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This strawberry jam cake is everything you want in a dessert, bright, bold, and bursting with real berry flavor. The jam brings depth and sweetness, the crumb is rich and tender, and that cream cheese frosting with a glossy swirl of strawberry?

It’s the kind of finishing touch that turns a simple sheet cake into something special. If you’re into jammy desserts, you might also love my Strawberry Spoon Cake, it’s warm, gooey, and just as easy to fall for.

A slice of strawberry jam cake next to a fork and fresh strawberries.
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Here’s Why This Strawberry Jam Cake Recipe Works

Whipped eggs = fluffy texture: Beating the eggs and sugar until voluminous gives you a cake that’s light.

Strawberry-forward: with both jam and extract in the mix, every bite delivers bold, unmistakable flavor. And, don’t miss my Strawberry Crunch Cake, it leans nostalgic, crunchy, and just as packed with strawberry goodness.

Jam glaze locks in moisture: While the cake’s still warm, you brush it with jam glaze so every bite stays soft and sticky-sweet.

Strawberry Cream cheese frosting with a twist: The freeze-dried strawberries and swirl of jam take this classic frosting to a fruit-forward, tangy-sweet level.

Strawberry jam, flour, sugar, leavening, salt, vanilla and strawberry extract, buttermilk, oil, butter, eggs, pink food coloring.

Recipe Tips

Room Temperature Ingredients: For the fluffiest texture, make sure your eggs, buttermilk, and cream cheese are at room temperature. Cold ingredients won’t incorporate as smoothly.

Don’t Skip the Ribbon Stage: Beating the eggs and sugar until they’re pale and thick is not just busywork. This step helps trap air, giving your cake a lighter texture.

Jam Consistency Counts: If your jam is extra chunky or stiff, warm it slightly so it stirs in easily.

Swapping the Buttermilk: In a pinch, you can DIY it with 1 cup of whole milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Don’t Overmix After Adding Flour: Once you add the flour, be gentle. Overmixing at this stage can make the cake dense or tough.

Layer on the Glaze While Warm: Spreading the jam glaze over a still-warm cake helps it soak in just enough for flavor without making the top soggy.

More Strawberry Recipes

Three-layer strawberry shortcake with pound cake.Strawberry Shortcake with Pound CakeA slice of no-bake strawberry cheesecake covered in chocolate.No Bake Chocolate Covered Strawberry CheesecakeCheesecake with strawberry sauce dripping down, on white plate, light background.Homemade Strawberry Sauce
Three square slices of strawberry jam cake next to fresh strawberries.

Berry Good and Gone Fast

This strawberry jam cake is soft, flavorful, and honestly hard to stop eating. Between the bold berry flavor and that creamy swirl of frosting, it’s the kind of dessert you’ll find yourself making more than once.

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Strawberry cake slice with pink frosting and fresh strawberry on white plate.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 32 minutes
Total Time: 52 minutes
4.91 from 10 votes

Strawberry Jam Cake

By Dahn Boquist
This strawberry jam cake is light, tender, and moist. Strawberry jam is blended into the cake batter, giving it a sweet and fruity flavor. Top it off with strawberry cream cheese frosting for an extra layer of sweetness, and you have a delicious dessert that's perfect for any occasion.

If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.

Servings: 24 servings
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Ingredients 

Strawberry Jam Cake

  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, 300 grams
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 300 grams
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted (85 grams)
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil, (50 grams)
  • ½ cup strawberry jam, 166 grams
  • 1 tablespoon strawberry extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon pink gel food coloring, optional
  • 1 cup buttermilk, 237 grams

Strawberry Glaze

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup butter
  • ¼ cup strawberry jam , plus 2 tablespoons to swirl on top
  • 3 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Instructions 

For the Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with non stick spray or line it with parchment paper. 
  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside for later.  
  • Add the eggs and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat on high speed for 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture gets light in color and nearly triples in volume. If you lift the beater and let the mixture fall back into the bowl, it should fall in a ribbon-like pattern. This step will help add volume and lightness to the cake. 
    Beating eggs to ribbon stage.
  • Stir in the melted butter, oil, strawberry jam, strawberry extract, vanilla extract, and pink food coloring (if using). 
    Adding food coloring to cake batter.
  • Sift half of the flour mixture over the batter and stir it with a wide spatula. 
    Sifting flour into cake batter.
  • Stir in the buttermilk then sift the rest of the flour mixture over the batter and stir it until well combined. 
    Mixing cake batter for strawberry jam cake.
  • Spread the batter into the cake pan and bake for 34 to 38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
    Spreading cake batter in a pan.

Strawberry Jam Glaze

  • Combine 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam with 1 tablespoon of water.
  • Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then use a fork to poke holes in the top of the cake.
    Spread the strawberry jam glaze over the top of the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely before covering it with cream cheese frosting.
    Spreading strawberry jam on top of a sheet cake.

For the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Add the powdered sugar and butter to a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy and fluffy. 
  • Add ¼ cup of strawberry jam, powdered freeze-dried strawberries, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until well combined. (Save the additional 2 tablespoons of jam to swirl into the top of the cake).
  • Add the cream cheese and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. 
  • When the cake is completely cool, spread the frosting over the top, then swirl dollops of strawberry jam into the frosting. 

Notes

Don’t rush the eggs and sugar: Beating the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy (about 5 to 7 minutes) is key. It should nearly triple in volume and fall in ribbons when you lift the beater. This step builds structure and gives the cake a light, airy crumb.
DIY strawberry powder: For the best flavor and a natural pink hue, use freeze-dried strawberries. Just blitz ½ ounce in a food processor until it becomes a fine powder (you’ll get about 3 tablespoons).
No clumps: To keep the strawberry powder from clumping, blend it with a tablespoon of sugar before mixing it into the frosting.
No freeze-dried berries?: You can substitute 1 teaspoon of strawberry extract for the powder. The extract brings nice flavor if used sparingly, though it’ll have a more candy-like vibe compared to the deeper, fruitier flavor of the powder.
Frosting tip:  Beat the butter and sugar together before adding the cream cheese. This coats the sugar in fat, which helps prevent the frosting from turning soupy by drawing moisture out of the cream cheese.
Use block-style cream cheese: Skip the spreadable or low-fat versions, they’re too soft and can make your frosting runny.
Want a brighter pink frosting? A drop or two of red food coloring will do the trick. The freeze-dried berries will give it a soft pink tone, but a little boost is great if you’re going for color drama.
Storage: Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the cake (frosted or unfrosted) for up to 3 months, just wrap it well and thaw in the fridge overnight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 263kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 48mg, Sodium: 200mg, Sugar: 18g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Three slices of strawberry cake on serving plates.

About Dahn Boquist

Dahn Boquist is a retired nurse turned recipe developer, home cook, and baker with years of hands-on experience creating and testing from-scratch recipes. She specializes in whole-food cooking with creative twists on classic dishes. When she’s not in the kitchen, she enjoys sharing meals with family, exploring the Pacific Northwest, and spending time with her grandchildren.

Read More About Me

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