A high altitude strawberry spoon cake, made with an easy vanilla cake batter that’s topped with sugared strawberries and baked until soft and fluffy. This delicious strawberry cake makes a wonderful summer dessert, and is best served warm from the oven with ice cream or whipped cream. You can even make it with other berries or stone fruit!
You might also love these recipes for strawberry cream cheese pretzel pie, strawberry shortcake layer cake, and homemade strawberry vanilla bean ice cream.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
So Easy to Make. A spoon cake is about the least fussy cake recipe you can make, and today’s strawberry spoon cake is simple enough for any beginner baker. The cake batter comes together fast with just a bowl and whisk, then just top it with the sugared strawberries before baking. And instead of waiting for it to cool, a spoon cake is something you can just scoop out of the baking dish to enjoy while it’s still warm from the oven.
Tastes like Strawberry Shortcake. With the soft vanilla cake, juicy strawberries and whipped cream, this easy strawberry dessert tastes just like strawberry shortcake.
Versatile Recipe. Instead of strawberries, try other berries, or even sliced stone fruit.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Strawberries. For best results, use fresh strawberries, not frozen.
- Sugar. You’ll need granulated sugar for the cake batter, as well as to draw out the juices from the strawberries. A sprinkling of sugar on top of the cake before baking also gives it a crisp crust.
- Butter. Unsalted butter adds moisture and flavor, and makes the cake more dense than if you used oil.
- Milk. Moisture.
- Egg. Adds structure, so the cake isn’t too crumbly.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Flour. Use plain all purpose flour to give the cake structure and strength.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent, so the cake rises as it bakes.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances flavors.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- In a bowl, combine the sliced strawberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside to macerate for several minutes while you make the cake batter, until the strawberry juices become syrupy.
- Melt the butter, then brush about 2 teaspoons of the melted butter over the bottom and sides of your pan. I used a 7×11 inch oval baking dish, but a 9×9 inch or 10×10 inch square baking dish will also work. Baking times will vary slightly for different pan sizes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the melted butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar, the milk, egg and vanilla.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the sugared strawberries over the batter, including all the juice and syrup left at the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp sugar over the strawberries and cake batter.
- Bake the cake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. When the cake is warm from the oven, the edges will be crisp and slightly chewy, with a soft, cakey center.
- This blueberry version in the next photo is just as fantastic as the strawberry one. I baked the blueberry spoon cake in a 9×9 inch square pan, which took about 5 minutes longer to cook than the cake in the oval baking dish.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Leftover strawberry spoon cake is best eaten within 1 day, but it can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. After the first day, the strawberries will get softer and mushier, and the cake will not look as pretty.
The cake will be more dense when it cools to room temperature. You can warm up leftover portions of cake in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds on 50% power for a soft, just-baked texture.
Yes, you can double the amount of sugared strawberries if you want more strawberries with each bite of cake.
While spoon cakes and clafoutis both feature cake with fruit baked on top, a clafoutis tends to be much more eggy and custardy, while today’s spoon cake is fluffier and more cake like.
You can use today’s recipe with many other types of berries or fruit. If using blueberries, blackberries or raspberries, they don’t really need to be macerated with sugar first, just sprinkle a tablespoon or two of sugar on top before baking. Sliced stone fruit, such as plums, apricots, nectarines, peaches and cherries would all work well, too.
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High Altitude Strawberry Spoon Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 7×11 Oval Baking Dish, or 9×9 Square Baking Dish
Ingredients
- ½ lb strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
- ¾ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup whole milk, slightly warmed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- In a bowl, combine the sliced strawberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside to macerate for several minutes while you make the cake batter, until the strawberry juices become syrupy.
- Melt the butter, then brush about 2 teaspoons of the melted butter over the bottom and sides of your pan. I used a 7×11 inch oval baking dish, but a 9×9 inch or 10×10 inch square baking dish will also work. Baking times will vary slightly for different pan sizes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the melted butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar, the milk, egg and vanilla.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the sugared strawberries over the batter, including all the juice and syrup left at the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp sugar over the strawberries and cake batter.
- Bake the cake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. When the cake is warm from the oven, the edges will be crisp and slightly chewy, with a soft, cakey center.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
This was delicious! I can’t wait to try it with Palisade Peaches! An almond flavor whipped cream was the perfect topping! Thanks for this!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I made it with palisade peaches! I did the same prep as the strawberries but had to cook it a little longer due to the extra juice. I used brown sugar on top and it was perfect. Will make again!
Yum, that sounds wonderful!