A Strawberry Cake That Really Tastes Like Strawberries

Folding a fitted sheet. Defining the word “the.” Baking a strawberry cake. What do all of these things have in common? They are all deceptively tricky tasks.

Simple in theory yet fiddly as hell, baking a strawberry cake that actually tastes like strawberries is no easy task. Add strawberry purée to your batter and you’ll end up with a dense, stodgy cake with a disappointingly subtle flavor. Add strawberry extract, an expensive and hard-to-find ingredient, and your cake will taste more like a scented Strawberry Shortcake doll than the real deal.

Lucky for you, I spent weeks testing our new Neapolitan Cake recipe, a three-tiered beauty with chocolate, vanilla, and (you guessed it) strawberry cake layers. And after many failed tests, I discovered that the key to making a great strawberry cake is far simpler than I originally imagined.

The secret? Freeze-dried strawberries. Yes, those crisp, airy slices found in grocery store snack aisles are the key to making a light and fluffy cake that truly tastes like strawberries, even after baking. Here’s how:

Blitz a single 0.8- to 1-ounce package of freeze-dried strawberries in a blender, food processor, or spice grinder until they become a fine powder, then stir the flavorful dust into your cake batter. That’s it. For a standard 8- to 9-inch layer, one package of strawberries is the perfect amount to infuse your yellow or white cake batter with juicy, fruity flavor. There’s no need to adjust any other ingredients or change the bake time.

But a word of caution: Freeze-dried strawberries are acidic, meaning they react with chemical leavening agents like baking powder or soda. For this reason, more is not more here. Don’t go beyond one bag of freeze-dried strawberries for a single cake layer. Use more and you risk over-leavening the cake, causing it to collapse in the oven.

And about the color: The raw batter will have a pretty rosy hue, but once it bakes, it fades into a dull shade of orange. If you want it to be Barbie pink, you need to add food coloring. Just a few drops of red food color are all it takes to lock in a blushing tint, but of course you can leave it out if you don’t mind a more muted color. It’s your cake.

You can follow the recipe for my Neapolitan cake for an impressive layered number featuring this simple trick. Or, for a smaller gathering, try adding freeze-dried strawberries to this easy vanilla cake, then top it with lots of fresh strawberries.