This Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake is fluffy, tender, tangy, and bright! An egg-free, easy-to-make cake with a heavenly combination of strawberries and lemon, that is sure to be a showstopper. The recipe includes step-by-step photos and lots of tips.
Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake Highlights
I love a good combination cake. Sometimes you find a pairing of flavors that is absolute perfection. One of those combinations is definitely strawberries and lemons. As tasty as the drink strawberry lemonade is, what happens when you put those delightful flavors into a dessert? You get a heavenly combination in my Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake.
Perfect for any celebration, Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake is especially lovely as a spring or summer dessert. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about light and fruity desserts on a warm day.
Not only this Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake is fluffy, bright, tender, and tangy, but the natural color of the cake is pretty easy on the eyes. This cake is sure to be a showstopper with the beautiful pink of the frosting and the layers’ lemony yellow.
I love a cake that isn’t too sweet but balances flavors well. Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake perfectly pairs the tartness of fresh strawberries and lemon with the strawberry frosting’s sweetness. I’m not sure there is a tastier combination for a cake!
Even better, this gorgeous cake is super easy to make and can be made and even assembled up to two days ahead of time and stored at room temperature! Who doesn’t love not waiting until the day of an event to get that dessert ready?
Ingredients You’ll Need
Specific amounts of each ingredient are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down). Here’s a basic rundown of what you’ll need:
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
For the Cakes:
- Flour: Standard all-purpose flour works best here; skip the cake flour, bread flour, and wheat flour.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Make sure they’re not expired or too old.
- Salt: I prefer kosher or sea salt. If you only have table salt handy, I recommend reducing the amount to half.
- Milk: For baking, I like to use whole milk. However, you can use any milk you have handy.
- Lemons: You’ll need the juice and zest for this recipe.
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter, but if you only have salted butter handy, you can use it. In this case, skip the salt called in the recipe.
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar o caster sugar.
For Strawberry-Lemonade Reduction:
- Strawberries: I always use fresh, but you can use frozen to make the strawberry puree if that is what you have handy. If using frozen, I recommend thawing them beforehand and then patting them dry with a paper towel to remove the extra moisture.
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar o caster sugar.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Cornstarch: You can substitute for potato starch 1:1.
For the Strawberry Frosting: You’ll need butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk or heavy cream, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and freeze-dried strawberry powder or strawberry puree.
For decoration (optional): You’ll need fresh strawberries and fresh lemons slices.
Step By Step Recipe Photo Tutorial
The process is fairly simple. The whole thing is even more simplified if you use the shortcuts. But I can guarantee you will taste the difference if you put the extra time in! The detailed instructions are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down).
1 – Make the Strawberry Reduction.
Process strawberries in a blender until smooth. Place pureed strawberries and sugar into a small saucepan. Bring to boil. Whisk together lemon juice and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the lemon mixture into the strawberry mixture, whisking constantly; cook until smooth and thicken.
2 – Make the Cake
This cake recipe is very straightforward. First, sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix milk and lemon juice together. Then, cream the butter and sugar together. Then add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk mixture.
3 – Make the Strawberry Frosting
To make the strawberry frosting, you can use homemade strawberry puree or freeze-dried strawberries. If you buy sliced freeze-dried strawberries, use a blender or food processor to process them into a powdery crumb.
4 – Assemble
Let’s put the cake together! Detailed instructions in the recipe card (scroll down). To learn more about how to stack a laker cake, check out my How To Stack A Layer Cake For Beginners post.
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5 – Decorate
Decorate the cake as your heart desires! Your imagination is the limit. I just spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake and then smoothed it out with a cake scraper. Then piped some swirls on top and added sliced strawberries and lemon to make it pretty.
Shortcuts You Can Apply To This Recipe
- Strawberry Reduction – To save some time, use strawberry jam instead.
- Homemade Cake – Follow the instructions in this recipe to make a cake mix box without eggs and add lemon zest to the batter.
- Strawberry Frosting – Use a Pillsbury Simple buttercream frosting mix and add 1/4 cup of freeze-dried strawberry powder.
Eggless Baking Tips
When it comes to baking, there are certain things that I like to do! Here are some of my favorite baking tips when it comes to this recipe:
Be sure to measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for accuracy.
Make sure to cream the butter and sugar together for 4 to 5 minutes until creamy and pale. A possible reason it may not turn out perfectly is that the butter isn’t at the right consistency before creaming; ideally, the butter will easily bend without breaking and will give slightly when pressed. If it looks or feels oily, it is too soft.
Don’t overmix the batter. Mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
Bake the cakes as soon as the batter is ready.
Don’t open the oven door until the cakes have set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time stated in the recipe.
Preheat the oven at least 15 minutes before you get started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
Every oven is different, so baking times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, and that will all affect baking time, so keep an eye on yours. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make Ahead Tips
You can reduce the strawberry puree up to three days before needed and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the cake. Be sure to bring it back to room temperature before assembling your cake by letting it sit on the counter for at least an hour.
The cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Wait to level off the domed tops until you’re ready to assemble.
Strawberry frosting can also be made ahead and stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to two days. When you’re ready to use it, please bring it back to room temperature and re-whip it with your electric mixer to bring the frosting back to the right consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out my How to Make a Cake Mix Box without Eggs recipe.
Absolutely! I have done it and it’s delicious.
I used 3 6-inch (15 cm) round cake pans. You may also bake this as 2 8-inch round cake layers.
Storing & Freezing Instructions
Unfrosted cake layers can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or frozen for up to a month. Defrost the cakes at room temperature before frosting and serving.
The frosted cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Take into consideration that the cakes will lose part of their fluffiness if refrigerated or frozen, but they will still taste yummy!
More Eggless Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
- Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe
- One Bowl Eggless Chocolate Cake
- Eggless Berry Trifle Cake
- Soft & Fluffy Eggless Coconut Cake
- Eggless Carrot Cake
- Easy Eggless Banana Cake
- Easy Eggless Orange Cake
- more eggless cake recipes…
Eggless Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour (see notes)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice
- 1 cup (230 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cup (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
For Strawberry Reduction:
- 2 1/2 cups (413 g) coarsely chopped fresh strawberries
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons (30 g) cornstarch
For the Strawberry Frosting:
- 1 cup (230 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups (480 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) whole milk or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) strawberry puree (or freeze-dried strawberry powder) (see notes)
To Decorate:
- Fresh strawberries
- Lemon slices
Instructions
Make Strawberry Reduction:
- Process strawberries in a blender until smooth. NOTE: if you want, you can press the pureed strawberries through a wire-mesh strainer, using the back of a spoon to squeeze out juice; discard pulp and seeds.
- Place pureed strawberries and sugar into a small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat and let the mixture reduce for 5 minutes.
- Whisk together lemon juice and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the lemon mixture into strawberry mixture, whisking constantly; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Place plastic wrap directly on warm jam; chill 2 hours or until cold. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Make the Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350º F (175º C). Line 3 6-in (15 cm) round cake pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease with baking spray with flour.
- In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine milk and lemon juice. Set aside. NOTE: the mixture will thicken and curdle; that is okay!
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and pale on medium-high speed for 4 – 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add lemon zest and vanilla; beat for 30 seconds.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beat until just combined, about 30 – 45 seconds. Do not overmix.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans. NOTE: The cake batter is thick, so use a spatula to spread it into the pan, if necessary.
- Bake for 25 -35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans. Allow the cakes to cool completely, right-side up, on a wire rack before removing the parchment paper.
Make the Strawberry Frosting:
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar, and keep mixing until incorporated. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Once incorporated, add the remaining 3 cups confectioners’ sugar; beat on low speed for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 4 to 5 minutes until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and spreadable, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberry powder or strawberry puree and mix until well incorporated.
Assemble and Decorate:
- Level the tops of the cakes with a cake cutter or a long, serrated knife as needed.
- Line the edges of a cake platter with four strips of parchment paper to keep the platter clean.
- Place the first cake layer on the platter. Spread 1/2 cup of buttercream evenly over the top, then pipe a thick ring of buttercream around the edges of the cake layer – this will help contain the strawberry reduction. Spread about 1 – 2 tablespoons strawberry reduction over the buttercream.
- Top with the second cake layer, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat: add the buttercream, pipe the ring, add the strawberry reduction.
- Add the third layer on top, pressing lightly to adhere. At this point, you can crumb coat the cake or just spread the remaining buttercream evenly over the top and sides of the cake.
- If desired, use a small offset spatula to create a design on the sides of the cake. Pipe swirls of frosting onto the cake using a pastry tip. Top with fresh strawberry and or lemon slices. Remove the parchment paper and serve.
Nutrition
Eggless Baking Frequently Asked Questions
You’ve asked, and I’ve answered! Read on for a handful of answers to the most frequently asked questions about eggless baking.
Originally posted in March 2021, the post content was edited to add more helpful information, with no change to the recipe in August 2022.
