Strawberry sheet cake
I have to say that it’s good to be in charge. Sure, I’m awfully busy—waking up at the crack of dawn and cooking until the sun sets. But as the boss I get to do anything I want, including making executive decisions. And when faced with the question recently of either pie or cake, I chose cake—strawberry cake to be exact.
Last week, the first local strawberries appeared at the farmer’s market and I went nuts. We have one farmer who sells strawberries that are jewels—each one loaded with juice with a deep red coloring that goes all the way to the core. These berries aren’t sprayed and don’t need any adornment; I can eat my way through a pint in about 10 minutes.
My preference for fresh in-season fruit is to eat it simply—with perhaps a light sprinkle of sugar to bring out some of the juice and flavor. And I find myself making a lot of strawberry shortcake this time of year as it’s a wonderful way to showcase my favorite spring berry. But sometimes you want to change things up a bit, which is how I found myself wondering how to make that Southern classic—strawberry cake.
When researching strawberry cake recipes, however, I noticed that most of them were made with boxed cake mix along with strawberry gelatin. I didn’t want to make my cake that way so I called my grandma to see how she made hers. Yep, she confirmed that her recipe was the same as well.
“This is an outrage!” I thought. And so after much hand wringing over the sad state of strawberry cakes made from scratch, I decided to just come up with my own recipe instead.
I took my grandma’s chocolate sheet cake recipe and swapped the strawberries for the cocoa and reduced the amount of liquid. For the frosting (or do you say icing?), I added some cream cheese and threw in a bit of lime juice as well.
Now, while the frosting is a lovely shade of pink I realize that the cake is not. I believe this is why so many recipes call for strawberry gelatin and/or food coloring—so the color will be what the mind expects.
But even if this cake isn’t pink, it’s still tender and moist with a delicate strawberry flavor that’s just sweet enough. And at the end of the day, what more could you want?
Strawberry sheet cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 12- ounces fresh strawberries, stems removed and chopped (about 3 cups)
- 2 cups sugar plus 2 teaspoons
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the strawberry cream cheese frosting:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed strawberries
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Over the chopped strawberries, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Let them sit for an hour at room temperature so they can release some of their juices. The berries should reduce to about 1 1/2 cups. In a blender of food processor, crush the berries on a low speed for a few seconds—you want them juicy but still with some texture. Take 1/2 cup of the strawberry mixture for the frosting and leave the remaining crushed strawberries for the cake.
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Sift the sugar and flour together in a bowl.
- Melt the butter on low in a saucepan and then whisk it with the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and baking soda. Add the liquid to the flour and then stir in one cup of the crushed strawberries.
- Pour batter into greased 9×13 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- As the cake bakes, to make the frosting, whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until blended. Add the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest and vanilla. Spread over cooled cake.
- Cake is done when a knife comes out clean from the center. Let it cool and then frost with the strawberry cream cheese frosting.
I just made this cake – it looks delicious. One question – given how much butter and cream cheese is in the frosting, do I refrigerate it?
That's so true that strawberry cakes usually involve jello or food coloring. Obviously, there's no need for that–Yours looks fantastic! This would make a perfect afternoon snack right now.
Anon–Hope you enjoy it! And I'm also sensitive to artificial food coloring, which is why I try to avoid it.
Sonya–I would refrigerate it.
This recipe sounds so refreshing! Perfect for summer.
Lisa–I have been following your blog for about 1 1/2 years or so, and I love it (P.S. Congrats on the cookbook–I can't wait to buy it!).You have the original food blog I EVER visited when I was looking for a King Ranch Chicken recipe that DIDN'T have canned soup in it. I've been hooked ever since. Even then, I may not have gotten interested in food blogs had the first blog NOT been from a fellow TEXAN. I had every intention to find a recipe and start making it, an lo and behold, I was reading several hours later. I laughed so hard and was SO amazed at the memories that you elicited from me and my travels across Texas! Thank you so much. Now the reason why I am writing. My Grandmother had the same chocolate sheet cake you have. My copy is old and ragged. I have made it hundreds of times. The only difference is someone "misnamed" it and called it Texas Chocolate SHEATH Cake. When I read your adaptation that became a Strawberry version, I really had to write. I have made that cake into so many flavors: vanilla, chocolate mint, almond, orange, etc, etc. I realized anytime I needed a really good cake and I wanted it to ALL be home made, and nothing was available, I made my own adaptation to THIS cake. You cannot screw it up! I, however, have never made "strawberry", and since strawberry is also my favorite summer berry (altho I like ALL of them)I will make this soon. Thanks again and thanks for the great blog–you have inspired me to do my own. Will start soon, just waiting on the camera to arrive by mail. Leah P.S Another adaptation I made with this cake is use a jelly roll pan, decrease the cooking time to about 20 minutes and voila' you have a cake that serves many more and since it is so rich, you can serve a big crowd!