Strawberry Crunch Cake

If you have fond childhood memories of running after the ice cream truck to grab your favorite treat, then strawberry crunch cake is the cake for you. It’s a showstopping treat packed with real strawberry flavor, exactly like Good Humor’s iconic Strawberry Shortcake bars.

This two-layer cake uses fresh strawberries for natural flavor and color. It’s topped with luscious vanilla frosting and a crunchy coating made up of Nilla Wafer cookies and freeze-dried strawberries for a fun texture with every bite.

What is strawberry crunch cake?

This recipe is much like Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars (and strawberry crunch ice cream cake), which have a layer of strawberry, a layer of vanilla and a crunchy strawberry vanilla topping. Our strawberry crunch cake recipe uses all these elements to create a very berry layered cake.

Strawberry Crunch Cake Ingredients

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• Butter: Butter provides flavor, fat and moisture for this strawberry shortcake crunch cake. Be sure to start with softened butter to properly cream the butter and sugar mixture until light and fluffy.
• Fresh strawberries: This strawberry crunch cake recipe skips gelatin or store-bought mixes. The fresh strawberries are reduced to eliminate an excess of moisture and then folded into the batter.
• Sugar: We use 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar to sweeten our strawberry crunch cake recipe.
• Eggs: The cake batter is prepared with two whole eggs and one egg white. This helps eliminate the amount of yellow added to the cake from egg yolks, giving the cake more of a pink hue.
• Vanilla extract: A touch of vanilla extract rounds out the flavors of this strawberry shortcake crunch cake with delicate, sweet, floral notes.
• All-purpose flour: We love using all-purpose flour for our layer cake recipes. It creates strong enough layers that can stand tall and sturdy on one another while keeping a soft, tender, moist inner crumb.
• Leaveners: To get two tall, springy layers, we use both baking powder and baking soda in our strawberry crunch cake recipe. If you’ve had both of these ingredients sitting in your pantry for a while, you can test baking powder and baking soda to see if they’ve gone bad.
• Milk: You can really use any type of milk, cream or nondairy milk for the cake layers. We just need a moistening and enriching ingredient, so use what you prefer!
• Frosting: We make an easy vanilla buttercream frosting with butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla extract.
• Crunchy topping: To make the piece de resistance, you’ll need freeze-dried strawberries and Nilla Wafers. Freeze-dried strawberries add an unbeatable fresh and tangy flavor. You can find them at most grocery stores. Nilla Wafers have the ideal texture for our crunch topping. If you don’t have Nilla Wafers, use Golden Oreos instead.

Directions

Step 1: Prep the strawberry puree

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Place the strawberries in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Transfer the puree to a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until the mixture reduces by half, stirring occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the puree to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator until cool.

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a circular piece of parchment in the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans. Coat with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar

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In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, three to four minutes. Mix in the two whole eggs, one egg white and vanilla extract.

Step 4: Mix in the dry ingredients and the milk

Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture, half of the milk and another 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix in the remaining milk and finish with the remaining flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Step 5: Fold in the strawberry puree

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Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the cooled strawberry puree.

Editor’s Tip: Add red gel food coloring for more vibrancy if desired.

Step 6: Bake the cakes

Divide the cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes.

Once baked, remove the cakes and allow them to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and transfer the cake layers to a wire rack to finish cooling completely to room temperature.

Step 7: Make the frosting

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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter until fluffy, three to five minutes. Beat in half of the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the remaining confectioners’ sugar, and whip until fluffy, two to three minutes.

Step 8: Make the crunch topping

While the cake layers are cooling, combine the Nilla Wafers and freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor. Pulse into crumbs.

Step 9: Assemble the cake

Place the first cake layer on a plate or cake stand. Frost the top of the first cake layer and place the second layer on top. Frost the tops and sides of the entire cake.

Step 10: Cover with the crunch topping

Place the cake plate or cake stand with the frosted cake on a baking sheet. This will help to catch the crumb topping. Sprinkle the crumb topping to coat the cake, and use your hands to gently press the strawberry crunch topping on the cake.

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Recipe Variations

• Use Golden Oreos: No Nilla Wafers? Golden Oreos are a great swap for the crunch topping! Remove the creme filling before pulsing in a food processor.
• Try a vanilla cake: Switch up the flavor of this cake by making a homemade vanilla cake or white box mix. Top the cake with strawberry frosting and the crunch topping.
• Make cupcakes: Prefer a bite-sized treat? Use the same strawberry crunch cake recipe to fill a lined cupcake pan. Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 22 minutes. Top with the vanilla frosting and the crunch topping.

How to Store Strawberry Crunch Cake

Leftovers can be stored with a cake dome over a cake stand or in an airtight container. Store this cake at room temperature for up to two days or in the fridge for up to four days. Just know the crunchy topping will soften over time, but it will still taste great!

Can you make strawberry crunch cake ahead of time?

The cake layers for this strawberry shortcake crunch cake can be baked and cooled ahead of time. The full cake can also be assembled and frosted one day before you plan to serve it. Save making and adding the crunch topping until just before you’re serving the cake to be sure the texture is still crunchy.

Strawberry Crunch Cake Tips

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Can you use store-bought cake mix in a pinch?

You can certainly use a store-bought strawberry cake mix to make this strawberry crunch cake recipe. A strawberry cake mix will give you a brighter pink cake. You can also make a strawberry cake using a white cake mix and strawberry gelatin.

Can you make strawberry frosting instead of vanilla?

If you want even more strawberry flavor for your cake, you can absolutely use store-bought or homemade strawberry frosting in place of the vanilla frosting on this strawberry shortcake crunch cake.