This is all the best parts of both cake, and strawberry shortcake. This dessert has a tender crumb that is both moist and “biscuit” like, made with your sourdough discard, filled with fresh strawberries and of course, topped with a big ol’ dollop of whipped cream.

❤️ Why You’ll Love Strawberry Shortcake Cake

I feel like I should start off by saying that I served this to my brother who doesn’t like strawberries, and he even liked this cake!

Also, every time I make this for someone the first thing they say is “that didn’t take any time at all”, because a cake as delicious as this one always seems like it should take more time. When really all you need is simple, delicious ingredients and one hour of your time.

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Discard- unfed, inactive sourdough starter that’s been on the counter, or in the fridge.

All-purpose flour- 99% of my recipes are made with Costco’s organic, unbleached all-purpose flour.

Butter – salted or unsalted. This recipe calls for melted because I realize not everyone has room temperature butter ready, but I have also used softened butter and whipped it up like I would if I were making a cookie and it’s worked beautifully!

Salt – we use pink Himalayan salt in our recipes but use what you have on hand!

Yogurt – this gives the cake that moist, but crumbly shortcake texture. This can also be easily substituted for sour cream.

Baking powder – the leavening agent in the cake.

Vanilla extract – to round out the shortcake flavor.

Granulated Sugar – for sweetness.

Whipped Cream – I don’t care how many things I make from scratch; strawberry short cake just isn’t the same without the classic freezer tub of cool whip dolloped on top! But you can use any whipped topping you like.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake Cake

  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside.
  • Melt your butter and transfer into your stand mixer bowl. On a medium – low speed with the paddle attachment, mix together your butter and sugar.
  • Add in one egg at a time until mixed well.
  • Add in the yogurt, sourdough discard and vanilla and whisk until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and there are no streaks from the yogurt or sourdough discard.
  • Switch the speed to low and add one third of the dry ingredients in at a time and mix until just combined.
  • With a spatula, fold in the fresh strawberries.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Transfer all the batter into a greased cake pan, or 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle one tablespoon of granulated sugar over the top.
  • Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
  • Let cool in the baking dish and serve with a big dollop of cool whip!

🪄 Tips and Tricks

  • A stand mixer isn’t necessary, it just makes things easier. I’ve made this plenty of times with just a bowl and a whisk.
  • If you want to make a strawberry shortcake birthday cake, double this recipe, use two cake pans and spread a layer of cool whip in the middle and the top!

🗒 Variations

The cake crumb is set, but you can play around with the icing! I prefer the cool whipped icing to really drive the shortcake flavor home, but I’ve also made this with cream cheese icing, and it’s been a big hit! It also is a great cream cheese dip for the extra fresh strawberries I have.

  • Cream Cheese Frosting – 1 8oz block of softened cream cheese + 3/4 cup powdered sugar + 1 tbs whole milk + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. 


🗒 Substitutions

The crumb of this cake lends very much to a shortcake texture, but if you want to switch to fresh blackberries instead of strawberries, I think that would be delicious!

  • strawberries – blackberries
  • yogurt – sour cream


🗒 Best served with

  • Dessert and a cup of coffee.
  • Spring brunch spread.

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store your leftover cake in an airtight dish in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days. Or you can keep it in the pan you baked it in and cover it with plastic wrap.

🤔 Common Questions

What if I don’t have sourdough discard?

If you don’t have sourdough discard you can change the flour to 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of yogurt to compensate.

5 from 6 votes

Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Print recipe
This is all the best parts of both cake, and strawberry shortcake. This dessert has a tender crumb that is both moist and "biscuit" like, made with your sourdough discard, filled with fresh strawberries and of course, topped with a big ol' dollop of whipped cream.
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:45 minutes
Total Time:1 hour

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup butter melted
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup sourdough discard
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup yogurt
  • 1 ½ cups diced fresh strawberries.
  • 8 oz cool whip topping

Instructions

  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside.
  • Melt your butter and transfer into your stand mixer bowl. On a medium – low speed with the paddle attachment, mix together your butter and sugar.
  • Add in one egg at a time until mixed well.
  • Add in the yogurt, sourdough discard and vanilla and whisk until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and there are no streaks from the yogurt or sourdough discard.
  • Switch the speed to low and add one third of the dry ingredients in at a time and mix until just combined.
  • With a spatula, fold in the fresh strawberries.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Transfer all the batter into a greased cake pan, or 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle one tablespoon of granulated sugar over the top.
  • Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
  • Let cool in the baking dish and serve with a big dollop of cool whip!

Notes

I made this cake for my daughters third birthday and topped it with a homemade cream cheese icing, and it was delicious! It’s also a good dip for the extra fresh strawberries.
1 8oz block of softened cream cheese + 3/4 cup powdered sugar + 1 tbs whole milk + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. 

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 339mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 548IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Carrot Cake, Shortcake, Sourdough, Strawberry
Servings: 8
Calories: 358kcal

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5 from 6 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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8 Comments

  1. I just made this and substituted frozen blueberries Other than adding 10 minutes to the bake time, I made no other changes. Delicious!

  2. 5 stars
    Made this tonight for the first time and everyone loved it! My 4 year old not only asked for seconds but said “can you make this again please mama” – thank you for sharing your recipes!!!

  3. 5 stars
    This was SO good! If you’re looking for a cake that is just the right amount of sweet this is it. It’s not too rich & has just the right amount of tang from the sourdough! Easy to make, great instructions!

  4. 5 stars
    This turned out perfectly, I used homemade whipped cream instead just personal preference. This is definitely a keeper.

    1. I usually use 0 sugar chobani vanilla greek yogurt but you can use whatever greek yogurt you like. You can also substitute for sour cream.