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This strawberry sheet cake with lemon cream cheese frosting is so simple to make but delivers phenomenal results! I love cake recipes that use standard pantry ingredients, like this one. No need to rely on a white cake mix to create incredible flavor. Desserts don’t have to be fancy to bring home the best flavor. One slice of this cake and it’s going to become a permanent staple!
Like all good strawberry cake recipes, this one uses plenty of fresh strawberries and strawberry gelatin to create bold strawberry flavor in every bite. I think fresh is always best when it comes to fruit desserts!
If you love strawberry cakes, be sure to check out my Best Strawberry Cake. It’s soft, fluffy, and packed with strawberry flavor. You might also enjoy Strawberry Tres Leches Cake, super buttery Strawberry Pound Cake, and Strawberry Shortcake Cake.
This easy sheet cake is perfect when you want a dessert that can feed a crowd and still knock everyone’s socks off.
Let’s start baking!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- The fluffy lemony cream cheese frosting
- The fresh strawberries in the cake and frosting
- Makes plenty to go around
- Looks as good as it tastes
CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD?
YEP! You can make the cake a day or two ahead of time, but hold off on the frosting until you’re ready to serve. You can also freeze your cake as a make-ahead step.
STRAWBERRY SHEET CAKE INGREDIENTS
Cake:
- Butter: I use unsalted butter at room temperature.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar.
- Eggs: I use large eggs. It’s best to use eggs at room temperature.
- Lemon: I suggest using a fresh lemon. One ripe lemon should be plenty for both the cake and the frosting. There are many different ways to juice a lemon, but I like to roll it on the counter with firm pressure to get the juices flowing before cutting it.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour has lower gluten and makes the cake more tender. I highly suggest it, but in a pinch, you can use all-purpose flour with a bit of cornstarch mixed in. Put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch at the bottom of the 1 cup measuring cup and add all-purpose flour on top of it. Put 1 tablespoon in the 1/2 cup.
- Strawberry Jello: This is added straight from the box as a dry ingredient.
- Baking Soda: This gives the cake its rise.
- Salt: Regular table salt.
- Buttermilk: Be sure to shake the buttermilk well before measuring it out.
- Strawberries: I prefer using fresh strawberries.
Frosting:
- Cream Cheese: At room temperature.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar.
- Strawberries: Again, I prefer using fresh strawberries.
- Cream: Heavy cream.
- Lemon Juice: I suggest using a fresh lemon
TIPS
- How To Remove From Pan? I like to line the baking pan with parchment that extends a few inches beyond the length of the pan on both ends. This is referred to as a sling. After baking, grab both ends and gently lift the entire cake out of the baking pan.
- Chopping the strawberries – The berries should be chopped or diced into small pieces. Big chunks will create soggy pockets in the cake.
- Folding – The key to fluffy frosting and a light, airy cake is to fold in the strawberries by hand.
- To fold, pull your spatula through the middle of the batter and fold one side.
- Continue until everything is well mixed. Stirring will knock the air out of the whipped cream and cake batter and also break down the berries.
STORING + FREEZING
Store this cake in a well-sealed container in the fridge. If your cake pan doesn’t have a top, you can use toothpicks to keep the plastic wrap from sticking to the frosting.
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This cake will last up to 4 days in the fridge, but the frosting starts to lose its texture after a couple of days.
- Can You Freeze This? I don’t recommend freezing the frosted cake. However, the cake itself will freeze just fine if you use proper freezing techniques. Allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight and frost it just before serving.
- Food Safety: For more information on food safety, check out this link.
VARIATIONS
- Add More: I often add a layer of strained strawberry jam on top of the cake before frosting it.
- Garnish: Freeze-dried strawberries are lovely to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Crush them first into a strawberry powder. Large, picture-perfect strawberries are beautiful on top of the cake. I also like to add fresh mint decoratively tucked under the fresh strawberry.
- Different Cake Pans: You can use two 9-inch cake pans instead of the 9X13 inch baking dish. Divide the batter evenly into the two cake pans. Reduce the bake time to about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You can also make this cake in three 8-inch round pans. If you make this as a layer cake, lemon cream cheese frosting likely will not be firm enough to work properly.
- Switch The Frosting: The frosting on this cake is absolutely divine. I mean that. If you’d prefer, you can use a vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting, or a strawberry cream cheese frosting. I promise I won’t judge! Here’s how to go about it!
- Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup strawberry puree (process fresh hulled strawberries in the food processor)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Using a handheld electric mixer, cream until smooth and creamy.
- Stir in the strawberry puree, vanilla, and salt.
- Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until well incorporated, then frost cake.
- Ingredients
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SHEET CAKE RECIPE
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9X13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. Combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and lemon juice.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just combined.
- Fold in the strawberries, pour the batter in the pan, and bake.
- To prepare the frosting, cream together 1/2 the sugar and the cream cheese on medium speed. Fold in the strawberries.
- In a separate bowl, mix the heavy cream and lemon juice until frothy. Mix on medium-high speed, adding in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the cream into the cream cheese mixture. Spread over the cake.
MORE SHEET CAKE RECIPES
Sheet cake is the way to go to feed a crowd! Be sure to try these!
- Pig Pickin Cake
- Texas Sheet Cake
- Pineapple Sheet Cake
- Coca Cola Cake
- Caramel Apple Sheet Cake
- Coconut Sheet Cake
- Pineapple Sunshine Cake
- Pina Colada Sheet Cake
- Lemon Buttermilk Cake
- Pina Colada Sheet Cake
- Honey Bun Cake
- Oatmeal Cake
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Strawberry Sheet Cake with Lemon Frosting
Strawberry sheet cake is bursting w/ fresh berries & a hint of tangy lemon! The tender cake & fluffy lemon cream cheese frosting are a must-try!
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs large
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 tablespoons strawberry flavored jello gelatin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk well shaken
- 2/3 cups fresh strawberries chopped
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2/3 cups sugar divided
- 2/3 cups fresh strawberries chopped
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Line the baking dish with parchment paper with the long sides extending 2-3 inches. Spray parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
- Using a stand-up electric mixer, beat butter (1 cup) until creamy. Slowly add sugar (2 cups) then continue to beat for 4-5 minutes until it's fluffy. Add eggs (2) one at a time, and beat after each addition until they're incorporated. Add lemon juice (2 teaspoons) and vanilla (1 teaspoon) and mix in.
- In a small bowl combine flour (2 1/2 cups), strawberry jello (2 tablespoons), baking soda (1/2 teaspoon), and salt (1/4 teaspoon). Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk (1 cup), beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Gently stir in strawberries (2/3 cups). Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake completely. Lift the cake out of the pan, using the parchment paper extensions.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese (8 ounces) with 1/3 cup of sugar until the mixture is smooth. Fold in strawberries (2/3 cups).
- In a large bowl, beat the cream (1 1/2 cups) and lemon juice (3 tablespoons) until the mixture is frothy. Continue beating on medium-high speed and gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Fold half of the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream mixture.
- Immediately spread the top and sides of the cake with frosting. Serve 🙂
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- How To Remove From Pan? I like to line the baking pan with parchment that extends a few inches beyond the length of the pan on both ends. This is referred to as a sling. After baking, grab both ends and gently lift the entire cake out of the baking pan.
- Chopping the strawberries – The berries should be chopped or diced into small pieces. Big chunks will create soggy pockets in the cake.
- Folding – The key to fluffy frosting and a light, airy cake is to fold in the strawberries by hand.
- To fold, pull your spatula through the middle of the batter and fold one side.
- Continue until everything is well mixed. Stirring will knock the air out of the whipped cream and cake batter and also break down the berries.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/12 of the recipe | Calories: 603kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 206mg | Potassium: 144mg | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 1236IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 76mg
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Source: Southern Living
Delicious cake recipe! I forgot that most heavy creams contain carrageenan, which makes me seriously 🤮. I would love to make this again but will be more careful choosing ingredients.
Very thankful for this delicious cake. I am waiting for the next recipe.