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This Strawberry Sheet Cake is soft, moist, fluffy, and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor in every bite. Topped with a light, dreamy lemon frosting that perfectly balances the sweetness, this easy 9×13 cake is the kind of dessert that always steals the show at potlucks, birthdays, baby showers, and summer parties.
If you love easy homemade sheet cakes like this, be sure to check out my Texas Sheet Cake, Coca Cola Cake, and Pig Pickin Cake — all reader favorites. Or browse my full Cake Recipes collection for even more crowd-pleasing homemade desserts.
What makes this strawberry sheet cake recipe so special is the texture. Cake flour and buttermilk create an incredibly tender crumb, while fresh strawberries add real berry flavor throughout the cake and frosting. The fluffy lemon frosting keeps the cake tasting bright and fresh rather than overly rich or heavy, making this one of those desserts people can’t stop going back for “just one more slice.”
💡 Why This Strawberry Sheet Cake Works
Layered strawberry flavor: Fresh strawberries combined with strawberry gelatin give you bold, reliable strawberry flavor in every bite, so the cake tastes as good as it looks.
Soft, tender crumb: Cake flour and buttermilk create a light, fluffy texture that stays moist and gives this cake that soft, bakery-style feel.
Balanced sweetness: The lemon cream cheese frosting adds a bright contrast that keeps the cake from feeling too sweet, while giving it that fluffy, tangy finish people remember.
Perfect for a crowd: Baked in a 9×13 pan, this cake is easy to slice, serve, and transport, making it ideal for potlucks, holidays, and family gatherings.
What Is a Strawberry Sheet Cake? (Quick Guide)
A strawberry sheet cake is a single-layer cake baked in a 9×13-inch pan, making it one of the easiest ways to serve cake to a group. Unlike layered cakes, there’s no stacking or complicated decorating — just simple, slice-and-serve convenience.
It’s known for its soft, tender texture, bold fruit flavor, and ability to feed a crowd with minimal effort, making it perfect for potlucks, parties, and holidays.
✨ Before You Begin
✨ Use room temperature ingredients: Butter, eggs, and cream cheese mix more smoothly and create a better texture.
✨ Chop strawberries small: Large pieces can create soggy pockets in the cake.
✨ Don’t overmix: Mix just until combined to keep the cake light and tender.
✨ Line your pan: A parchment sling makes removing the cake easy and clean.
🔬 How to Get Strong Strawberry Flavor in Cake
Strawberries are naturally high in water, which can dilute their flavor when baked into cakes. That’s why many strawberry cakes end up tasting faint or flat.
This recipe solves that problem by combining fresh strawberries with strawberry gelatin. The fresh berries bring natural flavor and texture, while the gelatin boosts and concentrates that strawberry taste so it actually comes through after baking.
It’s a simple trick, but it makes a huge difference — giving you a cake that truly tastes like strawberries, not just looks like it.
Strawberry Sheet Cake Ingredients + Key Notes
Butter: Use unsalted butter at room temperature for best control over flavor.
Sugar: Granulated sugar provides structure and sweetness.
Eggs: Large eggs at room temperature help create a smooth batter.
Lemon: Fresh lemon juice adds brightness to both the cake and frosting.
Cake Flour: Creates a soft, tender crumb. You can substitute all-purpose flour with a cornstarch adjustment if needed.
Strawberry Gelatin: This boosts strawberry flavor and enhances color.
Baking Soda: Helps the cake rise properly.
Salt: Balances sweetness and enhances flavor.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and tenderness.
Strawberries: Fresh strawberries provide natural flavor and texture.
Fluffy Homemade Frosting
This frosting is light, fluffy, and slightly tangy — the perfect complement to a sweet strawberry cake. It balances the sweetness beautifully without feeling heavy or overly rich.
If you’d rather switch things up, this cake also works beautifully with vanilla buttercream, chocolate frosting, or strawberry cream cheese frosting.
🥣 How to Make Strawberry Sheet Cake
Here’s a quick look at how to assemble this easy strawberry sheet cake (full instructions in the recipe card below).
Prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper so the cake is easy to lift out later.
Make the batter. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then mix in the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cake flour, strawberry gelatin, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, and mix just until combined.
Fold in the strawberries. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries by hand so you don’t crush them or overwork the batter.
Bake. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese with part of the sugar until smooth, then fold in the strawberries. In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the lemon juice and remaining sugar until stiff peaks form, then gently fold that into the cream cheese mixture.
Finish. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake, then slice and serve.
⭐ Pro Tips
⭐ Chop strawberries small: Large pieces can create soggy pockets and uneven texture.
⭐ Don’t overmix the batter: Mix just until combined to keep the cake light and tender.
⭐ Use room temperature ingredients: This helps everything blend smoothly and evenly.
⭐ Line your pan with parchment: A parchment sling makes removing the cake easy and clean.
⭐ Want even more strawberry flavor? A thin layer of strained strawberry jam under the frosting adds extra berry flavor without making the cake soggy.
⭐ Add a pretty finish: Crushed freeze-dried strawberries make a beautiful garnish and add even more concentrated strawberry flavor.
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
Overmixing the batter → leads to a dense, heavy cake
Using large strawberry chunks → creates soggy spots
Skipping parchment lining → makes removal difficult
Overbaking → dries out the cake and dulls the flavor
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead Tips
Storing:
Keep the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing:
Freeze the unfrosted cake tightly wrapped for best results. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and frost just before serving.
Make-Ahead:
Bake the cake 1–2 days in advance and store it covered. Frost just before serving for the best texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
◆ What is a strawberry sheet cake?
A strawberry sheet cake is a single-layer cake baked in a 9×13-inch pan, making it easy to slice and serve. It’s known for its soft, tender texture and is perfect for feeding a crowd without the extra work of stacking layers.
◆ Can I make this without lemon frosting?
Yes! The lemon cream cheese frosting is completely optional. You can use vanilla buttercream, chocolate frosting, or strawberry frosting depending on your preference.
◆ Can I use frozen strawberries?
Yes, but thaw and drain them well before using to avoid excess moisture. Fresh strawberries will give you the best flavor and texture.
◆ How do you make strawberry flavor stronger in cake?
Combining fresh strawberries with strawberry gelatin helps boost flavor and ensures the cake tastes rich and fruity instead of faint.
◆ Can I make this in round cake pans?
Yes. You can divide the batter between two 9-inch round cake pans and reduce the bake time to about 20–25 minutes. You can also use three 8-inch round pans, but since this frosting is softer and fluffier than a traditional buttercream, it may not be the best choice for a tall layer cake.
More Sheet Cake Recipes to Try
- Coca Cola Cake— moist, fudgy, and full of nostalgic flavor.
- Texas Sheet Cake — rich, chocolatey, and always a crowd favorite.
- Pina Colada Cake — tropical, creamy, and perfect for spring and summer.
- Honey Bun Cake — sweet, swirled, and finished with a simple glaze.
- Pineapple Sheet Cake— soft, fruity, and easy to make for a crowd.
- Oatmeal Cake — old-fashioned, cozy, and topped with that irresistible broiled frosting.
Tried This Recipe?
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Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today — happy cooking, friends! ❤️ Kathleen
Strawberry Sheet Cake with Lemon Frosting
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
- Chop strawberries small: Large pieces can create soggy pockets and uneven texture.
- Don’t overmix the batter: Mix just until combined to keep the cake light and tender.
- Use room temperature ingredients: This helps everything blend smoothly and evenly.
- Line your pan with parchment: A parchment sling makes removing the cake easy and clean.
- Want even more strawberry flavor? A thin layer of strained strawberry jam under the frosting adds extra berry flavor without making the cake soggy.
- Add a pretty finish: Crushed freeze-dried strawberries make a beautiful garnish and add even more concentrated strawberry flavor.
Nutrition
Reader Interactions
Comments
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[…] which one to make until I stumbled across this Strawberry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting on Gonna Want Seconds. Strawberry and lemon are so great for spring and summer! It was exactly what I was looking for, […]
I made this cake for a family birthday and it was an absolute success! Everyone loved it and my father has requested it for his birthday cake for next June. I’m making it tomorrow for some special guests and I’m sure they will love it. Thanks for the wonderful share.
You’re so welcome Deb. Thanks for your comment 🙂
Has anyone tried to freeze this yet?? Not the icing of course..lol
Hi Tammy. I haven’t tried freezing this cake. Sorry, but I think the cake alone, without the frosting, should freeze very well. Keep me posted if you give it a try 🙂
The recipe looks great, but your printable version is not working, it’s trying to print 11 pages.
Hi Mike. I’m so so sorry!!! I contacted my tech person the day you left the comment. Trying to get it fixed! I really appreciate you letting me know!
Hi again:)
I baked the cake batter in cupcakes. It is moist and yumm. But the sides of the cupcake have a light hard brown crust. Any idea why?
Hi Kathleen,
I am planning to bake this today. I rcake looks sumptious. Can i bake it as cupcakes?
Or what about as round cake pan?
Thanks
I made this to celebrate Mother’s Day last weekend and it was a hit! The cake and the frosting are both delicious, but the frosting really stood out for me – so light, fluffy, and delicious!
Hey Jennifer! I’m so glad you enjoyed this for Mother’s Day! I agree the frosting is amazing! Thanks for sharing 😉
HI WOULD THIS BE GOOD FOR A OUTDOOR WEDDING IN SEPTEMBER IN OR. IT COULD BE IN THE 80 TO 86 IS THAT OK FOR THIS CAKE THANK YOU DEBBY AND THE CAKE IS SO SO GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Debby, well, I have to say I worry about the frosting in the heat. The cream cheese and the whipped cream make it more perishable and for food safety require refrigeration.
Thanks for your reply Kathleen I just looked at my comment and I left out the word cornflour or corn starch as you call it in the States. Add cornflour to plain flour to make cake flour.
I live in Sydney now but I’ve also lived in the States and the jello gelatin powder (not to be confused with the jello you mix with milk) is the same as the jelly in Oz, we just spell it a different way.
Cake flour is another product we don’t have but 2 tablespoons in a cup measure and then all purpose flour to make up a full cup is a great substitute. I haven’t found a strawberry cake I like from scratch and there are literally hundreds on the internet, most of them come out a dull purplish colour and that could be because our butter is really yellow. But this one looks good so I will give it a whirl. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Nova. Thanks for your input. 😉 I hope you try the cake and enjoy it as much as we do!
Hello ! I did not have cake flour on hand. I searched on google for a substitute. For each measured cup of regular flour, remove 2 Tablespoons, then add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. My cake is baking now !
I will comment on cake after finished baking !
Wow Cynt! Thats very impressive. I love your ingenuity! Please let us all know how it came out! <3
SO SO GOOD! Brought me back to the wild strawberry fields on my grandparent’s farm when I was a child. Made it for our family Easter supper…huge success! Will use the frosting as a topping on other desserts.
Hi Marie. I’m so happy to hear you liked the recipes and even happier to hear it stirred old memories. I think that’s the best when food does that!
What about an adjustment for high altitude Any ideas?
Hi Dawn. Sorry but I have no experience baking at high altitude. I’m literally at sea level! Sorry again and good luck!!!
Thanks for your reply, Kathleen. I’ll let you know how it turns out at almost 5,000 feet of elevation. Happy Easter!
Hello I plan to bake this cake on Sunday, however I don’t like cream cheese in any form or fashion. Is there another lemon frosting recipe that I can use? Thanks
Hi Dianne. This is the only frosting recipe I’ve tried with this cake. Any lemon butter cream would be great I’m sure 🙂
Recipe looks great
Looking forward to your recipes
Thank you Nancy 😉
Just thought I’wld let u know., there is no such thing as jello in Australia .. We have gelatine (which is unflavored and has no colour) and we have jelly which u call jam but to us Aussie it is wobbly flavoured water based dessert.. It is difficult to
Know what u r talking about when u refer to strawberry flavoured jello?? So I used what we call jelly crystals and had to add a food dye to get the pink colour as the crystals did not produce enuf colour., the recipe worked out well but I sure am
Grateful u put in the size of the dish, even though we work in centimeters and not inches coz I wld have no
Idea what a sheet pan is either., all in all., it’s a beautiful cake but in this global world, there are still differences in products, measurements and language but I
Like a challenge and made all the conversions.. It’s not easy living down under sometimes! But we manage!
Hello Gail. Well I’m glad theres a product to substitute for Jello. Thanks for sharing ypur experience 🙂
Hi Gail , did you use a lamington size pan i,m in sydney a well ??
Just made this cake for a baby shower, and it turned out GREAT! A few modifications:
-Three 9″ tiers, so had to double the recipe exactly to fill the pans properly
-Baked each for 42 mins
-Used a Lemon Cream Cheese icing recipe instead of this one because this icing wouldn’t be strong enough.
Can not say enough great things about this recipe. Some of the best cake I have EVER tried or made!!
Hi Ellen! Wow that sounds like a Delicious combination! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Love hearing how you put it together!!!
Ok so I hate to waste stuff.. if we take out 2 tbsp of jello powder from the packaged, can we then make some jello on the side to use the rest up? Any idea on how much water to use in that case?
Hi LJK, great idea! I haven’t experimented yet doing so. Sorry. I’d love to know if you figure it out 🙂
I have this in the oven right now.. and it’s been in for 35 min and the top is brown but it’s most def not done.. it’s ..sloshy? Prayers..
Anyway in the meantime I figured out the jello.. if you’re using a SMALL box of it, there are 6 tablespoons inside so using 2 for the cake leaves 4 left.. which is 2/3 of the package so you need 2/3 cup boiling water and 2/3 cup cold water to prepare the remaining jello.
I live in Europe and have to have family in the USA mail me some grocery items, like jello.. so I hate to waste it 🙂
I also cannot buy heavy cream here but was suggested to get whipping cream as it’s the highest fat content we can buy at 30%. (I live in The Netherlands)
I’m making this cake for my mother in law’s birthday tonight so I reaaaally hope this comes out. I can’t find any reason for the slosh in the pan.. I followed the recipe exactly. I don’t have a stand mixer but have always made do without one so I can’t see that being the cause. I wlill let you know how it turns out!
So.. it was good but very powerful. The only issue was that the cake was incredibly moist but maybe from the strawberry juice? It reminded me of strawberry shortcake. The frosting was the best part 😉
Just made this yummy cake last nite for my little grand-daughters 4th birthday. She wanted a “pink” cake and this one looked perfect on Pinterest, and it really was perfect! It was moist, light and had a slight lemon tang to it, with a cool and creamy frosting. And I especially loved that it was a “scratch” cake… I don’t like cake mixes!
We decorated it up with the Princesses’ from Frozen, wrote Happy Birthday on it with some icing I whipped up, and stuck some candles on it, and she loved it !!
Thanks for such a good recipe that I will keep making for a very long time !!
HI Katy! Happy belated birthday to your grand daughter! So happy you liked this cake and most importantly the birthday girl liked it too!!!