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This Strawberry Snack Cake makes the perfect snack, breakfast, dessert – you name it! It’s a super moist cake with strawberries, a cream cheese layer and a cinnamon sugar topping!
Looking for a more classic strawberry cake recipe? This Homemade Strawberry Cake will blow you away!
Strawberry Snack Cake Recipe
So occasionally I share with you when our church is in the middle of a particularly good series or something strikes me about it. This week we were on the second message of a series about David. I really enjoyed the first week, but this week was even better. David was a warrior and eventually a King and was thought by many to be a man after God’s own heart and a very faithful man. The first message touched on that and what it looked like for him to be faithful.
This past week though looked a time when David wasn’t quite so faithful. Fear, anger and loneliness led him astray and he made some bad decisions that had even worse consequences. One of the things I loved about Andy sharing this particular part of David’s life is that it’s so real. How often does fear or anger cause you to do something you wouldn’t have wanted to do? I know I can be gripped by both at times and can remember many times where fear felt almost crippling. It often happens when we try to take things into our own hands instead of relying on the Lord.
The series has been such a great reminder and I’m excited to see where it goes the next couple of weeks. If you have time, grab a slice of this cake and watch or listen to it. It’s a good one. 🙂
How to Make a Strawberry Snack Cake
As far as cake is concerned, this is also a good one. The base of the cake itself is wonderfully moist and just dense enough to hold the strawberries and cream cheese filling in place. It’s got some extra moisture and flavor from the sour cream in there and I’m a big fan. There are not only strawberries on top of the cake, they are also chopped up and mixed into the cake batter.
In the middle of the cake is a cream cheese layer. It’s got a little bit of sugar, egg and some vanilla extract. It gives it a bit of a cheesecake flavor and is perfect as the cream to the strawberries. I did do a fair amount of experimenting with this layer – using more or less filling – or even none at all. If you want the strawberries to sit nicely on top of the baked cake, you’ll not want to adjust this layer.
On the top of the cake are some strawberries, cut in half, then added to the top of the cake. Cinnamon sugar is then sprinkled over the top of the cake in a nice layer that covers it well. Don’t be tempted to press the strawberries down into the cake, just gently set them on top. They will sink just a bit during baking. I also added a little glaze to the top of the cake. It’s delicious with and without it, so feel free to leave it off, if you prefer.
This cake was a HUGE hit! It’s similar to a coffee cake in texture, minus the streusel. It’s hard to decide if I liked it warmer and fresher out of the oven, or after it had been refrigerated for a bit. I’ll say that it gets denser as it sits and when it’s cold, so if you prefer a lighter and fluffier texture, let it cool to about room temperature and then devour! I brought this cake to our church group shortly after being baked and at room temperature and there was barely a crumb left. So, so good!
Strawberry Snack Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 14-16 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Strawberry Snack Cake makes the perfect snack, breakfast, dessert – you name it! It’s a super moist cake with strawberries, a cream cheese layer and a cinnamon sugar topping!
Ingredients
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
STRAWBERRY CAKE
- 3/4 cup (155g) sugar
- 9 tbsp (126g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 tbsp (86g) sour cream
- 6 tbsp (90ml) milk
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (104g) chopped strawberries, chopped
- 7–10 strawberries, cut in half
CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sugar
ICING
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch cake pan with a circle of parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.
2. To prepare the cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese and sugar together with a mixer until smooth.
3. Add the egg white and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated. Set aside egg yolk for cake batter. Set aside cream cheese mixture.
4. To make the cake batter, combine the sugar and butter and beat on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Don’t skimp on the creaming time.
5. Add the sour cream and mix until well incorporated.
6. Add the milk and mix until well incorporated.
7. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
8. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
9. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until smooth.
10. Gently stir in the chopped strawberries
11. Add half of the batter to the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
12. Add spoonfuls of the cream cheese filling over the batter, then gently spread into an even layer.
13. Add spoonfuls of the remaining cake batter over the cream cheese filling, then gently spread into an even layer.
14. Add the strawberry halves to the top of the cake. Don’t press them into the cake, just set them on top. They will sink a bit when baking.
15. Combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cake.
16. Bake the cake for 60-65 minutes or until browned on top and a toothpick inserted comes out moist, but with a few cake crumbs. It may have some moisture from the cream cheese layer, but the cake should be crumbs.
Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
17. To make the icing, combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Feel free to add more milk or powdered sugar, as needed to thicken or thin the icing.
18. Drizzle the icing over the cake.
19. This cake can served after cooling at room temperature, or refrigerated and served cold. It is denser after being refrigerated.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 234
- Sugar: 20.7 g
- Sodium: 103.5 mg
- Fat: 10.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.2 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 50.6 mg
Enjoy!
Tried this recipe last night, substituting a couple of cups of frozen blueberries for the strawberries. My guys LOVED it, and I’m sure I’ll be making this again! Thank you so much for sharing an awesome recipe. (Frozen blueberries made it take about 5-10 minutes longer to cook, but that’s on me. The recipe was SPOT on!)
Awesome! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
Wow. This recipe is so off. A 9 inch cake pan is a completely inappropriate size. Half of the cake batter BARELY covered the bottom, and there was only enough batter left for a dollop as the top “layer” of the cake An 8 or even 7 inch would have been way more apt. It’s stuff like this that reminds me why I’m not going to follow blogger recipes anymore. Completely untested and not properly developed. Shame on you. This is very misleading to your readers and a complete waste of ingredients.
This recipe was tested more than 5 times and I guarantee it works. The batter expands quite a bit when baking. You will have thin layers of batter, but it bakes to fill the entire 9 inch pan when in the oven. Did you even try baking it? This recipe was tested over and over and was absolutely properly developed.
Geez, relax! I followed the recipe to the letter tonight and it came out beautifully. Cake actually rose about a half inch above the 9″ cake pan when all was said and done. Your comment was a little rude and over the top, don’t you think? It’s just a cake…
I made this with frozen strawberries, barely thawed. It worked out fine, although slightly underbaked. But I baked it for only 60 minutes…
Tieneke
Does this cake have to be refrigerated after making it?
I love trying your recipes! Thank you.
Yes, I would suggest refrigerating it.
Thanks so much Val! 🙂
Will this work with frozen strawberries?
I didin’t try it. Frozen fruit adds a water variable that could change the outcome a bit. If you try it, be sure to have them totally thawed and patted dry.
Holy spring time! This cake screams “Warm weather is coming!” I love it!
Hi Lindsay! Huge fan of your blog 🙂 I don’t have strawberries on hand, but do have apples–do you think other fruits could substitute well?
I would think it’d be fine. Sliced apples on top should stay “afloat” ok. 🙂
Wow, looks delicious! Regarding David, i’ve often wondered just how old he was when he killed Goliath. I know he was young, and I estimated that he was about 16 (give or take). At that time, he had deep faith in the Lord, going after Goliath with a sling and a rock, not even wearing any army gear! How brave!
Yes, that was mentioned in the first message. He was 15! Brave and incredibly faithful!
If I have time this afternoon (during my lunch break) I plan on listening to one of the messages. I’ll start with the first one. Thx for sharing those with us! Love talking about the Bible!
You are the Julia Child of the baking world. Everything I’ve made from your recipes has been out of this world delicious. I can tell by those ingredients that this will also be a hit, especially with my strawberry cheesecake loving husband. Thank you so much for sharing your loveliness. 🙂
High praise, Terrie! Thank you! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes!
Can’t wait to try this , it looks amazing like you could just take a fork and eat it right off the page!!
Thinking seriously about making it while everybody is at work or school and hording it for myself..lol
Sounds like a great idea! 😉
This looks beautiful (as always) and delicious. Another one to try added to my list! I think my “to bake” list has increased dramatically since discovering your blog and cookbook. Thanks for so many great recipes and photos!
Thanks Annette! 🙂
Looks super yummy!
Thanks Lanie! 🙂
I am excited to try this recipe for my family. Thank you!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!
Is it possible that I am missing when to add the creamcheesefilling? I think between two layers of cakebatter. Am I right? Recipe sounds delicious and I really like your story about David.
Tieneke
Ahh, yes! Sorry about that! I’ve added that to the instructions. Thank you for pointing it out!
Hi Lindsay! Questions for you! Is the cream cheese filling swirled into the batter or sandwiched between to thin layers of batter and then halved strawberries added? Are you using a spring form pan or a traditional cake pan? If you are using a traditional cake pan, are you turning the cake out once it’s cooled or while still warm?
Thanks!
I added the instructions for the cream cheese layer – sorry about that. I used a regular 9 inch pan and turned it out after cooling for about 15 minutes or so. Once I turn it out and it’s upside down, I use another rack to flip it back over so it can cool right side up.
I am not sure when to put cream cheese filling in cake pan as there is no mention of it. Your instructions say to put the cake batter into prepared tin then add strawberry to top and spinlkle with cinnamon. Can you tell me the sequence the layers are put in the tin please.
I have added those instructions – sorry about that! Thanks for letting me know!