Name: Strawberry Pound Cake made with Fresh Strawberries
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 113 grams strawberries; ½ lemon ((juice and zest)); 227 grams unsalted butter ((65°F, softened)); 227 grams sugar; 227 grams all-purpose flour; 3 large eggs ((room temperature)); 1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt ((use half as much of any other brand)); 1½ teaspoons baking powder; ¼ teaspoon baking soda; 50 grams sour cream ((full fat)); 70 grams powdered sugar; 2 teaspoons strawberry lemon juice ((from step #7)); 1 teaspoon milk; 30 grams powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon milk

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This easy strawberry pound cake is all about that fresh strawberry goodness, delivering a moist and tender loaf cake that just screams strawberry season.

Even better, it's topped with a simple pretty-in-pink strawberry icing, for an extra oomph of sweetness.

a cross section of a loaf of strawberry pound cake with pink icing on top and two strawberry halves in front of it.

Like all my best cake recipes, this strawberry pound cake is so good served with a scoop of ice cream (strawberry or vanilla pair very nicely!) but I also love serving it with a dollop of whipped cream, fresh sliced strawberries, and a drizzle of homemade strawberry syrup!

If you've made my old fashioned vanilla pound cake this recipe will feel very familiar to you. I used that recipe as a base, with a few modifications (baking soda, sour cream, etc.) to help support the weight and moisture from the added strawberries.

a loaf of strawberry pound cake with pale pink and white striped icing on top. one slice has been cut off the front showing the fresh strawberry pieces inside.

How I Keep Strawberries Red When Baking

To preserve the strawberries' bright red color and prevent them from turning brown when they bake, I tossed them with a bit of lemon juice before mixing them into the cake batter.

This is a trick I learned recently from my friend Sarah, a food scientist who shares helpful videos and recipes with science-backed baking tips at Half Batch Baking.

The acidity of the lemon juice lowers the pH of the strawberries and keeps them bright red during baking. No brown strawberries here!

Since I never like to let anything go to waste, I turned the few teaspoons of strawberry lemon juice I strained off the berries into a pretty pink strawberry icing with a white striped top. The icing is technically optional, but very worth it if you've got a serious sweet tooth or are just feeling a bit extra!

Your Grocery List + My Ingredient Notes

the ingredients for strawberry pound cake measured out and labeled.

Above are the ingredients that you'll need to make this strawberry pound cake recipe! See recipe card for quantities. Here's what you need to know about some key ingredients to make sure you have the right stuff in your kitchen:

Strawberries - Fresh strawberries! You'll need about 6-8 small strawberries, 4-5 medium strawberries, or 3 very large strawberries. You'll be measuring them by weight, but the stems aren't included in that measurement. I don't recommend using frozen strawberries here; they'll release too much moisture into the cake when it bakes.
Lemon Zest and Juice - Lemon zest goes in the cake batter, and lemon juice gets mixed with the strawberries to help keep them bright red when they bake!
Eggs - Large eggs. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, submerge in very hot water for 5-10 minutes prior to use.
Flour - Regular all purpose flour. Gluten free cup-for-cup all-purpose flours should also work, but I haven't personally tested them.
Sour Cream - Full fat sour cream (or full fat Greek yogurt) adds a ton of moisture and makes this cake very tender.
Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which is half as salty as other brands. If measuring by weight, you can use any brand of salt. But if you're measuring by volume and using a different brand of salt, even a different brand of kosher salt, cut the amount of salt in half.
Powdered Sugar - Also called "confectioner's sugar" this is needed only if you plan to make the icing on top.

🍽 Mise en place (aka "the setup")

Mise en place is a French culinary term that literally translates to "putting in place."

It basically means: Measure all your ingredients and make sure you have all the right tools and equipment ready to go when you need them before you start working.

This can make a huge difference in a) how enjoyable you find the baking and cooking process and b) the success of your recipe!

Here's the mise en place you'll need before you begin this recipe:

Bring the butter to room temperature. Let the butter sit out at room temperature (70°F) for an hour or two prior to baking. To speed this process up you can microwave the cold, wrapped sticks of butter for about 4 seconds per side. The butter should still feel slightly cool to the touch but and soft enough to press a finger into, but not so soft that it's greasy or melty — you're looking for a temperature of about 65°F.
Bring the eggs to room temperature. Submerge the eggs in very hot water for about 10-15 minutes prior to mixing. If they're cold when you add them to the butter and sugar, they'll cool down the butter, causing the batter to break and separate.
Mix the dry ingredients together. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

Start by Prepping the Strawberries

Before you start making the cake batter, weigh and prep the strawberries. Remove the stems before you weigh them (you're aiming for 113 grams) and then mince the strawberries into small ⅛" pieces.

Then, we're going to toss the fresh strawberry pieces with lemon juice. This will prevent the strawberries from turning brown when they bake.

using a silver citrus juicer to squeeze lemon juice over minced strawberries in a white bowl.

stirring minced strawberries in a white bowl with lemon juice.

And because I never want anything to go to waste, save the juice you strain off the strawberries later in the recipe. You'll use it to make a pink strawberry-lemon icing.

TIP: If you're planning on adding lemon zest to your cake batter (and I think you should), you'll want to zest before you juice! It's just easier that way.

How to Make Strawberry Pound Cake

Just like my old-fashioned vanilla pound cake, this strawberry pound cake uses the creaming method of mixing. You can read a lot more about that process in detail there, and I do recommend it if you're new to this mixing process!

butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. they have only just begun to be combined.

Cut the butter into chunks and beat them a bit in the bowl to soften them up. Then add the sugar and the lemon zest and beat on medium speed.

This rubs the oils from the lemon zest into the sugar and butter for an intense lemon flavor.

properly creamed butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. it is pale, thick, and fluffy.

Pause and scrape down the bowl and beater at least 3 times (about every 90 seconds). Make sure you get all the way down to the bottom of the bowl!

Be patient — it can take up to 7 minutes for the butter and sugar to reach the right texture.

When properly creamed together, the butter and sugar mixture will be pale yellow, light, and fluffy. If you rub it between your fingers the sugar granules should be almost entirely dissolved but still feel slightly gritty.

The next step is to add the eggs one at one at a time, giving the butter plenty of time to incorporate each egg (about 45-60 seconds) before adding the next one.

Scrape down the bowl and beater before adding each egg, and then again before you add the dry ingredients.

half the dry ingredients added to the mixing bowl.

On lowest speed, the dry ingredients in two batches, adding the sour cream in between them. Wait for the first batch to incorporate, scrape everything down, then add the sour cream and mix until almost combined, then add the rest of the flour and mix until there are just a few streaks of flour left.

straining the lemon juice out of the minced strawberries in a wire mesh sieve.

Strain the lemon juice out of the minced strawberries using a mesh strainer. Don't press the berries through the mesh, just lift and stir them around to strain the juice off.

Save the small amount of strawberry lemon juice, you'll use it in the icing!

Turn the strawberries out onto a paper towel and gently blot and pat them dry with a paper towel to remove any excess surface moisture.

It's impossible to get the strawberries completely dry, but even a quick pat-pat-pat with a paper towel can make a big difference. Blotting the berry pieces prevents excess moisture from getting trapped inside the cake, where it can cause giant air pockets or gummy cake batter around each strawberry piece!

the minced strawberries stirred into the cake batter with a spatula.

Add the strawberries, and mix by hand just until everything evenly distributed. Stop mixing as soon as everything is combined nicely.

using a mini offset spatula to smooth out the cake batter in the baking pan.

Use a mini offset spatula to press the batter down into all the corners and edges of an 8x4" loaf pan then smooth it out across the top.

Pressing the cake batter down into the pan is important for pressing out any air bubbles that might be hiding inside. Then smooth out the top so it bakes evenly.

Let the strawberry pound cake cool in the pan on a cooling rack for about 15-20 minutes. Then run a knife around any sides of the pan without parchment paper and use the parchment sling to lift it out and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

My Easy Strawberry Lemon Icing

Let me say this right off the bat: This strawberry icing is very sweet. If truly sweet things aren't your thing, you may want to just do a simple icing drizzle instead of the full icing layer. Personally I just couldn't help myself, the pink color was so pretty and I love the contrast of the sweet icing with the slight tartness of the strawberries in the cake.

Start by sifting the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. I know it's tempting to skip this step, but I wouldn't tell you to sift if it wasn't truly necessary. Powdered sugar is notoriously lumpy and clumpy and if you don't sift it, those lumps will be there even after whisking it.

whisking the strawberry lemon juice into sifted powdered sugar.

Whisk 2 teaspoons of the strawberry lemon juice into the powdered sugar, gradually adding more sugar from the sides. It will be very thick and might even collect inside the whisk. Add the milk ½ teaspoon at a time.

using a mini offset spatula to smooth thick and glossy pale pink icing over the cake.

The icing should be thick and glossy but not runny. Pour the icing over the center of the cake, then use a mini offset spatula to gently push and spread the icing on the cake all the way to the edges.

Depending on the brand of powdered sugar, the fat content in the milk, how much strawberry lemon juice you were able to get, etc. there can be some variety and you may need to adjust.

To thicken the strawberry icing, whisk in 1 tablespoon sifted powdered sugar. To thin it out, whisk in ½ teaspoon liquid (milk or strawberry juice) at a time.

Let the pink strawberry icing set for 10-15 minutes, then use a fork or a piping bag with the very tip snipped off to drizzle the white icing on top.

using a piping bag to zig zag white icing lines across the cake.

I usually like to let the glaze sit for an hour or two before serving so that it forms a crust, but you can definitely serve it shiny and freshly glazed too.

USA Pan Bakeware Aluminized Steel Loaf Pan, 1 Pound

Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75. Durable construction with corrugated surface for optimal airflow. Non-stick finish is PTFE, PFOA and BPA free.

Amazon

Crate & Barrel

Williams Sonoma

Storage & Freezing Notes

This strawberry pound cake can be stored at room temperature with an airtight cover for 4-5 days. You can also refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to a week.

The pound cake itself can be frozen for up to 3 months without icing. Defrost in the fridge, then add icing (you'll have to use a plain icing or glaze instead of the strawberry one since you won't have the reserved strawberry juice) and let come to room temperature for serving.

two slices of strawberry pound cake cut off the loaf with their tops facing the camera.

a strawberry cut in half sits on top of a slice of strawberry pound cake on a small white plate.

My Best Practical Tips and Recipe Notes

If the cake batter begins to look split or curdled as you're adding the eggs, don't sweat it too much. It will come back together when you add the flour.
When in doubt, SCRAPE DOWN THE BOWL. If it feels like you're stopping too often to scrape down the bowl, that means you're doing it right. You don't want any ingredients to go unincorporated or you'll end up with large air bubbles or clumps in your final cake.
Mixing the dry ingredients on the lowest possible speed and stopping as soon as they're all combined is super important. The goal is to avoid developing gluten in the cake batter, which would make your old fashioned vanilla pound cake dense and tough, with lots of trapped tunnels of air bubbles inside.
To keep the cake from sticking to the pan, spray the pan with non stick spray, then line with a parchment paper sling. The non-stick spray helps the paper stick to the walls of the pan. I use metal binder clips to help hold the paper in place, but this is optional.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh! If you aren't sure, it's probably not. Baking powder is good for about 6 months, after that it loses its potency. To check if it's still good, Epicurious recommends mixing 1 cup very hot tap water with 2 teaspoons baking powder: "If there’s an immediate fizzing reaction that dissipates all of the powder, you’ll know it still works. If there’s no bubbling, the baking powder is no longer potent and needs to be swapped out."
GLUTEN FREE/ALMOND FLOUR/WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR - Cup-for-cup gluten free flour should work just fine here. Almond flour is just ground almonds, it will not work in this cake. Whole wheat flour will make the cake very dry, I don't recommend it.

Why is this recipe in grams? I want to use cups!

A kitchen scale is more accurate than cup measurements and will give you the right ratio of dry and liquid ingredients so that the cake batter behaves the way we want it to. The name of this cake is literally pound cake — it's super important that you have equal amounts of flour, butter, and sugar by weight to get the best results.

I tested and developed this recipe using weight measurements. If I were to convert it to volume measurements, I would be using an online conversion calculator — just like you would. There's no set standard for how much "1 cup" of flour weighs (I use 120 grams, like King Arthur Baking does, but other recipe developers use as much as 150 grams as "1 cup"), which means this will produce wildly varying results. Use a kitchen scale for best results!

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