Strawberry Rose Cake
Fresh and floral, this strawberry rose compote swirled cake is enhanced with some lemon zest and rosewater. Topped with a cream cheese buttercream and a strawberry rose compote.
This strawberry rose cake has my heart, unexpectedly. Sometimes I create recipes with loved ones in mind rather than myself; like with funfetti bakes (I don’t enjoy the taste of sprinkles, lol) and I kind of feel the same about rosewater; I’ll tolerate it but it’s not my favorite.
But when I used it here…. I had seen this recipe and it spurred the idea to create a combination of rose and strawberry (and lemon, there’s gotta be lemon). I always have a bottle of rosewater (and orange blossom) in my pantry, but I seldom use it. Here was an opportunity.
Recipe Origins
I made the compote first, swiped some for a taste and thought, well this is quite nice. Then, I baked it up with the cake (with big strawberry chunks) and used some strawberry kefir (I usually buy plain but my daughter requested this one, probably because it was pink tbh). The cake was a mess thanks to the giant berries that sank to the bottom but it was so delicately sweet, berryfull and just… I couldn’t believe how light and sweet all those flavors were together.
I remade it (pureed the sauce this time) and, well it might be one of my favorite cakes ever. I can see this as a celebration cake for someone; it’s got an elegance to it, makes me feel like I’m in a fresh, spring garden.
Recipe Ingredients
Strawberries: Fresh or frozen is fine. Use berries that are red inside not white; they’ll have the best flavor.
Rosewater: This can be found in persian or middle eastern markets but i’ve also seen it at whole foods. Don’t skip it.
Lemon: Some zest for the cake and juice and zest for the sauce.
Strawberry Kefir, Plain Kefir: If you’d like to keep the strawberry flavor but can’t find kefir, water down some strawberry yogurt until it’s pourable.
Cake Flour: Made from a different wheat than most all purpose flours and more finely ground this yields a very tender structure, perfect for a cake. In a pinch make your own with all purpose flour and some cornstarch.
Butter & oil: I like using a combination of these because butter makes a cake taste good, allows for more air to be incorporated so you get a fluffier cake but oil keeps it moist. Canola, vegetable or grapeseed or even avocado oil are fine here. Coconut, refined, could work as well.
Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract, paste or even a scraped vanilla bean.
Tapioca flour/starch: If you haven’t yet used this stuff, you’re going to want to. Tapioca starch does all the things cornstarch does but without the chalky after-taste.
How to make Strawberry Rose Cake
Make strawberry rose compote
Set all the ingredients in a pot (the strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, juice and cornstarch)
Cook over medium heat until the strawberries break down
Set the compote in a food processor and puree. If you prefer to do without the seeds and stringy bits of the berry, you can press this puree through a fine mesh sieve for a smooth puree.
Note: this can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. Store in the fridge (once cool) in an airtight container.
Make cake batter
Set the sugar in a medium bowl and zest the lemon over it. Rub the zest into the sugar.
Add the oil, vanilla, rose water and salt and beat with a hand mixer
Add the eggs, beating after each one
Sift the flour into the bowl and add the leavening (baking powder & sod), beat to combine a bit then add in the kefir and beat until the batter is smooth. Scrape the bowl and beat as needed.
Layer the cake and compote into the pan: spread 1/3 of the cake batter into the bottom of a greased and floured 8 or 9 inch baking pan then dollop the jam around.
Repeat until all of the cake batter is used.
Use an offset spatula or toothpick to swirl the batter, gently.
Bake the cake until a cake tester comes out clean of cake batter (it may have jam bits). Let cool completely before frosting.
Strawberry Rose Cake Recipe
Strawberry Rose Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Rose Compote
- 460 g or 1lb strawberries fresh or frozen
- 50g or ¼ cup sugar
- Zest of lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch/flour
- 2 teaspoons rose water
Strawberry Rose Cake
- 200g or 1 cup fine granulated sugar
- 85g or 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 30g or 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp rose water
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 190g or 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 120g or ½ cup strawberry kefir, plain kefir or thinned out strawberry yogurt
- about a heaped ½ cup Strawberry Rose Reduction from above
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 113g or ½ cup softened butter unsalted
- 113g or ½ brick cream cheese softened
- 250g or 2 cups organic powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Method
Make the compote
- In a pot, toss together the strawberries (stems removed, no need to slice them), sugar, lemon zest and juice and tapioca starch. Turn heat to medium low and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally as the strawberries soften. Smaller berries will burst, that’s ok.
- When the sauce thickens and all the berries are either dissolved or very soft, remove from heat and add the rose water. Set aside to cool then puree. It should be completely cool before using in the cake.
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a greased square metal pan, 8”x8 or 9”x9 with parchment paper (or use a brownie pan).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. While the mixer is running, add the vanilla and rose water. Let it beat for a full five minutes, until nice and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder and while the mixer is on low, drizzle in the kefir. Beat until batter is just smooth.
- Dollop some of the cake batter into the bottom of the pan then spoon some of the strawberry reduction in and use an offset spatula (or butterknife) to swirl it in.
- Dollop more cake batter and repeat. The idea is to layer and swirl the reduction into the cake batter. Make sure you have some sauce for the very top of the cake.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when poked (or a cake tester comes out clean). Let cool completely before frosting.
Make the buttercream
- Press the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl with a rubber spatula until smooth - the idea is to remove any lumps. Add the vanilla and salt and beat with a stand or hand mixer to combine. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Buttercream can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 3 days. Let it come to room temperature before spreading on the cake. If it’s lumpy, add a bit of milk (or strawberry kefir) and stir with a rubber spatula until smooth.
- Spread the buttercream over the cake and dollop some more strawberry sauce on top. Swirl it in for a pretty effect. Top with fresh strawberries and dried rose petals.
- Cake will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- This makes enough for a ‘snack cake’ so, a 8x8 or 9x9” cake pan. Could also work in a 9” round. If you want to make a sheet cake use a 9x13” cake pan and double the recipe. If you want to make this as a layer cake, double the recipe and bake it either in three six” round pans (3” tall pans) or two 8 or 9” round cake tins.
- You’ll likely have more Strawberry Rose sauce than you need so feel free to halve it if you can’t think of another use (or don’t want it on ice cream, toast or.. Anything you want to make yummier).
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Hi, can’t wait to try this recipe out! Is there a difference between rosewater and rose syrup btw? If I only have rose syrup on hand (Rooh Afza is the brand), how much should I use?
Hi Adil, they are different. Rose syrup has added sugar and I’m not sure if it has the same concentration as rose water – you can try it and see I suppose!
Hey! This looks absolutely scrumptious. I would like to make it for my church home group but one of the members is allergic to egg. Can I just replace the eggs with the normal ratio apple sauce (I’m sure you know of apple sauce as a replacement of egg?).
Hi Eliza! I haven’t done an applesauce swap for eggs in many many years so I don’t feel confident enough to say yes =/ I’d say if you have a lot of experience and think it can work then try it? Alternatively one of those egg replacer products could work.
Wow what a beautiful cake! I love the idea of this cake, but my partner won’t touch anything that has rose water in it. Is there any substitutions I can make for the rose water? or is the rose water very noticeable and floral? is it something someone who doesn’t like rose water would notice and refuse to consume or is it very subtle? thank you
Hi and thank you! You can skip it and just use more vanilla in it’s place =)
This cake is absolutely amazing! Reminiscent of my grandmothers strawberry rose petal jam. Not too floral. Perfect texture and mouthfeel. Highly recommend!!
OMG! This cake looks sooo good.
Can’t wait to try it 😍
Is the cake the type that sticks to the pan if you don’t use parchment paper?
I have Nordic ware strawberry bitelets pan and would love to use it for this recipe, but I’m not sure if I will be able to get the cakes out easily or not.
Another question, is kefir the same as Laban (yoghurt drink)? Here in Dubai, we have strawberry-flavored laban, so I wonder if that’s the same thing.
Thank you 😊
Hi! Kefir IS just like laban (I got obsessed with kefir because I grew up drinking laban lol)! Strawberry flavored is perfect. And yeah because of the reduction swirl it’ll probably be more likely to stick
Love this idea! Would it work as cupcakes?
yeah! bake time will be less, check them at 20 minutes
Made this to bring to the office and everyone loved it, including 2 of my colleagues who don’t like strawberry or rose. The cake has the perfect texture, the rose just comes through bringing a lovely floral note! They don’t sell cream cheese in bricks in the UK so I had to eyeball it and I used regular kefir (the fruity options were cherry or raspberry) but it turned out great! Fantastic recipe and now I get to make ice cream with the remaining reduction 🙂
That’s awesome Salome – can’t believe we won over those who didn’t like strawberry or rose! Also good to know about plain kefir working here too
Super delicious cake! I LOVED the strawberry reduction. The flavor was fresh, bright, and summery. Next time I think I’ll make a double batch for more strawberry goodness. I was very excited this was paired with cream cheese frosting. Worth noting: I’ve never made a frosting with this much salt before (1 tsp). I tripled checked before adding because I was paranoid. It was too salty (distracting) for me and my family’s taste but maybe you’ll love the extra kick.
Meredith, that’s totally my bad! It should be 1/2 tsp (fixed now!) I’m so so happy to hear you liked the reduction and the cake 😀
Oh! That makes sense now 😹 I was worried I did something wrong. The cake was so good. I’ve had friends request I make it for them now. Thank you!