Easy strawberry crunch cake is a must make this summer! A buttery strawberry bundt cake, a pound cake made with fresh strawberries, topped with an easy vanilla glaze and strawberry crunch crumble.
1teaspoonbaking powderreduce to ¾ teaspoon high altitude
1 ½ cupsgranulated sugarwhite or cane sugar; reduce to 1 ¼ cups high altitude
1cupbutter (2 sticks), softened to room temperature
4largeeggsroom temperature
¼cupsour creamsub with Greek yogurt
1cupbuttermilkroom temp if time (make your own, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 1 cup liquid measuring cup, then add milk to the 1 cup mark, stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes)
In bowl of food processor add freeze-dried strawberries and whir until they are a powder. Add cookies and pulse until medium-fine crumbs. Dump into medium bowl, add melted butter, stir to coat and combine. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet. Or if more crispy topping desired, bake 350° F (175° C) for 5-10 minutes until just golden, cool completely.
Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C) and butter and flour dust a 10-12 cup bundt pan. Or if using a non-stick pan, spray with spray oil or bakers spray for best results. Just before adding batter to pan, add ¼ cup sugar to the bottom pan, rotating to coat the bottom of the pan, and up 3-4 inches on the sides. Don’t throw out extra sugar, it will melt into the crunch cake.
Add flour, salt and baking powder to a large fine mesh sieve or sifter sitting over a large mixing bowl and sift. Remove 1-2 tablespoons to dust the strawberries.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or hand mixer) fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium-high speed add softened butter and cream until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, another 2-4 minutes (longer if using all natural cane sugar).
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Add vanilla extract and mix in until just combined. If adding lemon zest, add now.
Mix in sour cream, mixing for 30 seconds. If needed scrape down sides of bowl.
With mixer on low, begin adding the flour mixture ¼ cup a time, alternating with a little buttermilk until both are incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX as it will expand the glutens and make the cake tough.
Scrape sides of mixing bowl, tossing the strawberries in the reserved tablespoon of flour, fold them gently into the batter. (be sure you sprinkled your sugar coating on the bottom/sides of the pan)Pour 1/2 the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with strawberry crunch topping, then top with remaining batter, smoothing with spatula. Give the pan a couple taps on a hard surface before transferring to the oven. Bake in preheated oven for 45-60 minutes. Alternatively, bake without adding a layer of strawberry crumble topping, pour batter into prepared pan, bake as directed.
Insert a wooden skewer into the center of the bundt cake, if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs it’s done, if it’s still wet, bake another 5-10 minutes.
Allow cake to cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then placing a cooling rack over the top of the bundt cake, carefully flip upside down onto cooling rack. Remove the bundt pan to cool completely. Important to flip the cake at 10 minutes, the sugar will act like glue if cooled too long. If your cake gets stuck, use a butterknife to gently go around the edges. If still stuck, place in 350° F oven for 5 minutes and immediately flip the cake onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Make vanilla buttercream glaze. Add butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, to mixer, on low speed until just combined, then add cream to desired consistency. Increase speed to medium-high, whipping until light and creamy, 4-5 minutes. Place glaze in microwave safe bowl, microwave for 20-30 seconds until desired pourable consistency. Longer for thinner glaze, less time for thicker glaze. Glaze will harden quickly, if using, press strawberry crunch crumble into the top of the glaze quickly.
Notes
Please see the original post for all the details, questions, tips and more.Tips for High-Altitude Strawberry Bundt Cake Recipe
Increase flour 2-4 tablespoons (the higher amount if above 7000 feet)
Decrease baking powder to ¾ teaspoon
Decrease sugar to 1 ¼ cups
Above 7,000 feet, add additional 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk
Bake at 375°F (190° C) and start checking for doneness at the 45-minute mark. If the cake is browning too quickly, lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the cake pan.
Variations:
Spread half the strawberry cake batter into prepared bundt pan, then sprinkle ½ of the strawberry crunch crumble over the batter, covering with the remaining batter, smooth to even, bake.
For thick glaze, make the whole batch - thin glaze, make half a batch.
Make strawberry glaze by adding ¼ cup freeze-dried strawberry powder to glaze.
Make a lemon glaze by replacing 1-2 tablespoons of cream with fresh squeezed lemon juice and the zest of one lemon.
*Oven Temps all ovens heat at slightly different temperatures, many ovens are +/- 25 degrees or more. For best results, using an oven thermometer to ensure your oven temp is accurate.