Easy Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese

A vibrantly pink, strawberry pound cake that is moist, and velvety thanks to cream cheese and sour cream. It's dense enough to be used for wedding cakes but works for bundt cakes or cupcakes, too!

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A cake server holds a slice of strawberry bundt cake over the sliced bundt cake and strawberries on marble counter and plate below.

Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.

Table of Contents

🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
📖 Recipe
📖 Variations
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip:
👩‍🍳 FAQs
📚 Related recipes
💬 Comments

This strawberry pound cake is pink, proud, and packed with that nostalgic, punchy flavor you loved as a kid—thanks to a little help from strawberry Kool-Aid. It’s dense, tender, and never pulls that gummy nonsense some strawberry cakes do. No berries to slice, no extract to buy—just pure throwback magic baked into every bite. Make it for Mother’s Day, birthdays, or any day you want dessert that says, “Yes, it’s a little extra. So am I.”

Sometimes I want to be a little more fancy and then I make this triple layer strawberry chantilly cake!

🧾 Ingredients

I like this homemade strawberry bundt cake recipe dusted with some powdered sugar. However, you can make a sweet glaze with my cream cheese icing. Add a little milk or cream to get the perfect gooey texture you like.

🔪 Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, let the butter and cream cheese come to room temperature. Beat on low speed until smooth.
Add the sugar and beat again.
One at a time, mix in the eggs.
Blend in the Kool-Aid mix, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Then, add the flour and salt and combine cake batter just until smooth. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake.

📖 Recipe

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

4.46 from 256 votes

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A vibrantly pink, strawberry pound cake that is moist, and velvety thanks to cream cheese and sour cream. It's dense enough to be used for wedding cakes but works for bundt cakes or cupcakes, too!

Course Dessert - Cake

Cuisine Amercian Heritage

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 1 30

Cool in Pan: 10

Total Time: 1 55

Servings:

Calories:397

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup butter, unsalted - room temperature
▢ 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
▢ 3 cups sugar
▢ 6 eggs, room temperature
▢ ⅓ cup sour cream, room temperature
▢ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
▢ 2 packets unsweetened strawberry Kool Aid, the kind you add sugar to
▢ 3 cups flour
▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325F.
Grease a bundt pan thoroughly and then dust with flour.
Pour out excess flour, tapping the pan lightly to get the as much out as possible.
Set aside.
Beat the cream cheese and butter on the lowest speed of the mixer until well blended.
Add the sugar and continue to beat until blended.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each in thoroughly before adding the next one.
Add the Kool Aid mix, vanilla, and the sour cream and blend.
Add the flour and salt.
Mix just until blended and smooth.
Spoon into bundt pan and smooth top.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean. Start checking at 1 hour 15 minutes.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Remove from pan and drizzle with a glaze or let cool and dust with confectioner's sugar.
Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Storage:

This is fine stored at room temperature for four or five days. For best results, keep it covered tightly with plastic wrap.

However, remember that any homemade bundt cakes covered with cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated.

To freeze:

For longer storage, wrap and freeze the cake for up to three months. I like to slice it and put parchment paper between each slice before freezing so I can thaw one or two pieces at a time.

Can you use strawberry Jello?

You can. It works in a similar way to the Kool Aid but I didn't like the texture as much.

Tips:

Expert tip: make this into two strawberry loaf cakes. Add the batter into two prepared 9-inch loaf pans and bake at 350F for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

You can make this cake a day or two in advance - or even freeze it for longer storage.
Pound cakes are usually best the second day.
If you are making this into wedding cake rounds the baking time will depend on the size of each pan. Bake at 350F and start checking after 25 minutes - unless it's a 6-inch layer or smaller.
Be careful not to over mix the batter or you'll run the risk of the cake being tough.
Baking the cake at 325F is what helps it to have that dense, melt in your mouth texture. It will need between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes to bake. It's baked in a slow oven for a long time but the resulting cake will knock your socks off.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

📖 Variations

Use a different flavor of Kool-Aid to give your cake a different taste. Try Pink Lemonade for a hint of lemon. Berry Cherry or Strawberry Kiwi would also taste yummy!
Make this easy strawberry pound cake recipe in a loaf pan or layer cake pans, instead! It will make 2 loaves or layers. Find the baking time on the recipe card.
Or, make mini strawberry pound cake cupcakes. There's enough batter for approximately two dozen cupcakes. Bake for 20-30 minutes or so.
Glaze the cake with some chocolate ganache for a chocolate-covered strawberry flavor.
Pulse freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until very fine, then mix them with some powdered sugar and melted butter. It makes a flavorful strawberry glaze!

A piece of sliced red strawberry bundt cake on a white plate with a fork ready to serve as strawberries and cut cake are displayed behind it.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip:

Once you add the dry ingredients (mainly the flour mixture) be careful not to over-mix the batter.
For this strawberry pound cake recipe, I recommend using the paddle attachment for your mixer, instead of the whisk.
Baking the cake at 325F is what gives it that dense, melt-in-your-mouth texture. It might seem like it's taking a long time compared to a regular cake, but after the first bite, you'll see why it's worth the wait!
Unsure if your cake is done baking? An instant read thermometer will read 210F when inserted halfway between the center hole and the outside edge.
Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for ten minutes, before turning it out onto a wire cooling rack. Turning it out too early can cause the cake to break, and letting the cake cool too long in the pan can cause it to dry out and/or stick.
Pound cakes like this one usually taste best on the second day. So, there's no problem if you want to bake this in advance!

A slice on strawberry bundt cake on a white plate showing the beautiful red coloring of the cake.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

Can I use greek yogurt instead of cream cheese?

Nope, not this time, y'all! Use full-fat cream cheese and don't try to swap it (or the sour cream, for that matter) with any alternatives. The most delicious recipes are done a certain way for a reason!

How about strawberry cream cheese... can I use that?

No, sorry! Full-fat cream cheese in a brick, only. You can't use whipped cream cheese, either. See above! (Strawberry cream cheese is a little more watery because of the fruit.)

I have so many strawberries. Can I make a puree and use it instead of the Kool-Aid?

This recipe is specially formulated to work with dry Kool-Aid powder. Adding fresh strawberry puree to the batter would throw off the balance of wet and dry ingredients. However, you can drizzle the puree on top when serving! Or, check out my other strawberry recipes, here!

With delicious lemon flavor and fresh blueberries studded throughout the yummy cake, this Lemon Blueberry Bundt is a tasty summer treat!
Strawberry Sheet Cake is easy to make and features a light, whipped cream cheese strawberry frosting so good you can eat it with a spoon!
This No-Bake Strawberry Angel Food Cake combines store-bought cake with fresh, juicy strawberries for a quick, easy, fun dessert!

This is one of my favorite desserts to take to potlucks! I have plenty more strawberry recipes that will get your mouth watering, too.

It's firm enough to use in a stacked wedding cake (I've done it!) but easy enough for every day. The lack of berries actually helps it maintain the dense texture needed for heavy cakes -- keeps them from collapsing.

And what about serving it with squares of this strawberry shortcake crunch ice cream cake? Strawberry heaven!