Strawberry cake with prosecco frosting is light and fluffy, just the right amount of sweet, and the perfect sweet bite of spring!
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Every year I like to share a cake recipe around my birthday! It’s a fun celebratory bit, even if I still share cakes year-round. Any occasion for cake is a good thing!
The past few years we’ve done funfetti cake and cream cheese pound cake, and this round I wanted to take it up a notch and make it more spring. This year, I made strawberry cake with prosecco frosting!
Things are a little different with the quarantine going on. I’m both baking up a storm and can’t have people over, so I questioned making an entire cake for just the two of us (and let’s be honest, mostly just me, because Logan has way more self-control than I do when it comes to baked goods).
But quarantine life means most of the rules are thrown out the window. So I made the darn cake and sent it to Logan’s office.
Why is strawberry cake not more of a thing? It’s delicious! I wanted to make sure I used real strawberries in the cake. Artificial fruit flavors can be a little hit or miss, especially in baking where you’ll add more sugar. So for this cake I made my own strawberry puree and then cooked it down to concentrate it. The result is a cake that genuinely tastes like strawberries!
You can see from the photos that the cake isn’t all that pink. That’s because I didn’t add artificial food coloring. If you want the real pink effect, go to town! This is what color you’ll get with very ripe strawberries in your puree and no extra color.
This cake takes a little planning ahead. My advice would be to make the strawberry puree and prosecco concentrate the night before, just so everything can completely cool before mixing.
Living in Italy, I obviously went with prosecco for my frosting. You can substitute champagne, cava, or any sparkling wine you like!
For the frosting in between the two cake layers, I mixed it with the leftover strawberry puree. It was delicious, but totally optional if you’d rather have the frosting be uniform!
Let’s talk cake flour for a minute. I think using cake flour is great, and I include it in my cake recipes. However, I almost never buy cake flour, I just make a substitute at home! For every cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of the flour and add in two tablespoons of cornstarch. So easy!
Tools you’ll need: cake tins and mixer.
Strawberry Cake with Prosecco Frosting
Ingredients
For the strawberry cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (170 g)
- 1 ¾ cups sugar (350 g)
- 5 egg whites
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt (75 g)
- ½ cup milk
- 1 lb strawberries plus more for topping
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups cake flour or substitution, above (350g)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
For the prosecco frosting
- 1 cup prosecco
- 1 cup unsalted butter (230 g)
- 3 ¾ cup powdered sugar (450 g)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Before you start
- Before getting started on the cake itself, make the strawberry puree & prosecco concentrate.
- De-stem the strawberries and blend thoroughly. Set in a saucepan over low heat and allow to cook down for about 30 minutes, until you have ½-⅔ cup remaining. Let the mixture bubble a bit, but stir regularly to prevent burning.
- At the same time, make the prosecco concentrate by simmering the prosecco over medium heat. The liquid should take 15-20 minutes to reduce down to 1/3 cup.
- Both need to cool completely before using, so it's best to make these the night before baking.
For the strawberry cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
- Beat the butter with a mixer on high for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for another 1-2 minutes, scraping down as needed.
- Beat in egg whites for another minute, then add the vanilla and yogurt and beat for another minute.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add half to the butter mixture, combine at low speed, then add the other. Mix on low until just combined.
- On low speed, add ½ cup strawberry puree until just combined.
- Divide batter between the two pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You'll know it's done or nearly done when the cake starts to pull away from the walls of the tin.
- Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
Make the prosecco frosting
- Beat the butter on high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined, then add 1 more and repeat.
- Add the vanilla, salt and another 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add ¼ cup prosecco concentrate and beat to combine and taste. If you want, add the remaining powdered sugar.
Put it all together
- When the cake has cooled completely, cut the tops off both cakes to make sure they're level.
- If you have extra strawberry puree, you can always add a layer to the top of the bottom cake layer and swirl with the frosting!
- Frost the cake and top with more cut strawberry bits.
Have you ever had strawberry cake? What’s your favorite cake recipe?
For more spring baking inspiration, try cheesecake, strawberry shortcakes, lemon bars, or Nutella brownies!