Up your brunch game with this Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake recipe starring extra-moist vanilla coffee cake, fresh strawberries and a decadent cheesecake layer. Perfect for breakfast or dessert, this easy-to-make treat adds a sweet touch to any table.
Best of all, this cake is a blank canvas for all of your favorite fruits, so feel free to swap in other berries, apples or stone fruits for a totally customizable confection any day of the year.
Table of Contents
I appreciate coffee cake for all its disguised glory as a perfectly acceptable excuse to eat dessert for breakfast. There’s no need to sugarcoat it. Whether it’s raspberry sour cream coffee cake or individual coffee cake muffins, coffee cake is the perfect sweet breakfast, snack to enjoy with a cup of coffee or weekend brunch treat. (And yes, it makes a great dessert, too!)
This extra-moist coffee cake, layered with cream cheese and fresh strawberries, is the ultimate sliceable sweet for breakfast through dessert. The setup on this cake is simple: A layer of batter, a layer of cream cheese filling, another layer of batter and sliced strawberries on top. Pop it in the oven and the result is a mashup between coffee cake and cheesecake.
Here’s everything you need to make this strawberry coffee cake recipe with its decadent cream cheese filling.
- Flour: Use the scoop-and-sweep method to accurately measure the flour.
- Baking powder: This recipe contains both baking powder and baking soda. Baking powder helps the soda create additional lift without neutralizing all of the buttermilk’s tang.
- Baking soda: This leavening agent needs acid to work, in this case, buttermilk.
- Salt: A tiny bit of salt helps enhance the complexity and flavor of baked goods.
- Sugar: Plenty of granulated sugar gives sweetness and tenderness to the cake.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter to better control the salt content of this recipe. Make sure it’s softened so that it mixes evenly into the batter.
- Eggs: One egg gets mixed into the batter to bind and enrich it, the other is mixed with the cream cheese and sugar for a cheesecake-like filling.
- Vanilla extract: Have you tried making my recipe for homemade vanilla extract? Now is a great chance to use it!
- Buttermilk: Thick and tangy buttermilk moistens the cake and activates the baking soda. See my tip, below, on what to do if you don’t have any on hand.
- Cream cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese for the richest flavor and creamiest texture.
- Strawberries: Use a small paring knife to cut the green caps off the strawberries and to slice them lengthwise.
- Powdered sugar: A dusting of powdered sugar through a fine mesh sieve adds a pretty finishing touch.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Follow these steps for the best results when you make this cream cheese-filled strawberry coffee cake.
- Prepare your pan. Lining the greased pan with parchment paper, and then greasing the parchment, ensures that the cake will release easily from the pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Use a whisk or a fork to stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until they’re evenly distributed.
- Cream the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream one cup of the sugar and the butter together until they’re light and fluffy. Add one egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. As with many cake recipes, you’ll be alternating additions of dry ingredients and buttermilk. Start by mixing in about one-third of the dry ingredients. Then add half of the buttermilk, followed by another third of the dry ingredients. Finish with the remaining buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mixture. This method ensures that the dry and wet ingredients are completely combined without overmixing.
- Make the filling. Use a fork to whisk together the cream cheese with the remaining sugar and egg.
- Layer the batter. Pour half the batter into the cake pan, then spread the cream cheese mixture over it in an even layer. Top it with the rest of the batter.
- Bake the cake. To avoid overcooking the strawberries, take the cake out of the oven about halfway through baking to press the sliced strawberries into the top, then bake the cake until it’s golden brown and cooked through when checked with a cake tester. Cool the cake for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan and serving.
- Change up the fruit. This recipe is a great blueprint to show off whatever fruit is in season. Try it with blueberries, blackberries, sliced peaches or other fruits.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by putting a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, then filling to the 1-cup measurement. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, until it curdles, then measure out the amount you need and discard the rest or save for another use.
- To easily remove the cake from the pan, run a thin knife along the edge of the cake to release it from the side. Turn the pan over a plate or a cooling rack and gently shake to release. Then use the plate to flip the cake onto another plate so that it’s right-side-up.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- Powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray then line it with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set the mixture aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together 1 cup of the sugar with the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Set the batter aside.
- In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese with the remaining ¼ cup sugar and 1 egg until creamy.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Top it with the cream cheese mixture, spreading it into an even layer, then top it with the remaining half of the batter.
- Bake the cake for 20 minutes until it has puffed slightly then remove it from the oven and press the sliced strawberries on top. Return the pan to the oven and bake the cake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until it’s cooked throughout. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the pan, slice and serve.
Kelly’s Notes
- Feel free to change up the fruit with whatever is in season.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, make your own by putting a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, then filling to the 1-cup measurement.
- To easily release the cake from the pan, run a thin knife around the cake along the rim of the pan.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Nutrition
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Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.
This coffee cake is delicious! I think peaches in the summer would be a tasty alternative to try.
This is such a Yummy recipe!! I have been making this all the time now. I play around with the fruit on the top. I add different kinds of berries. Even mango. It is always good!!
Thrilled you’re enjoying the recipe, Dina! Mango sounds like a delicious substitution!
Looks good!!!
Ooohh wow this sounds amazing, I think I’ll try it with pineapples on top.
That would be delicious!
Has anyone else made this and felt that is tasted like corn bread? I don’t mind because it was delish but my husband looked at me and asked why we were having corn bread for breakfast lol
Hey! This looks delicious!
I was wondering if I would be able to make the same thing only with apples on top instead of strawberries, I’m making this for my kids and one of them is allergic to strawberries.
Absolutely!
Tried making this last night and i could not taste the cream cheese, im sure i did something wrong..im a beginner at this! Seems like the cream cheese melted in with the cake, making it very dense, yummy but no cream cheese taste ;) i will try again! ;)
Hi Kathy – The cream cheese will melt in with the cake batter, as it’s all baked together :)
Would you be able to make this in a smaller pan, such as a 6 inch? If so, what would you recommend for cooking time?
Hi Christina! I haven’t tried this is a 6-inch pan, but I’d be concerned that it’s too much batter and the cake might bubble over.
Oh, so yummy! My parents will love this, I intend to make it tomorrow as they’ll come to visit us. I have a brand new oven that just works amazing and I intend to brag with it XD
The cake is amazing, thanks for sharing!
xoxo
– Erin –
this cake looks devine, was wondering if it could be made without the buttermilk?
Hi Wendy! I have never made this cake without buttermilk but you’ll need some sort of liquid. You can always make your own buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
Yeah, this looks suspiciously like real cake. I think it just needs a dollop of whipped cream and the jig will be up :)
Haha! Yes!
Hi Kelly, I am very happy with this recipe. I used strawberries that were extra ripe. I made it the night before it was needed and the next morning, the coffee cake smelled (and tasted) so good. It was the best cake ever. Everyone loved it and not a grain was left over. Thank you :)
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This looks divine! Because of the cream cheese component, does this need to be stored in the fridge? Look forward to making this. Thanks!
It’s safest to keep them in the fridge :)
Hi Kelly,
Your cake looks gorgerous. I love strawberry cakes. The thing is I love the strawberry fresh and not too cooked. When is the latest time I can add the strawberry on top so it’s still pressed into the cake but not so baked? Can I add strawberry for the last 10 or 15 mins only?
Thanks, Alice! You could always just add them right after you remove the cake from the oven, or don’t add them at all and just serve them on the side :)
This looks absolutely delicious and beautiful as well. I see myself having this for breakfast.
Whoa. Nice, visual presentation here! I need a dessert for a brunch shower I’m hosting this weekend. I am not a cook or baker by any means! Especially desserts, I never make them so they typically bomb. This will be gorgeous next to all that bacon I’m going to make. And if there’s three things woman love….it’s 1) Chocolate 2) Bacon 3) cheese…. at least that’s how I see it.
Hah! Yes!