Strawberry Upside Down Cake

Strawberry upside down cake is an easy to make homemade strawberry cake made with a layer of juicy strawberries baked under a buttery vanilla cake and flipped for a gorgeous caramelized topping. Simple, soft, sweet and full of strawberry flavor, its a beautiful cake that’s perfect for any occasion.

I love baking with strawberries. My Strawberry Cobbler, Strawberry Scones, Strawberry Bars, Strawberry Biscuits and Strawberry Danish are just a few of my favorite baked strawberry recipes from the blog. I am so excited to add this gorgeous strawberry upside down cake recipe to the blog. 

• Layers of flavors and textures. From the soft, fluffy and buttery vanilla cake sweet and jammy caramelized strawberries, this strawberry upside down cake will delight your senses. 
• Easy to make, bake and eat. This easy cake upside down cake with strawberries tastes like a cake straight from your favorite bakery, but it is actually incredibly quick and easy to make at home. Just mix up the sugar caramel sauce, layer the strawberries, mix up the easiest vanilla cake batter, top with fresh tart raspberries, bake, slice and enjoy. 
• Stunning cake that’s easy to make. Impress all your guests with the most stunning cake thats just as easy to make as any other cake.

This strawberry upside down cake recipe requires just a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge.  Here’s what you’ll need.

• Strawberries: Use fresh, firm and ripe strawberries for the strawberry layer. Frozen strawberry work well in this cake recipe as well. Make sure to fully thaw, slice and pat dry the frozen strawberries before using in the cake. 
• All Purpose Flour: To make this strawberry upside down cake gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill. Make sure to measure the flour by weight (240 g) rather than cups to ensure the best outcome for the cake. 
• Baking Powder This acts as a leavener in this fluffy cake with strawberries. This cake has not been tested with baking soda. 
• Butter: Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter. 
• Granulated Sugar: This cake calls for granulated sugar, but maple sugar would also work well to make this recipe refined sugar free. 
• Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.  
• Vanilla Extract: The scent of vanilla gives a warm cozy background flavor to this cake. 
• Buttermilk: Feel free to use sour cream or greek yogurt in place of the buttermilk.

Learn how to make strawberry upside down cake in a few easy steps.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Grease and line the bottom of a 9 inch (23 cm) cake pan with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl whisk the melted butter with the sugar until a paste forms. Evenly spread the paste across the bottom of the prepared pan. 
2. Wash, hull, dry and slice the strawberries into your preferred size and shape. Just try to keep the slices as similar as possible to make the layering easier. Decoratively layer the strawberries across the bottom of the pan, fully covering the sugar paste. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined.

4. In a large mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 -4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer on low, cream in the eggs and vanilla extract until well combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl. Finally, with the mixer on low, alternate mixing the dry ingredients and buttermilk into the wet ingredients in this order: dry, buttermilk, dry, buttermilk, dry. Evenly spread the buttery cake batter into the prepared pan on top of the strawberries. Make sure to fully cover the strawberries with the cake batter.

5. Bake the strawberry upside down cake for 40 - 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake pan in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to gently separate the edges of the cake from the pan. Place a serving platter or large plate over the top of the cake pan. Invert the cake pan to the top is now on the bottom of the platter or plate. Gently lift the pan off of the cake to reveal the parchment lined strawberries. Gently remove the parchment paper from the strawberry layer.

M’s Expert Tips

• Prepare the pan. Generously grease the bottom and sides of the pan. I also recommend lining the bottom with parchment paper. 
• Choose the right strawberries. Use fresh, firm and ripe strawberries for the strawberry layer. It is up to you how you would like to slice the strawberries. I prefer slicing them lengthwise versus quartering them for this cake. 
• Bring cold ingredients to room temperature. This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in soft, fluffy, moist and tender vanilla cake with strawberries. 
• Measure the flour properly. I highly recommend using a food scale to get perfectly measured ingredients every time.
• Don’t overmix the batter.  Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. 
• Use the baking times as a guide. All ovens vary and baking times should be used as a guide. As a general rule, when the cake becomes very fragrant, it’s a good idea to start checking. Begin checking on the cake at the minimum baking time. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean.  The top of the cake should be golden brown and the sides of the cake should pull slightly away from the pan. 
• Cool the cake in the pan, but not for long. As the cake cools, so does the caramelized strawberry layer. Make sure to flip or invent the pan around 10 minutes after pulling the cake from the oven.

Other Simple Cake Recipes to Try

• Raspberry Cake
• Lemon Olive Oil Cake
• Blueberry Ricotta Cake
• Berry Cake

If you try this Strawberry Upside Down Cake recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! - M