Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting (no food dyes)

There is something so delicious and simple about strawberry cake…

But usually they are bright pink which looks great, but really it just means they are full of food dyes and usually the cakes don’t have any real strawberry in them. But that’s not the case with this recipe. It contains contain zero food dyes, the flavor comes from real strawberries blended with milk, and as far as cakes go, it’s one you can feel good about feeding your kids.

This year I made these for my daughter’s class, and she opted to put them in flat bottom cake cones, instead of making cupcakes. But this recipe will make a cake, cupcakes or these fun cupcake cones. They aren’t bright pink like a store bought cake mix, but they do have a pretty subtle pink color that will make you think of summertime. 

The first time I ever had these cupcake cones was for a friend’s birthday when I was probably 8, which was a long time ago. I thought they were so whimsical and fun then, and I totally feel that way still. The crunch of the cone adds an extra layer of texture that you don’t get from a cupcake or a slice of cake. And I guarantee your kids, and their friends, will love them! 

Some thoughts on ingredients…

Cake flour VS. All purpose flour: Different types of flours have different protein content. The higher the protein content the “stronger” the flour. All purpose flour has a higher protein percentage which leads o the development of gluten. In contract cake flour has a lower protein percentage which discourages the development of gluten and leads to a finer texture and crumb. 

All this to say…. If you are a perfectionist and haven’t gone to the grocery store for cake ingredients yet, you could use cake flour. But I have made some really delicious cakes with all purpose, and you know what? Not a single person has ever said “you didn’t use cake flour in this recipe did you?” So use what you got in the pantry. 

Tip: Mixing leads to gluten development, so when making your cake be careful not to over mix, especially if you use AP flour. 

Salted butter VS. Unsalted butter: Most recipes call for a little bit of salt, and the thought with desserts is that you don’t want it to taste salty. So using salted butter AND the necessary amount of salt could lead to a salty cake. I’m here to tell you that I cook exclusively with salted butter, and I use the prescribed amount of salt in every recipe, and never once have I thought my deserts tasted salty. In fact, when I make my chocolate chip cookies I use a little more salt than the recipe calls for, and they taste just a little bit salty and I love it! But if you don’t want your cake to be salty, you can use the recipe amount of salt and salted butter and it will turn out just fine. 

Piping these is easier than you would think, the first time I make them I was super the cones would fall over at the lightest touch, but they are actually pretty stable. I used a plastic bag with the corner cut out of it to pipe these, but you could always use a piping bag with a fine tip. 

And if you aren’t partial to strawberries, or you are allergic like my husband, you could substitute any fruit for the strawberries. The best part about this recipe is that it’s a basic vanilla cake recipe with fruit blended into the milk.