Strawberry Coffee Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze — Sweet, juicy strawberries are found in every bite, and the cream cheese glaze is the perfect tangy complement to the creamy, sweet cake.
Easiest Strawberry Coffee Cake Recipe
I used every trick in the book I know to create a soft, moist, and tender buttermilk coffee cake recipe. All those tricks paid off, and it’s the best coffee cake I’ve ever made.
It comes together in one bowl in minutes. Not only that, but I combined all the ingredients in the bowl all together, all at once, rendering it like using cake mix. Dry, wet, oil, eggs, all at once, beat it together, pour it in the pan, and bake.
No sifting together dry ingredients and setting aside, then creaming butter and sugar until fluffy, or adding eggs, one by one, before carefully folding in the dry. Not necessary. Wham-bam, slap it in the pan.
A month ago I made this Blueberry and Jam Buttermilk Coffee Cake and couldn’t get it out of my mind. That cake almost uses the dump-together method, with just a very quick whisking of the dry ingredients before adding the wet. It used to be my favorite coffee cake, until this one.
For this strawberry coffee cake, I added sour cream in addition to buttermilk, and used oil instead of butter. The trifecta of sour cream, buttermilk, and oil is guaranteed to result in good cake karma.
They add moisture and richness, and the cake retains some lightness and fluffiness, courtesy of the buttermilk.
Before baking, I sprinkled turbinado sugar over the top, which creates a slightly crunchy, chewy, and sweet crust. Underneath the golden browned top lies a moist, rich, soft, creamy, dense, yet tender interior.
While baking, the top domes and the strawberries sprinkled on the surface before baking sink down, creating potholes and craters filled with sweet, juicy berries. Best potholes ever.
The vanilla coffee cake glaze is truly the icing on the cake. It’s sweet, tangy, and the perfect creamy complement to the strawberries and cake. If you have extra frosting and don’t eat it all with a spoon, use it as a dip for fresh fruit.
I love this cake. It’s my new go-to cake batter for fruit-based coffee cakes. Sweet, soft, tender, fast, and easy.
You can make this cake faster than you can go to the grocery store and buy one. It’s the perfect lazy weekend morning cake or for brunches or showers. Or for Wednesday nights after work.
Move over, Entenmann’s. I never need you again.
What’s in the Strawberry Coffee Cake?
To make this strawberry coffee cake recipe you’ll need:
- Egg
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Sour cream
- Buttermilk
- Oil
- Vanilla extract
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Strawberries
- Turbinado sugar (optional)
And for the simple coffee cake glaze, you’ll need:
- Cream cheese
- Sugar (granulated or powdered)
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Strawberry Coffee Cake
Simply whisk together the coffee cake ingredients, then fold in the chopped strawberries. Turn the batter into a 9-inch springform pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
I baked it for 30 minutes at 400F, then lowered the temperature to 375F, and baked for 25 minutes. I probably should have pulled it out about 5 minutes before I did because the edges got a little dark, but I lost track of time. Whoops, it happens.
If at any time you feel your cake is becoming overly browned before the center is setting up, cover it with foil.
Let the coffee cake cool completely before drizzling with glaze.
Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?
Yes! Even though it’s strawberry season, I used frozen strawberries because my family ate the fresh ones I was going to bake with. I rarely bake with fresh fruit because it’s more expensive and usually gets eaten before I can squirrel some of it away to bake with.
If you’re using frozen fruit, thaw it only as much as necessary to slice it, before sprinkling it on top of the batter. Frozen fruit runs and bleeds less than thawed.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes, you can double the ingredients and bake it in a 9×13-inch pan. However, you may not need to double the glaze — it really just depends on how much glaze you like on your coffee cakes!
Tips for the Best Coffee Cake
Most any fresh or frozen fruit could be used in this recipe, including blackberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines, mangoes, pears, plums, or cherries. This batter will make any fruit taste like a million bucks.
I baked it in a 9-inch springform pan, and although you maybe could get away with a standard 9-inch cake pan, I like being able to remove the ring so I don’t have to invert the cake to get it out. Plus, springform pans have higher sides and I like the extra insurance so there’s no chance of an overflow.
A tip is to place your springform pan on a baking sheet so if there’s a leak, the baking sheet catches it rather than the bottom of your oven.
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Strawberries and Cream Coffee Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sour cream, very thick Greek yogurt may be substituted, although I have not tested it
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ¼ cups frozen or fresh strawberries, halved and loosely packed
- 2 to 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (2 tablespoons granulated sugar may be substituted)
Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
- about 3 ounces, about 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar OR about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar prevents glaze from getting as ‘crunchy’ when exposed to air, but doesn’t incorporate as smoothly as confectioners’ sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside (I fear a regular 9-inch cake pan won’t quite be deep enough; but an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan is okay).
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and hand mixer), combine first 10 ingredients (through salt), and mix on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan.
- Arrange strawberry slices uniformly over the top of batter (looks like a lot but they sink down and shrivel while baking).
- Evenly sprinkle with 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar.
- Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.
- Lower the temp to 375F and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden, set in the center (it will likely be domed), not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling, but no batter.
- Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and turning out onto a rack to cool completely.
- While the cake cools, make the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and beat until smooth, either with a whisk or a mixer. Play with ratios of all ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Drizzle glaze over cake in big ribbons, going up and back, over the surface (the photos show the glaze skimpier because I wanted the strawberries to be visible, but I used all the glaze after the photos were completed).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Coffee Cake Recipes:
ALL OF MY COFFEE CAKE RECIPES!
Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping — An EASY, no-mixer cake studded with juicy blueberries and topped with big buttery streusel nuggets that are just SO GOOD!!
Cinnamon Coffee Cake — Between the cinnamon-sugar crust AND the cinnamon-sugar swirled through the center, this EASY coffee cake is IRRESISTIBLE!! Soft, fluffy, light, and of course it’s perfect with coffee!!
Coffee Crumb Cake— This coffee crumb cake recipe couldn’t be easier to make! It’s made with boxed yellow cake mix, which is used in both the batter and the crumble topping.
Glazed Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake — A very fast and straightforward cinnamon coffee cake to make and isn’t fussy at all. It’s moist, dense, and way easier to make than actual cinnamon rolls!
Glazed Pumpkin Coffee Cake – A FAST and EASY no-mixer pumpkin coffee cake with rich pumpkin flavor and topped with big buttery crumbles!!
Vanilla Coffee Cake — The cake has enough density to give it some heft and body, but it’s still light, springy, bouncy, and fluffy.
This was the best, moist, delicious breakfast coffee cake I have made. This is a keeper recipe in my reprotroire of weekend breakfasts. I was a little heavy-handed when I added the buttermilk, instead of 1/4 cup it was probably between 1/3 and 1/2 cup. No other change was made, that was just me getting ahead of myself when adding the ingredients to the stand mixer. I used a 10” fluted pie plate to bake it in, only because I was too lazy to dig for my springform pans in our basement pantry. I used confectioners sugar for the glaze, and put it right on after pulling it out of oven. Nice, fresh and warm cake. I used fresh blueberrries and strawberries, since I had them hanging out in refrigerator. Perfect! Averie nailed this one, and I would not hesitate to use any fresh or frozen fruit next time.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was the best and most delish breakfast coffee cake you’ve made!
This was the best, moist, delicious breakfast coffee cake I have made. This is a keeper recipe in my reprotroire of weekend breakfasts. I was a little heavy-handed when I added the buttermilk, instead of 1/4 cup it was probably between 1/3 and 1/2 cup. No other change was made, that was just me getting ahead of myself when adding the ingredients to the stand mixer. I used a 10” fluted pie plate to bake it in, only because I was too lazy to dig for my springform pans in our basement pantry. I used confectioners sugar for the glaze, and put it right on after pulling it out of oven. Nice, fresh and warm cake. I used fresh blueberrries and strawberries, since I had them hanging out in refrigerator. Perfect! Averie nailed this one, and I would not hesitate to use any fresh or frozen fruit next time.
I’ve been using your blueberry jam buttermilk recipe as my quick and easy yet still impressive standby since I first found your blog. Seriously- I always make sure to have frozen blueberries and powdered buttermilk on hand JUST for that cake! I actually was getting ready to make that when I spotted this recipe. I used blueberries for this since that’s what I had and it turned out to be- as expected- heavenly. I also used whole milk plain Greek yogurt since I didn’t have sour cream and i think it’s safe to say it totally works as a sub. Thanks again for all your great ideas and creations!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it’s a new favorite and that the blueberry jam buttermilk recipe is a staple! I love hearing when some of my 5+ year old recipes are still being made. Thank you!
Hello Averie hope u r fantastic my strawberry cake is in the oven right now but it hasnt turned out like ur picture wish i had a way to show u ,although the recipe is quite simple.I hope the cake tastes as good as you have described plz do tell me wat could be the reason ?Regards:)
It’s so hard to troubleshoot with people when I wasn’t in their kitchens with them. I’m sure your cake will taste great, which is what matters!
I had high hopes for this recipe, but I was bitterly disappointed. I followed everything as written, used sour cream, and even went to the store for buttermilk, so I don’t make any substitutes. Used frozen strawberries (a pain to slice, if I might add) and they all sank to the bottom and made a mess – the cake won’t even come out of the pan even though the pan was greased, and I’ve never had any troubles with this particular pan, I’ve even baked with it UNGREASED, and everything would come out beautiful. Huge disappointment
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m not sure what happened or why the cake stuck to your pan if you greased it. I always use cooking spray in my pans and don’t have issues with things sticking. But in this recipe I use a springform pan and it releaess with ease.
Fruit sometimes does sink to the bottom when you’re baking any recipe that calls for fruit. To combat that, tossing the fruit in a tablespoon or two of flour can help. Also fresh fruit I’ve found tends to sink less than frozen.
I made the blueberry coffee cake a few days ago and it was great. But I still had buttermilk left over so I made your cinnamon cake which was also great. But I STILL had buttermilk (it would be great if they sold it in smaller cartons) so I made this cake. It was, as you say, EVEN BETTER than the others.
Of course now I’ve made 3 cakes in the space of a week so I’ve had to find relatives and neighbours to help eat them.
Your list of buttermilk recipes is sheer genius.
Thank you.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and better than the other cakes you tried before trying my recipe! Having too many cakes all at once is the story of my life as a blogger :) Your friends and neighbors will love you though!
This is a wonderful recipe. I finally made it yesterday after pinning it while your first published it. I used a combination of raspberries and strawberries and subbed extra greek yogurt thinned with milk for the buttermilk. The cake was delicious and the cream cheese glaze is fabulous.
Oh I remember this recipe so well and it’s a keeper! It’s one of my fave coffee cakes of all time! Thanks for trying it and so glad you made it work well with greek yog/buttermilk and the rasp/strawberry combo sounds perfect!
Made this cake for my daughter to take to school – it was her turn to provide breakfast to her Newspaper classmates. Actually, I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9″ by 13″ disposable pan – made 2 of these and then made a 9″ round for our family. Baked each pan separately – didn’t want to crowd my oven. Whipped up a batch after I turned down the temp to 375 on the previous pan.
I used fresh strawberries. bake 400″ for 30 then 375 for 20 minutes. The cakes were extremely moist. Like a few others, the strawberries all sank to the bottom and made a layer of cooked strawberries on the bottom. The flavor was excellent. but the crunchy sugar topping lost its crunch after sitting overnight. Probably won’t use the sugar topping unless I’m serving immediately.
The cream cheese frosting is wonderful but I had to add several tbsp. of milk to get it to drizzle thick ribbons. I have quite a bit leftover.
My husband liked the recipe and the teenagers devoured both big pans. So I would say it was a success!
Glad to hear it was a success and yes, all sugar toppings totally lose their crunch as time passes; sugar dissolves as the air moisture hits it and that’s that, but it’s great day-of. And with glazes and doubling recipes, I often find that I don’t need to double the glaze even if doubling the recipe, or rather than a 2x of it, I’ll do 1.5x but it’s powdered sugar and milk, if you have extra it’s like 37 cents worth, right, who cares :) And it’ll keep forever in the fridge. Glad you guys enjoyed!
What delicious coffee cake recipe, and the cream cheese icing takes it over the top for me! This looks so good and moist. I have to try it soon.
Made this last night with mixed berries (1/2 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup each of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries) and they all sunk to the bottom despite coating them with flour. i did use greek yogurt, so maybe that’s why. either way, it turned out great and really delicious! my fiance and i have already eaten half. :/ thanks for the great recipe! this is the first of yours i have tried, and i will definitely be making many many more. :)
Yes some fruit is just prone to sinking but I personally don’t care. I actually love that wall of dense fruit at the bottom. Glad you guys love the cake! Keep me posted what other recipes you try!
Hi Averie! I made this cake yesterday (again, for the second time!) and I absolutely love it!!! It’s so moist and soft and that glaze? Wow! It reminds me of the glaze that goes with Cinnabon and I was glad there was some leftover so that I could just eat it with a spoon! :) Thank you for the recipe! Hope you have a good day! :
Yes it’s definitely Cinnabon-style glaze and I always make extra on purpose :)
So glad you love the cake and have made it twice now! Thanks for LMK!
I have a bunch of roasted strawberries. Do you think they would have too much moisture for this cake? One bowl is where I am at these days so thank you for this recipe!
I think you’d be fine with them; if they’re sitting in tons of juice, don’t add it all, try to strain off just the berries. Also this little 1-bowl cake uses a pound in 1 8x8cake. It’s like a PB& J cake https://www.averiecooks.com/peanut-butter-swirled-strawberry-cake/