Southern Living Strawberry Spoon Cake ready to serve — Photo:
Molly Bolton

Active Time:

45 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Servings:

4 to 6

This irresistible strawberry spoon cake is the perfect way to highlight the tender and juicy berries of late spring and early summer. Its name came from how you serve it—warm from the oven, spooned into bowls, and topped with vanilla ice cream.

We bring out the very best flavor in the berries by tossing them with a little lemon juice, zest, and sugar before spooning them on top of an easy-to-make vanilla cake batter. Don't worry too much if it's not strawberry season: Macerating the berries beforehand makes even sad, out-of-season strawberries taste delicious.

Strawberry spoon cake is incredibly soft, moist, and, when baked to perfection, serves as the most delicious vehicle for those flavorful, juicy berries. Because this cake is so easy to whip up, we love the idea of making strawberry spoon cake when hosting your next small gathering. Pull this fresh from the oven and your guests will be, at the very least, swooning (and we won’t tell them how easy it was to make!).

Ingredients for Strawberry Spoon Cake

Baking ingredients, buttermilk, and strawberries transform into a special treat in just a few minutes time. Here's what you'll need for this dessert; amounts are listed further below:

Strawberries: You don't have to have photo-worthy fruit for this dessert. Even the berries that are a little soft and squishy will be great in this recipe.
Sugar: The berries are tossed with sugar to help draw out some of the natural juice in the fruit. This is known as macerating.
Lemon juice and lemon zest: Like sugar, lemon juice brings out the natural juice. It also helps to balance the sweetness of the berries and sugar. Lemon zest delightfully perfumes the fruit with floral notes of citrus fruit.
Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the cake.
Flour: Provides the body of the cake and gives it a tender crumb.
Baking powder and baking soda: These leavening agents work to help the cake batter rise to its fluffy, light potential during baking.
Salt: A little salt is needed to balance the sweetness of the cake.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds richness and moisture to the cake. It also helps to activate the baking powder and baking soda so the cake will rise during baking.
Sour cream: Sour cream also adds richness and moisture, and it gives the cake a hint of tang to blunt the sweetness of the fruity topping.

Vanilla extract: An essential baking ingredients for elevating all the flavors.
Ice cream: Optional as a topper, but we think you'll want it.

Southern Living Strawberry Spoon Cake ingredients — Molly Bolton

Variations and Substitutions for Strawberry Spoon Cake

This cake recipe is fairly forgiving, and we've answered a few common substitution questions you may have:

Berry swap: Feel free to use one cup whole raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries in place of strawberries. No need to chop!
Buttermilk choice: If you can’t find whole buttermilk at the store or don’t have any on hand, make your own substitute version of buttermilk at home. Add one teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1/3 cup whole milk, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes before using.
Fat facts: For best results, use whole buttermilk and full-fat sour cream.
Measure up: To keep the cake nice and moist, be sure to measure your flour correctly.
Changing shapes: You can substitute an eight-inch square pan for the round.

How To Store Strawberry Spoon Cake

Store leftovers cake covered tightly in the fridge for up to two days. Rewarm individual servings in the microwave.

Ingredients

1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest, divided, plus 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, from 1 medium lemon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup whole buttermilk
3 Tbsp. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Macerate berries:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place berries, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium bowl, and gently toss to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes, until the berries begin to release their juices.

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Melt butter.:

Place pats of butter in an 8-inch round cake pan.

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Place in the oven until the butter melts, about 5 minutes. Carefully swirl the melted butter around the pan so that it coats the sides of the pan, then pour the butter into a large bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

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Combine dry ingredients:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt in a medium bowl.

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Finish the batter:

Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest to the melted butter, and whisk to combine. Whisk in the buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.

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Gently fold the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined and there are no more pockets of flour remaining (it's okay if the batter is a little lumpy).

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Transfer the batter into the buttered cake pan and smooth into an even layer.

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Top with berries:

Using a slotted spoon, spoon the berries evenly over the top of the cake batter.

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Drizzle about 2 tablespoonfuls of juice over the berries.

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Bake and serve:

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly golden, the edges are pulling away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes before spooning into bowls. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Molly Bolton