Bring out the spring in springtime with this pastel-colored Strawberry Lemon Cake. Moist and tender lemon cake is bursting with fresh strawberries and filled with lemon cream then covered with a real strawberry buttercream frosting. An awesome showstopper dessert for Easter, Mother's Day, or any day.
Table of contents
Lemon Cake with Strawberries
I love when spring is in the air! My thoughts immediately turn to Easter and all the gorgeous pastel colors that are associated with the season. This Lemon and Strawberry Cake with Buttercream Frosting fits the holiday perfectly! Plus it's great for the warmer spring and summer seasons when the abundance of fresh strawberries makes it even more delicious.
Usually, I make recipes that tend to be on the quicker and easier side, but I couldn't pass up the chance to make something a little more special for Easter.
And wait until you taste it! This lemon and strawberry cake is as delicious as it is beautiful to look at. It's lighter, moister, and more flavorful than any cake I've eaten. Why? It's all in the ingredients you choose and following a few special tricks and tips.
FAQs - how to make moist cakes
Cake flour is finer, lighter, and softer than all-purpose flour. It is made of soft winter wheat and is usually bleached, which results in a lighter color and less dense grain.
It has an overall lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which in turn produces less gluten. And less gluten means a less chewy cake. Yay! The results will be a noticeably tender, lighter cake with a finer crumb.
Premium butter contains less water and more butterfat. This butterfat helps hold a cake together and results in a moister, more flavorful cake.
Now that you know how important the ingredients are to a delicious cake, let me tell you the importance of how you mix them together.
Tips for making the best lemon cake
- To make the cake lighter and fluffier, cream the butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes. This incorporates air into the mixture to give the cake more structure.
- When mixing dry ingredients into creamed mixture, always start and end with the dry ingredients. The addition of the dry ingredients first will help prevent the batter from curdling. This might happen if the colder wet ingredients are added first. It also coats the flour with fat preventing gluten from developing. This will make the resulting cake more tender.
- When alternating dry and wet ingredients, whisk or fold them into the creamed mixture. This will prevent overmixing which would incorporate more air into the batter. If your cakes tend to collapse in the center, overmixing is often the culprit.
These tips are not hard to do but they are important. And they can help any cake you make in the future come out deliciously moist and tender. And now on to the cake!
How to make Lemon Cake with Strawberry Icing
Gather the ingredients.
- Cream butter and sugar together for 5 minutes. It will be lighter in color and fluffier. (photo 1)
- Add eggs, one at a time, while continuing to beat. (photo 2)
- Combine dry ingredients. (photo 3)
- Using a whisk to combine, add ¼ of dry ingredients first. (photo 4)
- Alternate with ⅓ of wet ingredients. Continue until all dry and wet ingredients have been added, ending with dry ingredients. (photo 5)
- DO NOT OVERMIX. Just until ingredients are combined. (photo 6)
- Fold in lemon zest. (photo 7)
- Mix in chopped strawberries. (photo 8)
- Pour into 2 prepared 8" cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes, then carefully turn out of pans, set on wire racks, and let cool completely.
Filling for Lemon Cake
Smooth, creamy, and a little tart - this lemon filling is the perfect filling for a lemon cake bursting with sweet strawberries.
- Pour heavy cream into a large bowl.
- Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form then fold in lemon curd.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting for Lemon Cake
Top it all with an easy strawberry buttercream with vibrant fresh strawberry flavor from a secret ingredient!
- Pulverize freeze-dried strawberries. Yep, you guessed it! It's the secret ingredient!
- Cream butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes. Add powdered strawberries, heavy cream and powdered sugar to creamed mixture.
- Beat well. Just look at that gorgeous color!
How to assemble
Place bottom layer on a cake stand or plate.
Spread lemon cream filling on top of the cake layer. Make sure to keep it about ½" away from edges to make it easier to frost. Carefully place the remaining cake layer on top.
Now it's time to frost the cake.
First, frost the sides of the cake then finish on the top. Decorate with fruit slices, pastel candy, and sprinkles.
Tada! A beautiful lemon and strawberry cake fit for special occasions like Easter or Mother's Day or just to welcome the warm weather.
Take a bite! This strawberry cake is light, lemony, and oh so moist. You won't believe how well you can bake! And remember to keep it in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Enjoy!
More spring dessert recipes
Easy Cake Balls are bite-sized treats made with leftover cake. Perfect for Easter or any holiday.
Carrot Sheet Cake is moist and delicious, bathed in a buttermilk glaze and covered with cream cheese frosting. What a way to welcome spring!
Lemon Chiffon Cake with sweet and tangy lemon glaze.
Strawberry Mini Pavlova from Flavor Mosaic
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake is a spring/summer version of everyone's favorite NY cheesecake.
Find lots more dessert recipes here on 2CM!
Strawberry Lemon Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Strawberry Lemon Cake
- ¾ cup Unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh strawberries diced
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Garnishes: sprinkles lemon slices, strawberry halves, Easter candy
Lemon Cream Filling (from a recipe by Through Her Looking Glass)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup prepared lemon curd
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- ¾ cup Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries pulverized
- 2 ½ Tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Strawberry Lemon Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter 2 8” cake pans. Line bottom of each with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper and then dust entire pan with flour.
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, for 5 minutes.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time.
- In a large bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large measuring cup, combine buttermilk, lemon juice and extracts. Stir.
- Using a whisk to mix, add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just blended.
- Toss diced strawberries with 1 tablespoon flour.
- Fold strawberries and lemon zest into batter.
- Divide batter between cake pans and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
- Let cool in cake pans for 10 minutes then gently turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Lemon Cream
- Make just before assembling cake.
- In a clean bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form.
- Fold in lemon curd.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Beat butter for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Place freeze-dried strawberries in a chopper or blender and pulverize to a powder. You should have about ½ cup.
- Add freeze-dried strawberries, heavy cream and powdered sugar to butter and beat another 3-4 minutes.
To assemble:
- Place one of the cooled cake rounds on a platter or cake stand.
- Smooth some of the lemon cream over top. Make sure to leave about ½” around outside edge clean so as not to interfere when frosting the cake.
- Place second cake round on top of lemon cream.
- Smooth frosting around outside then cover top.
- Decorate as desired for Easter or spring. I used sprinkles around sides and lemon slices, strawberry halves and candy Easter eggs on top.
Notes
- To make the cake lighter and fluffier, cream the butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes. This incorporates air into the mixture to give the cake more structure.
- When mixing dry ingredients into creamed mixture, always start and end with the dry ingredients. The addition of the dry ingredients first will help prevent the batter from curdling. This might happen if the colder wet ingredients are added first. It also coats the flour with fat preventing gluten from developing. This will make the resulting cake more tender.
- When alternating dry and wet ingredients, whisk or fold them into the creamed mixture. This will prevent overmixing which would incorporate more air into the batter. If your cakes tend to collapse in the center, overmixing is often the culprit.
Nutrition
This post has been updated. It was first published March 24, 2019.
I was wondering if I could use freeze dried strawberries?
If you are speaking of freeze-dried fruit in the cake batter, yes you can but it needs to soak first or it will absorb too much liquid from the cake batter and will result in a dry cake. To soak or rehydrate, place fruit in a saucepan and cover with water. Heat to a low simmer and cook 3-5 minutes. Drain.
This cake is so perfect for Easter! And I adore Plugra butter.
I love the fresh flavour of strawberry and lemon together. This cake will be perfect for strawberry season!
This was such a beautiful cake to celebrate the beginning of spring! Everyone loved the combination of lemon and strawberry flavors.
Nothing better than a beautiful delicious cake with Strawberry Buttercream. This is going on my Easter Menu!
My mouth is watering. It looks so moist, and I absolutely love lemon flavoring in cakes. Need to make this ASAP!
Lemon is one of my favorites too. Hope you get a chance to give it a try.
This looks beautiful and delicious! Will have to try it this Easter. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! Hope everyone enjoys it for the holiday.
I was looking for a cute Easter cake and this is it! Thanks for the helpful tips along with the recipe.
Glad I could help. Happy Easter!