Here’s a decadent, moist Southern Strawberry Cream Cheese Butter Cake — rich butter cake layers swirled with cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries. Perfect for spring or any special occasion!
⭐ Southern Strawberry Cream Cheese Butter Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
For the Cream Cheese Filling / Swirl
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Strawberry Layer / Topping
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2–3 tbsp sugar (optional, to macerate strawberries)
Instructions
1. Preheat Oven
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan (or two 8-inch round pans).
2. Make the Cake Batter
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
- Mix in vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until smooth.
3. Make the Cream Cheese Filling
- Beat together cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Assemble the Cake
- Pour half of the cake batter into the pan.
- Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture over the batter.
- Swirl gently with a knife.
- Pour the remaining cake batter on top.
- Optionally, top with maculated strawberries (toss strawberries with sugar and let sit 10 minutes).
5. Bake
- Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Serve
- Slice into squares or layers.
- Optional: dust with powdered sugar, drizzle with glaze, or top with whipped cream.
Tips
- For extra strawberry flavor, fold some chopped strawberries gently into the cake batter before baking.
- Make it even richer by adding a cream cheese frosting layer on top after cooling.
- Storage: Keeps covered at room temp for 2 days or in the fridge for 4–5 days.
I can also provide a layered cake version with whipped cream frosting between layers for a more traditional Southern presentation.
