Moist and flavorful, with fresh berries and the most amazing icing, this easy Strawberry Pound Cake recipe is the perfect dessert for spring or summer.
I just love baking with fresh berries! I especially enjoy it in the early summer months when berries are in season. If you can find fresh, locally grown strawberries to make this Strawberry Pound cake, that’s amazing.
Pick up some extra berries from the farmer’s market and make a fresh strawberry pie, iced strawberry tea, or strawberry shortcake next!
I’m going on and on about fresh, local berries, but really, this cake works just as well with those berries that are shipped in to your grocery store in the winter too!
We’ll be adding plenty of sugar and lemon juice to the berries to create this delicious tender pound cake and fresh strawberry glaze, enough to highlight the flavor of strawberries perfectly, but not so much that we’ll overpower them.
The Best Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe
- Moist, Dense Pound Cake – Pound cake is delicious because of its delightfully dense texture. This recipe uses butter, eggs, and sour cream to create a richly fortified cake batter that tastes amazing and has a tender crumb.
- Strawberries in every bite – We will stir fresh strawberries right into the cake before baking it, but we won’t stop there! The finishing touch is a sweet, pink glaze made with even more mashed strawberries.
- Easy Recipe – This strawberry cake will come together so quickly in your mixer with the paddle attachment! The hardest part will be waiting for it to come out of the oven and cool.
Key Ingredients In Strawberry Pound Cake
Here’s what you need to make this tasty pound cake with fresh strawberries:
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Flour, Cornstarch, and Baking Powder: Adding cornstarch to the dry ingredients makes this cake extra thick and moist, while baking powder gives it some lift in the oven.
- Butter: A traditional pound cake recipe would call for 1 pound of butter, but here we’re using a bit less. Be sure that your butter is unsalted, and fully softened at room temperature before starting.
- Eggs: It’s always best to let your eggs come to room temperature before mixing them into any cake batter.
- Milk, Sour Cream, or Yogurt: Choose your favorite dairy product (or use what you have in the fridge!). Any of these will give the cake batter moisture and creaminess.
- Strawberries: I really suggest making this pound cake with fresh juicy strawberries, but frozen berries will also work. You will want to thaw the berries, drain away an extra liquid, and dry them really well before adding them to the batter.
For Strawberry Lemon Icing
- Powdered Sugar
- Strawberries: We’ll mash up diced strawberries to give the glaze plenty of strawberry flavor and a pretty pink color.
- Lemon: to balance the sweetness.
- Melted butter: makes the icing extra decadent.
How To Make Strawberry Pound Cake
Tip!
Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go! This will help you to get a smooth cake batter with everything mixed in perfectly.
Tip!
Here’s an icing tip! Set the cake on a cooling rack that is on a sheet pan. This way the glaze can drip down the sides of the cake and down, rather than pooling at the bottom.
Tips for the Best Pound Cake with Strawberries
- Avoid overmixing. When adding the flour and milk to the butter mixture, stir only until you can no longer see streaks of flour. An overmixed pound cake will be dry and tough.
- Line the pan. Add plenty of parchment paper to the loaf pan, making sure to cover the entire interior surface of the pan, with extra on the edges to lift the cake out later. Metal binder clips can help to keep the paper where it needs to be, and out of your way.
- Cool completely before frosting. If you add the icing to a warm pound cake, it will soak into the cake.
- For intense strawberry flavor, add a small amount of strawberry extract to the cake batter.
- To test for doneness, you can insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. It’s ready when the toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. You can also use a thermometer to check that the temperature is at least 210°F (98°C).
- Make a strawberry bundt cake. Double the ingredients for the strawberry pound cake, and bake for 70-90 minutes. Be sure to grease your bundt cake pan very well with butter or cooking spray! You won’t need to double the icing, you’ll still have plenty to cover the round cake.
- Want a brighter color for your icing? Mix in a few drops of pink or red food coloring.
Storing Tips
It will be easier to store this pound cake before you ice it, so if you’re planning to make it ahead, wait to add the frosting!
Wrap the loaf tightly with plastic wrap and store it at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you’ve already added the icing, store the cake in an airtight container with a lid instead.
You can freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months as well!
How to Serve Strawberry Pound Cake
This tasty cake is delicious just as it is, but you can make it even more special by serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Strawberry pound cake also makes an amazing base for strawberry shortcake. Just top slices with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries.
More Amazing Strawberry Desserts to Bake
- Strawberry Galette
- Strawberry Scones
- Homemade Strawberry Sauce
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Strawberry Tres Leches Cake
Recipe FAQs
Why is my pound cake so dry?
Dry pound cake is generally a result of the ingredients being overmixed, or the cake baking for too long. It’s also possible that you’ve added too much flour to the recipe, or not enough liquid.
What is the difference between strawberry pound cake and strawberry shortcake?
Strawberry shortcake is generally made with a light sponge cake, or sometimes with sweet fluffy biscuits that are layered with whipped cream and fresh berries. This strawberry pound cake is baked with strawberries in it and a deliciously sweet strawberry glaze on top.
What makes pound cake more dense?
Pound cake is known for being moist and dense, and this is due to the ratio of ingredients used to bake it. Pound cakes use more eggs and butter than lighter styles of cake, which makes them thicker and denser.
Can you freeze homemade pound cake?
Absolutely! Freeze this pound cake before adding the icing. Well-wrapped, it will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw before enjoying!
This easy Strawberry Pound Cake is the perfect sweet summer treat! Save this recipe for the next time you are craving an easy strawberry dessert, and be sure to share it with your friends.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Strawberry Pound Cake
Recipe Video
Equipment
- 9×5 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch cornflour in the UK
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract or almond extract
- ¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk or sour cream or yogurt
- 1 cup fresh chopped strawberries chopped small
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest optional
Icing:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup fresh chopped strawberries chopped small and mashed with a fork
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) melted butter
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), or 160°C for a fan oven. Line a 9×5 inch (approx 23×13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine; set aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again.
- Add half the flour mixture, followed by the milk, followed by the remaining flour and mix well.
- With a spatula, gently fold in strawberries and lemon zest if using.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, and bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few wet crumbs on it.
- Allow to cool completely before icing the cake.
- To make the icing, in a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, mashed strawberries, melted butter and lemon juice. Gently stir until an icing forms.
- Place the cake on a wire rack fitted with a sheet pan, and pour the glaze over the top so it drips down the sides. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes:
- Avoid overmixing. When adding the flour and milk to the butter mixture, stir only until you can no longer see streaks of flour. An overmixed pound cake will be dry and tough.
- Line the pan. Add plenty of parchment paper to the loaf pan, making sure to cover the entire interior surface of the pan, with extra on the edges to lift the cake out later.
- Cool completely before frosting. If you add the icing to a warm pound cake, it will soak into the cake.
- For intense strawberry flavor, add a small amount of strawberry extract to the cake batter.
- To test for doneness, you can insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. It’s ready when the toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. You can also use a thermometer to check that the temperature is at least 210°F (98°C).
- Make a strawberry bundt cake. Double the ingredients for the strawberry pound cake, and bake for 70-90 minutes. Be sure to grease your bundt cake pan very well with butter or cooking spray! You won’t need to double the icing, you’ll still have plenty to cover the round cake.
- Want a brighter color for your icing? Mix in a few drops of pink or red food coloring.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
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