Strawberry Spoon Cake Recipe (2024)

By Jerrelle Guy

Strawberry Spoon Cake Recipe (1)

Total Time
30 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
5(9,411)
Notes
Read community notes

This unfussy cake with a top layer of jammy strawberries is so gooey it’s best to serve the whole thing with a spoon. The batter comes together quickly with minimal effort, using basic pantry ingredients and a small handful of berries — frozen or fresh. If you’re using frozen, be sure to defrost them in the microwave first. Extract as much juice as possible from the fruit by macerating and mashing it, so that it lends the cake additional moisture while baking. Add a dash of freshly ground cardamom or ground ginger on top before baking it off, if you like, or some ribbons of fresh basil once it’s hot out of the oven. Whatever embellishments you decide on, burrowing warm spoonfuls of this cake beside scoops of vanilla ice cream is the most important thing.

Featured in: Sweet, Tender and Studded With Strawberries

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted, plus more for greasing
  • 5ounces/145 grams frozen and thawed or fresh, hulled strawberries (about 1 cup)
  • cup/150 grams packed light brown sugar
  • ½cup/120 milliliters whole milk, at room temperature
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

529 calories; 26 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 43 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 367 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Strawberry Spoon Cake Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch (square or round) baking dish with butter. Set aside.

  2. Using your hands or the back of a fork, mash the berries to release all their juices, and stir in ⅓ cup of the brown sugar. Set aside.

  3. Step

    3

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, remaining ⅓ cup brown sugar, milk and salt, then add the flour and baking powder and continue whisking just until the batter is smooth. Transfer the batter (it’s not much) to the greased baking dish, and spread evenly into corners.

  4. Step

    4

    Spoon the strawberries and all their juices over the top of the cake batter. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or just when a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before spooning into bowls. Serve warm with ice cream.

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9,411

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Sara James

I ate this whole thing by myself. All of it.

Mary Alford

This is a riff on an old fashioned recipe called “Essies Cobbler”. I recommend melting the butter in the pan while the oven is preheating (leaving a bit in the pan and putting the batter in the hot pan create a lovely chewy crust) and also increasing the amount of fruit which can be any juicy fruit - peaches, blueberries, etc.

annsch

This was a delicious easy dessert. I chopped 1 up of fresh rhubarb and simmered it with the 1/3 c. Brown sugar, when it was softened I added the strawberries.We are huge strawberry rhubarb fans, this might be better than our family pie recipe!

Faded elegance

I browned the butter. Misread the recipe and heated oven only to 325. After 20 minutes discovered the error. Increased temp to 350 and baked for 15 mins more. Absolutely fabulous! The strawberries were caramelized, and the cake had a beautiful color and texture. I will never use Julia’s clafoutis recipe again, and I intend to make my temp/timing mistake each time I bake this. Plus browning the butter added so much umami. Almost as good the next morning at room temp with coffee. A real keeper.

Caroline

I have some nectarines that need to be used. Do you think it would work in place of the strawberries?

Klom

This is the first time I felt the need to add a comment after several years of happily trying NYT recipes. Expected this to be a little heavy and wet but it is the airiest cake - and also moist! Needless to say this came out great. Followed the recipe with some extras - grated fresh young ginger roots to the strawberry-sugar mix, zested lemons and added 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste into the wet ingredients before adding the dry ingredients. Am in Bangkok. Will use ripe mangoes next time.

Mark

I’ve made versions of this recipe before; it’s basically a clafouti, a French cake. The first version I made years ago was from a Jane Brody cookbook. Any fruit is good in it. I’ve used blueberries, tart cherries, peaches and strawberries, solo or mixed together.

Sean

The big distinction being that clafoutis is very egg rich and this cake interestingly enough has no eggs.

Summer

My family inhaled this in one sitting! We used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour and fresh-picked strawberries. Served it warm with strawberry ice cream (made from scratch also with our garden berries). What a summer treat!

Faith

My grandmother taught me this recipe over 50 years ago. She called it Lazy Woman’s Cobbler. I still use that recipe and alternate the spices related to the fruit and season. So easy to make and take to family and friends. I tried this recipe as written worked perfectly.

Liana

I just made a version of this (with rhubarb) where the last step before oven involves sprinkling top with another 1/2 cup of white sugar and then pouring a 3/4 cup of heavy cream over the top of everything (use a deeper pan). Cream intermingles with the cake, fruit, and sugar to make a golden-brown custard-y topping. We still had the ice cream.

Lu

I made this with fresh cherries (I used 22, cut in half after removing the pits) and added a drop of almond extract to the cherry/sugar mix. Delicious !!!

Mary

lulzI love my baked goods with poisons.

Kathleen Russell

DON’T MAKE THIS CAKE! It is highly addicting.

Sharon Lansing

NYT Notes:- This is a riff on an old fashioned recipe called “Essies Cobbler”. I recommend melting the butter in the pan while the oven is preheating (leaving a bit in the pan and putting the batter in the hot pan create a lovely chewy crust) and also increasing the amount of fruit which can be any juicy fruit - peaches, blueberries, etc.- Chop 1 up of fresh rhubarb and simmered it with the 1/3 c. Brown sugar, when it was softened I added the strawberries.

Deel

A real winner! Loved by all. I've made it a few times, recipe as written. Don't skip the ice cream ... the contrast is perfection.

betsy

can this be made and then frozen?

Adrienne

I made this with King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour and cut back the amount of brown sugar in the berries and batter by almost half, and it turned out great.

Robin

Followed this to the letter, and it came out like a cookie or tart... not cake at all. I wonder if baking powder is old? Cannot imagine any other reason.

dylan

Added blueberries also, more than called for - cooked twice as long (35-40mins)

JeanO

It definitely takes longer to cook—a total of 30 minutes in my electric oven, in a square Pyrex baker.

Liesel

Simply. The. Best. Enough said.

margie

Amazingly simple and delicious!

Dee

Easy and very tasty but also extremely sweet - especially when adding ice cream. I think 1/3 C sugar total would be more than enough.

ES

Have been dreaming about this recipe for 3 years but never made it until today. Used frozen blueberries, cut the sugar to 1/3 of a cup, and added 1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger just because I wanted to. The biscuit texture is light, fluffy, gooey where the fruit juice pools…absolutely swoon-worthy. And the whole thing took 30 minutes, start to finish. I’m going to make this cake with every fruit under the sun.

termeh

Would this work in a cupcake tin? I loved this recipe and it’s simplicity. Hoping to recreate it in personal serving sizes.

katie

Notes from a new baker! Would love to have seen in instructions:- whisk dry ingredients first. I imagine a more experienced person would have known to do that without explicitly being told, but noobs read instructions very literally. Biting into a pocket of BP was not fun. - mash strawberries partially but not so they’re too small and runny. I didn’t look at the picture while I was baking, so only relying on the written instructions, I did too much mashing, which made the topping watery.

j

possibly my favorite cake recipe of all time

Jane Eyrehead

I add a little vanilla or almond flavor and it is so easy and good. Everyone likes it.

Sunita

I made this for Diwali. It was an absolute hit and sooooo delicious. I added some vanilla. That’s it! Make this, you’ll love it.

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Strawberry Spoon Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep strawberry cakes from getting soggy? ›

The solution against cake getting soggy from fruit is to simply seal the cake layers against moisture. The traditional way is to glaze with apricot jam - you brush a very thin layer of melted apricot jam on the cake layer, and put the fruit on it after it has cooled.

How long will fresh strawberries last in a cake? ›

Storage Tips

Sliced fresh strawberries will last in a cake for 3 days in the refrigerator. To Freeze. Fully frosted or unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 2 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring it to room temperature prior to serving.

How do you stop strawberries from bleeding on cakes? ›

Sugar and Stabilisation: Toss the sliced or halved strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar to draw out excess moisture. Allowing the strawberries to sit for a few minutes helps release some of their juices. Alternatively, macerate the strawberries by combining them with sugar and letting them sit for an hour or two.

How do you keep a cake soft and moist after baking? ›

Using an air-tight container is the best and easiest way to keep your cake from getting exposed to air. However, if you don't have one of those, you can wrap your cake in cling film, or if it's iced, place a large inverted bowl over it to trap the air.

Can I put fresh strawberries in the middle of the cake? ›

If you are making something like a classic sponge cake or angel food cake with layers of whipped cream and strawberries, I would simply slice them and leave them raw. If you are filling a stacked and frosted cake, I would cook them down to a more jammy consistancy. You can puree it to make it smooth if desired.

Should a cake with strawberries be refrigerated? ›

So to store, cover the cake and keep it in the refrigerator. It will keep fresh for up to 7 days!

Why did my strawberry cake turn brown? ›

This is probably due to the fact that when you bake fresh strawberries, the flesh tends to turn brown. Even when you're using a strawberry reduction. The lemon juice helps a little with the browning problem but doesn't get rid of it completely.

Can you put fresh fruit on a cake the day before? ›

I've once had to make a fruit-topped cake two days in advance. Peaches, kiwi, tiny grapes, strawberries, blueberries. Keeping them in the chiller would dry the fruit out and that would be unpleasant. So I brushed their surface with piping jelly to keep the fruits moist and shiny.

How to pipe strawberries on a cake? ›

To add the strawberries, pipe hearts on the top of the cake using the red buttercream piping bag. Pipe on two little long dots at the top of each heart to transform them to strawberries. Pipe tiny pink dots on the surface of the hearts to make the strawberry seeds.

How long to soak strawberries in sugar? ›

Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar per 1 lb. strawberries, stir to combine in a large bowl, then cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes.

How do you stop a cake having a soggy on the bottom? ›

Give yourself a smart head start

Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

What is the cause of soggy wet cakes? ›

A cake that's wet in the middle, in most cases, has not baked long enough. Put it back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Be sure to check every 5 minutes with the toothpick test for any changes. If sliced, cover with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning even more.

Will fresh strawberries make a cake soggy? ›

Since strawberries are a very wet berry, it's important to make sure your strawberries are completely dry before you chop them, otherwise you run the risk of the berries making your cake sponge soggy.

Does strawberry cake need to be refrigerated? ›

Yes! Because the icing has both whipped cream and cream cheese, this strawberry cake needs to be refrigerated. Make sure you keep the cake covered in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out. How do I make strawberry cake in advance?

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