Strawberry Upside Down Cake

Strawberry Upside Down Cake is an easy, delicious stunning summer dessert. Fresh strawberries and sweet candied glaze top a vanilla cake made from scratch.

Fresh ripe strawberries make an easy, bright, summery twist on Pineapple Upside Down Cake is sure to be one of your new favorite Cake Recipes!

Strawberry Upside Down Cake slice on plate

STRAWBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Pineapple Upside Down Cake may be a favorite old fashioned cake recipe, but upside down cakes, also known as skillet cakes, have been around for centuries. Baking a moist cake over fresh fruit and then inverting it has been an easy way to get a stunning cake long before Dole introduced us to canned pineapple slices.

One of the best things about upside down cakes is that you can make them year round with whatever ripe seasonal fruit you have on hand. This Strawberry Upside Down Cake recipe is perfect for plump, juicy strawberries on sale all summer long.

If it’s not strawberry season, but you are still craving Strawberry Upside Down Cake, you can absolutely use frozen strawberries instead! Make sure to thaw the berries and pat them dry. Too much moisture will make the topping syrupy and not get caramel-like.

This recipe seems like a lot of ingredients and steps, but it’s actually very simple. The total time to make Strawberry Upside Down Cake, from gathering ingredients to enjoying it with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream, is about an hour and half. Use the cake mix hack below to shave off about 30 minutes.

This Strawberry Upside Down Cake is gorgeous and tasty on its own, but you can serve it with Whipped Cream or pipe Buttercream Frosting on the edges once it has cooled. For the brightest strawberry topping, serve your cake within 30 minutes of baking. Baked fruit tends to lose color over time, but it definitely won’t lose any of the delicious flavor!

MORE EASY SUMMER DESSERTS

Strawberry Upside Down Cake top-down view on cake stand

VARIATIONS ON STRAWBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

  • Chocolate: Use Chocolate Cake batter instead of vanilla cake for a chocolate covered strawberry taste. You can also fold in a 1/2 cup milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or white chocolate chips.
  • Marshmallows: A layer of chopped Marshmallows over the strawberries will create pockets in the cake as it bakes for the glaze seep into. Use half the sugar in the strawberry mixture if adding marshmallows.
  • Berries: This upside down cake can be made with all your favorite fresh berries. Try blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or use 4 cups mixed berries.
  • Jell-O: Sprinkle a package of dry strawberry jello mix over the strawberries. This not only adds flavor, but keeps the topping bright red for days!
  • Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake: For a classic strawberry  pairing, substitute 1 cup peeled and cubed rhubarb for 1 cup strawberries.

Strawberry Upside Down Cake with Cake Mix

  • Substitute an 18.25 ounce box of cake mix for the dry ingredients. Use vanilla or yellow cake, or try strawberry cake mix.
  • For the wet ingredients, use 4 eggs, 1 cup melted butter, and 1 1/4 cup milk.
  • Prepare strawberry mixture and place in bottom of the pan.
  • In a medium bowl, combine cake mix and wet ingredients.
  • Spread cake batter over strawberries and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

Strawberry Upside Down Cake Adjustments for Different Sized Pans

  • Use the toothpick method to test when the cake is done baking. The toothpick should come out clean with moist crumbs.
  • Muffin Pan: Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with baking spray. Divide strawberry mixture and cake batter evenly. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
  • 13×9 Baking Dish: Line with parchment paper and grease well with baking spray. Bake for 40-50 minutes.
  • Cast Iron Skillet: Grease a 10-12 inch skillet, add a parchment paper circle at bottom of pan, and spray paper with baking spray. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

MORE FRESH FRUIT DESSERTS

HOW TO STORE STRAWBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

  • Serve: Strawberry Upside Down Cake is best served warm. Cover cake and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days
  • Store: Refrigerate the cake covered in plastic wrap, or in an airtight container, for up to 1 week. Warm in the oven or bring to room temperature to serve.
  • Freeze: Cool Strawberry Upside Down Cake completely and wrap with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before reheating the oven.

Strawberry Upside Down Cake cross-section on cake stamd

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Strawberry Upside Down Cake slice on plate
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Strawberry Upside Down Cake

Strawberry Upside Down Cake is an easy, delicious stunning summer dessert. Fresh strawberries and sweet candied glaze top a vanilla cake made from scratch.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Strawberry Upside Down Cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 408 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 4 cups fresh strawberries , sliced

Cake Batter:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a springform pan with baking spray.

  2. Toss strawberries in cornstarch and 1/2 cup sugar.

  3. Spread strawberry mixture evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan.

Cake Batter:

  1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until lightened in color, then add in the eggs one at a time.

  2. In a large measuring cup whisk together milk, oil and vegetable oil.

  3. Sift flour, baking powder then add it into the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting.

  4. Add half the flour mixture to the stand mixer, then half the milk mixture (then repeat until done).

  5. Carefully add the cake batter over the sliced strawberries.

  6. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Nutrition Facts
Strawberry Upside Down Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 408 Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 13g81%
Cholesterol 77mg26%
Sodium 148mg6%
Potassium 244mg7%
Carbohydrates 56g19%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 37g41%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 354IU7%
Vitamin C 28mg34%
Calcium 88mg9%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Strawberry Upside Down Cake collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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