Strawberry Shortcake Cake - Easy Layer Cake Recipe! (2024)

This luscious strawberry shortcake cake has soft, spongey cake layers filled with juicy strawberries and the fluffiest whipped cream frosting.It’s a light and fresh layer cake that’s perfect for warmer weather!

This strawberry shortcake cake is a cross between traditional strawberry shortcake and a fluffy homemade layer cake. It’s filled with whipped cream and juicy strawberries, giving us all those classic flavors we know and love. The cake is rich and buttery, made with cake flour and lemon juice for the softest crumb.

This cake is SO GOOD! Two slices were demolished in 5 minutes.With warmer weather on the way, this light, fruity strawberry shortcake cake is perfect for all your summertime shindigs.

Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Shortcake Cake Recipe

• Soft cake layers. With a few simple techniques and the right ingredients, the batter bakes into a cake that’s ultra-moist and oh-so-soft. You’ll love the way that every bite melts in your mouth!
• Strawberry pie filling. Instead of fresh strawberries, I fill this cake with strawberry pie filling. It’s sweet and tangy and totally winning next to the pillowy whipped cream.
• Homemade whipped frosting. Also, a moment for the frosting!? All it takes is 4 ingredients to make the perfect whipped cream frosting from scratch. It’s smooth, creamy, and just sweet enough.
• Easy to assemble. Even if you’re new to making layer cakes, I promise, you can make this strawberry shortcake cake! It’s super easy to prepare the cakes and assembling is a breeze.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here are my notes on what you’ll need to make this easy strawberry shortcake cake. Scroll down to the recipe card for a printable list of ingredients.

• Cake Flour – Cake flour is lower in protein than all-purpose flour, with a lighter, more velvety texture. It’s the best choice for vanilla cake recipes, where you’re after a soft, fluffy crumb.
• Dry Ingredients –Baking powder and salt.
• Milk and Butter –You can use whole milk or 2% milk, whichever you prefer, and salted or unsalted butter.
• Vanilla –For the best flavor, stick with pure vanilla extract.
• Lemon Juice – Similar to making buttermilk, the acidity in the lemon juice thickens the milk in the recipe. It enriches the flavors of the cake and gives it a hint of tang.
• Eggs –Brought to room temperature before you start. Don’t skip this step!
• Strawberry Pie Filling –I use Lucky Leaf pie filling, but choose your favorite canned or jarred filling from the store.
• Whipped Cream –You’ll make homemade whipped cream from fridge-cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. If you’d prefer, you can use store-bought stabilized whipped cream, or Cool Whip.
• Fresh Strawberries –For garnish.

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cake

This moist strawberry layer cake comes together in just a few steps. Let’s walk through them here! You’ll find printable instructions in the recipe card below the post.

• Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together cake flour with baking powder and salt.
• Mix the wet ingredients. Combine milk and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then, take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and vanilla.
• Combine. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together. Slowly add the cooled milk mixture until it’s well combined. Finally, fold in the dry ingredients.
• Bake. Transfer the cake batter to two greased 9” springform cake pans. Bake the cakes at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes. Move the cakes to a cooling rack and release them from the pans.
• Make the frosting. Meanwhile, combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate the ingredients for 30 minutes. Afterward, beat the frosting into stiff peaks.

Assemble the Cake

• Create the layers. Once the cakes are cooled, you’ll slice one of the two cakes horizontally through the middle. You’ll be left with 3 round cake layers.
• Stack the cakes. Starting with one of the thinner layers, spread frosting over top. Add the second thin cake layer over the frosting. Top this with strawberry pie filling, and finally, the third cake layer.
• Frost the cake. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top of the cake. I like to garnish this strawberry shortcake cake with fresh berries.
• Chill. Chill the finished cake in the fridge for 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Serving Suggestions

This shortcake cake is a delicious after-dinner treat with a cup of coffee or tea. I love a warm cortado or a creamy homemade London fog. It’s also the BEST cake to bring out for dessert at a backyard BBQ in the summer, paired with scoops of strawberry ice cream. And if you’re looking for the perfect dessert to serve for Mother’s Day or Easter brunch, the fresh strawberry flavors in this cake pair great with a sunrise mimosa or rosé float!

How to Store

• Refrigerate. Store this strawberry shortcake cake in an airtight container or cake carrier in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Freeze. While I don’t recommend freezing the frosted cake, the cake layers can be frozen before assembling. Wrap them tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, with sheets of parchment paper between the cakes. Freeze for up to 2 months and defrost the layers in the fridge before assembling the cake.

More Easy Cake Recipes

• Plum Cake
• Apple Pie Cake
• Olive Oil Cake
• Banana Pound Cake
• Blueberry Coffee Cake