don’t lend a lot of flavor to baked goods. By the time you get to the finished product, you’re often left wanting for that big punch of strawberry flavor.

It’s more like a love tap at that point.

And when I’m eating a STRAWBERRY dessert, I want that strawberry flavor to come roaring through.

I solved that problem with this strawberry pound cake by using freeze-dried strawberries.

Yes, family. I used freeze-dried strawberries in this cake. Freeze-dried strawberries deliver a huge strawberry flavor to, well, everything.

Also, for food scientists who are control freaks about liquid content in their cakes (???????????), freeze-dried strawberries don’t add any additional liquid. This eliminates the problem of strawberries sinking to the bottom of your baked goods and making your cake a two-texture mess.

We want ONE texture throughout our cakes.

The result: BIG strawberry flavor in our strawberry pound cake.

Beginners Start Here

If you’re new to baking, or if you want to brush up on basics, here are a couple of super helpful articles from the BwB site that will help you get on the good foot with this incredible Strawberry Pound Cake!

These resources are never mandatory reading, but they are super useful to help you understand the techniques that you’ll need to successfully execute this amazing cake. Happy Reading!

Important Tools Used in this Strawberry Pound Cake

Below, you’ll find some tools that I used for this pound cake. These are the tools that I use in my kitchen for just about everything that I bake. **I get paid a small commission if you purchase directly from some of these links, but they are truly amazing products that you’ll find in my kitchen.**

If you have them already, great! Think of this as a checklist to help you build the confidence that you’ll need to execute this recipe!

I’m ready for summer! Let’s get to the recipe!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Strawberry Pound Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

This Strawberry Pound Cake is deceptively easy and incredibly decadent.  Freeze-dried strawberries give it a huge strawberry taste that’s perfect for summer!

  • Total Time: 0 hours

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the Batter:

  • 352 g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 34 g (~1.5 cups, NOT 10.67 cups) freeze-dried strawberries
  • 173 g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 58 g cream cheese, room temperature
  • 500 g granulated sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp strawberry extract
  • 250 g buttermilk
  • 12 tsp red food coloring (optional…I opted out)

Vanilla Simple Syrup

  • 67 g water
  • 84 g granulated sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Strawberry Glaze

  • 240 g confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp whole milk
  • 2 tbsp strawberry preserves or The Best Strawberry Sauce
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

To Make the Batter:

  1. Preheat your oven to a true 325 degrees. A true 325 is necessary to help you get a proper result from this cake. Sift together the flour, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
  2. Pulse freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor or spice grinder until the strawberries are about 3/4ths pulverized.  Whisk strawberries into the flour mixture and set flour/strawberry mixture aside.
  3. Add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix until butter is completely smooth.
  4. Slowly add sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  (Not sure what this means?  Check out this resource!)
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
  6. Add vanilla and strawberry extracts and mix thoroughly.
  7. Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
  8. Add all of the buttermilk and mix on low speed until nearly combined.
  9. Add the second half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until nearly combined.  Finish with several turns of a stiff spatula.
  10. Place prepared batter into a 10- or 12-cup bundt pan and bake for 55-70 minutes, or when the center of the cake reads 212°F with an instant-read thermometer.
  11. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to rest on a cooling rack for ten minutes.

To Make the Simple Syrup:

  1. Add the sugar, water, and salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Allow to boil just until all of the sugar is completely dissolved.
  3. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
  4. After the cake rests in the cake pan for ten minutes, invert the cake onto a cooling rack and gently brush the simple syrup over the entire cake.  Allow it to cool completely before moving onto the next step.

To Make the Strawberry Glaze:

  1. Add the confectioner’s sugar, salt, vanilla extract, whole milk, and strawberry preserves to a large mixing bowl.
  2. Using a 9” whisk, stir gently until all of the confectioner’s sugar is moistened.
  3. Add heavy cream, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, and stir until you reach the desired consistency.
  4. Pour over cake using a spouted measuring cup or squeeze bottle.

Notes

  1. This cake can be kept at room temperature for up to three days, or refrigerated for up to a week.
  2. Freeze-dried strawberries give this cake an incredibly summery strawberry flavor without sacrificing fresh strawberry taste.
  3. You can absolutely use fresh strawberry sauce in the strawberry glaze.  Since strawberry sauce is generally thinner than strawberry preserves, you might have to omit the heavy cream.
  4. You can absolutely add 1-2 tsp of red food coloring if you’re looking for a more pink strawberry pound cake.  I opted to omit it from my cake, but make it your own!
  • Author: Shani
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes (active)
  • Cook Time: 55-70 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 378
  • Sugar: 47.6 g
  • Sodium: 187.7 mg
  • Fat: 11.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 64.8 g
  • Protein: 5.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 87.9 mg

See you next time, Friends! Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here so that you can keep up with the latest BwB content!

Join the List

Subscribe to get the Five Tips for Amazing Cakes freebie and our latest content by email!

    We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

    8 COMMENTS

    1. Good evening.
      For the freeze dried strawberries, is the amount 10 cups plus 2/3 cups of strawberries? I want to be sure of the amount to add the correct amount.
      Thanks

      • Good morning! Thank you for this great question as I’m sure it’s caused quite a bit of confusion! The 10.67 c measurement in the recipe is a technology glitch and I apologize for that.

        The correct amount is ~1.5 c of freeze-dried strawberries. Make sure to measure the strawberries before pulsating in the food processor so that you get the correct amount! Happy baking!

    2. This was the best cake I’ve ever made. I love how detailed the instructions are, this recipe is sheer perfection.

    Leave a Reply to Shani Cancel reply

    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Latest Recipes

    More Stories Like This