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This perfectly dense strawberry pound cake is made from scratch using fresh strawberries. Adding homemade quick jam to the cake creates a moist crumb and pure strawberry flavor.
A dense, moist, and easy strawberry pound cake feels just right for spring and summer! The tight crumb, along with the natural fresh strawberry flavor, is unforgettable. The pale pink color of this pound cake, paired with the pink from the icing, makes it perfect for baby showers, birthdays, potlucks, or cookouts!
Looking for desserts made with fresh fruit? These strawberry cupcakes and this strawberry cake are also made with quick strawberry jam! And if you have the spring strawberry bug, you must try these strawberry lemon cake donuts or this lemon pound cake with strawberry glaze!
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love
- Amazing strawberry flavor! Using fresh, in-season strawberries to make the jam that goes into the cake and the glaze gives this pound cake unmatched strawberry flavor that is completely natural—no extracts here.
- Perfectly moist, tender, and dense. This cake has the perfect ratio of sour cream, butter, sugar, egg, and strawberry jam, giving it that ideal melt-in-your-mouth pound cake texture.
- Beautiful natural color. The cake and glaze are only colored by the jam. That gives this cake a beautiful pale pink color!
- This is an easy-to-follow recipe. Pound cakes are easy and delicious if done right. With tips and tricks from a pastry chef, your strawberry pound cake will be perfect!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Fresh Strawberries: Fresh or frozen strawberries will work for this cake. Choose in-season strawberries that smell fragrant and are red. Out-of-season or frozen strawberries will have less flavor and more water so look for fresh or frozen in-season strawberries if you can.
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar helps create the crust on the pound cake, which is very important in helping the cake release from the bundt pan.
- Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is brighter and more vibrant and has subtle floral notes that bottled lemon juice lacks.
- Cornstarch & Water: Mixing the cornstarch with water creates a slurry that thickens the jam. Using a slurry prevents clumps of cornstarch.
- Unsalted Butter
- Whole Eggs: The eggs add fat, moisture, and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the pound cake moist.
- All-purpose Flour
- Kosher Salt
- Baking Soda
- Sour Cream: Sour cream has the right amount of fat to aid in the dense texture of this cake, like this sour cream pound cake. You may substitute full-fat Greek yogurt.
- Vanilla Extract
- Confectioners’ Sugar
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Add some extracts. Take inspiration from this cherry almond bundt cake and add almond extract. You could also add strawberry extract to help intensify the flavor.
- Change the glaze or add a frosting. Top the cake with a bourbon glaze from this Mardi Gras bundt cake, or use this chocolate fudge glaze for a strawberry chocolate cake. You can also try with cream cheese buttercream frosting or lemon buttercream frosting!
- Use different berries or fruits. Change the quick jam using blueberry, blackberry or raspberry like with these raspberry cupcakes. You could blend my peach preserves, easy cherry preserves or strain this mixed berry jam and use in place of the quick jam.
Professional Tips
- Use room-temperature ingredients. Using room-temperature eggs, sour cream, and jam will aid in the mixing process and keep the batter emulsified. If your ingredients are straight from the fridge, your batter might separate. It won’t make for the best texture, but no one will know but you!
- Adjust the flavor of the quick jam. Strawberries vary in sweetness, so taste your strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice and adjust according to taste.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes! When using bundt pans, it is very important to allow the cake to cool slightly before removing it from the pan. This allows the crumb and crust to set and ensures a beautiful bundt cake.
How to Make Strawberry Pound Cake
Use these instructions to make this moist strawberry pound cake! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Make the easy strawberry jam:
Step 1: Wash, dry, and dice the strawberries.
Step 2: Combine strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. The strawberries should release their juices and break down.
If you didn’t cut your strawberries small enough or your jam is still chunky, mash it using a potato masher or give a couple of pulses using a hand blender. You can leave it a little chunky or make it completely smooth for this cake.
Step 3: In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Slowly pour the mixture into the cooking jam while whisking constantly. Continue boiling for 1 minute, then pour into a dish or bowl to cool. Refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.
The more surface area, the faster the jam will cool. I usually pour it into a Pyrex baking dish and stir it occasionally.
Prep your Pan: Lightly spray a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and add a little flour to the bottom. Tap the flour around until every inch is covered. Tap out the extra flour onto a piece of parchment on the counter or over a sink. You should be left with a perfectly floured pan.
Make the cake:
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 325°F convection.
Step 5: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
Step 6: Whisk together the sour cream, quick strawberry jam, and vanilla extract.
Step 7: Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until a thick paste forms.
Step 8: Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after every two eggs. Make sure you scrape the bottom as well, as butter likes to hang out at the bottom of the mixer bowl.
Step 9: On a low speed, alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures.
I don’t wait until all the flour has been incorporated before I add the next batch. I just keep adding with two hands, pro-style. I stop the mixer to add the last of the sour cream mixture because I like to scrape it all out with a rubber spatula.
Step 10: I like to finish folding the last of the flour in by hand with a silicone spatula. You should have a silky, smooth batter. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake and cool the cake:
Step 11: Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out with a few clinging crumbs. Depending on your oven, this will take about 60-75 minutes. Mine baked for 65 minutes.
If you over bake it, it will be dry. Even that much butter, sugar, and sour cream can’t compensate for overbaking.
Step 12: Let it COOL for 20 minutes, then loosen the edges with a paring knife, if needed. Turn it out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, drown in glaze, or just slice it right up!
Step 13: To make the strawberry glaze, whisk the reserved jam into the confectioner’s sugar and add lemon juice until it flows freely from the whisk.
Step 14: Add more lemon to thin it out, or if it gets too thin, just add a bit more sugar until it looks right. For the prettiest cake, keep the glaze thicker so that more of the pink color stays on the cake. Since we didn’t add any food dye, this pop of color is welcome!
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
To ensure the bundt cake comes out clean, grease and flour the pan well! Make sure the pan is completely coated in flour and tap out the excess flour onto a piece of parchment paper. For a more ornate bundt pan like the rose mold from this chocolate bundt cake, flour twice to ensure you get every nook and cranny.
Recipe FAQs
Cooled strawberry pound cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator for 10 days, or frozen for 2-3 months. You can also slice the glazed cake leftovers, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them. Then thaw them individually! Your leftover slices will taste extra fresh that way.
You can use any 12-cup bundt pan! It will release nicely from a detailed pan, or you can keep it simple. You can even divide the batter between two detailed loaf bundt cake pans or two simple loaf pans!
You can add fresh strawberries to the batter. Cut and blot them dry, like in these strawberry scones, then coat them in all-purpose flour to keep them from sinking. I would advise against fresh strawberries in the batter if using a more detailed bundt pan, as they can still sink and stick to the pan and cause breakage.
You can make this cake with frozen strawberries, strawberry puree, or even ground frozen-dried strawberries! Just make sure you make the puree into a thick jam, or you will add too much moisture to the cake.
Slice with a serrated knife and serve with macerated or sliced fresh strawberries, lemon whipped cream, lemon curd, or warmed slightly with vanilla ice cream! If you have leftover pound cake, use it to make this berry trifle!
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If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Strawberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the quick strawberry jam
- 1 pint fresh strawberries about ¾ lbs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
For the pound cake
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup sour cream full fat for the best flavor & texture
- 1 ¼ cups fresh strawberry jam all recipe above less 2 tablespoons for glaze
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons strawberry jam reserved from above
- lemon juice as needed
Instructions
Make the easy strawberry jam:
- Wash, dry, and dice the strawberries.
- Combine strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. The strawberries should release their juices and break down.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Slowly pour the mixture into the cooking jam while whisking constantly. Continue boiling for 1 minute, then pour into a dish or bowl to cool. Refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.
- Prep your Pan: Lightly spray a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray and add a little flour to the bottom. Tap the flour around until every inch is covered. Tap out the extra flour onto a piece of parchment on the counter or over a sink. You should be left with a perfectly floured pan.
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F convection.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk together the sour cream, quick strawberry jam, and vanilla extract.
- Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until a thick paste forms.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after every two eggs. Make sure you scrape the bottom as well, as butter likes to hang out at the bottom of the mixer bowl.
- On a low speed, alternately add the flour and sour cream mixtures.
- I like to finish folding the last of the flour in by hand with a silicone spatula. You should have a silky, smooth batter. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake and cool the cake:
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out with a few clinging crumbs. Depending on your oven, this will take about 60-75 minutes. Mine baked for 65 minutes.
- Let it COOL for 20 minutes, then loosen the edges with a paring knife, if needed. Turn it out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, drown in glaze, or just slice it right up!
- To make the strawberry glaze, whisk the reserved jam into the confectioner’s sugar and add lemon juice until it flows freely from the whisk.
- Add more lemon to thin it out, or if it gets too thin, just add a bit more sugar until it looks right. For the prettiest cake, keep the glaze thicker so that more of the pink color stays on the cake. Since we didn’t add any food dye, this pop of color is welcome!
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this easy and delicious strawberry pound cake recipe. Try one of our other spring dessert recipes, including this easy lemon posset or this berry crumble recipe!
I totally forgot to save the two tablespoons of jam for the glaze and didn’t realize until the cake was already in the oven. Lucky I had some bonne maman in the fridge so I used that for the glaze, and the whole thing was out of this world. Thanks for this one!