Fresh strawberry desserts don’t need to be complicated, and this skillet strawberry pound cake proves it. Made with simple ingredients like butter, sour cream, and plenty of ripe strawberries, it bakes up soft, rich, and just a little crisp around the edges thanks to a cast-iron skillet. It’s the kind of easy cake you can pull together in about 20 minutes, whether you’re making dessert for dinner or sneaking a slice with your morning coffee.
The Strawberry Cake I Make on Repeat Every Spring
This strawberry pound cake keeps things simple but still feels like something you’d bring out for company. The batter is rich and buttery with a little tang from sour cream, and folding in whipped egg whites gives it a softer texture than you’d expect from a traditional pound cake.
Some of the strawberries melt right into the cake as it bakes, while the ones on top soften and turn jammy, creating a pretty finish without any extra effort. Baking it in a cast-iron skillet gives you those lightly crisp edges with a tender center, so every slice has a little contrast, and none of it lasts long once it’s out of the oven.
The base of this cake is my mother-in-law’s sour cream pound cake recipe, it’s the one I use for a rhubarb upside-down cake, her recipes were always the best. It’s reliable, adaptable, and just works every single time, which is exactly what you want when you’re baking with seasonal fruit.
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And around here in North Carolina, strawberry season doesn’t stick around long, maybe a couple of months if we’re lucky, and that’s if the weather cooperates. Too much rain, a late freeze, and it’s over before you know it. So when the berries are good, this is one of the first recipes I make to take full advantage while they’re at their best.
If you come home with more strawberries than you can handle (it happens fast this time of year), a quick vinegar wash will stretch their life to almost two weeks. Just soak them in a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water for a few minutes, rinse, dry them really well, and store them in the fridge lined with paper towels. It keeps mold from showing up too soon and buys you time to use every last one.
And if you still have extras, that’s a good excuse to make a batch of moist strawberry bread, a cake topped with strawberry mousse, or go all in with a classic cobbler while they’re at their peak.
Just Pantry Ingredients
You can get the full list in the recipe card below.
It’s so simple to make a strawberry pound cake
Step 1: start with fresh strawberries
Step 2: cream the butter
Beat the butter and sugar then add sour cream and egg yolks followed by the flour mixture.
Step 3: fold in egg whites
Step 4: fold it all together
What’s so nice about this strawberry recipe is that it comes together in just a few minutes which is great if you have extra strawberries that need to be eaten.
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Cast Iron Strawberry Pound Cake with Sour Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sugar Plus 1 tablespoon
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 eggs separated
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pound Fresh Strawberries 3-4 cups
- 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Rub about a tablespoon of butter in a 10 inch cast iron or oven proof skillet, Sprinkle with flour and shake out the excess.
- Chop half of the strawberries and cut the remaining strawberries in half lengthwise.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar, beat until combined. Add Sour cream and beat until smooth. Separate eggs. Add the egg yolks one at a time mixing after each. Add vanilla and mix.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt and soda. Add to the batter and mix until well blended.
- Beat eggs whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold into the batter. Fold in chopped strawberries and pour into the prepared skillet. Arrange cut strawberries on top, pressing slightly into the batter. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
- Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is slightly brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Video
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- To make sure that the center is cooked, a toothpick should come out clean and the top should be golden brown.
- You’ll need fresh strawberries, frozen will add too much liquid.
- This is best served at room temperature or just slightly warm.
- You can freeze this in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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