Let’s talk cakes, specifically this one. Easter is this weekend, which really is the kickoff to spring brunches. There’s Mother’s Day and spring weather, which makes for ideal brunching-weather. I say we make this Strawberry Sheet Cake with Rhubarb Frosting! It’s a glorious spring cake that is perfect for this time of year!
Sheet Cakes are Brilliant For the Lazy!
If you love cakes but can’t find the energy/skillz to decorate them, then the whole ‘baking pan and a sprinkles.
This strawberry + rhubarb sheet cake is the complete opposite of this Neapolitan number. That cake requires a few cups of coffee and some concentration (or at least the decorating part does).
This cake is made up of the most delicious white/strawberry cake combo ever. I could eat it over and over. And the rhubarb frosting is delicious tart and smooth.
If you think of yourself as more of a cook than a baker, then this cake is for you!
How to Make This Strawberry Sheet Cake!
The whole recipe begins with the strawberries and rhubarb sharing a baking sheet and roasting together but separately.
Then they’re blended up, separately, but I didn’t bother to rinse the blender because I was being lazy.
This is a lazy-friendly cake.
After it was done cooling, I added all of the frosting to the top, smoothed that it out and threw some sprinkles on and called it a day!
It was glorious and I hope you make this Strawberry Sheet Cake with Rhubarb Frosting soon! If you do, let me know!
xo
Adrianna
Strawberry Sheet Cake with Rhubarb Swiss Meringue Frosting
Ingredients
Roasted Strawberries + Rhubarb:
- 2 cups sliced strawberries , from 1/2 pound strawberries
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup diced rhubarb, from 4 to 5 shortish stalks
- Pinch of salt
- 3 drops of red food coloring, optional
Strawberry Sheet Cake:
- 2 3/4 cup cake flour, plus more for dusting pans
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cups unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cups white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste
Rhubarb Swiss Meringue Frosting:
- 3 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup rhubarb puree
- 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring, optional
Directions
To Make the Roasted Strawberries + Rhubarb:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add the sliced strawberries to one side of a parchment-lined baking sheet and the diced rhubarb to the other side. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of sugar onto the strawberries and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar onto the rhubarb. Toss them gently and keeping them separate, transfer them to the oven to roast for 10 minutes.
- Remove and allow them to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the strawberries to a blender and pulse until smooth. (You should end up with about 1/2 cup puree. Mix in 3 drops of food coloring, if you like.) Next, add the rhubarb to the blender and pulse until smooth.
To Make the Sheet Cake:
- Keep the oven at 350 degrees F (as it was for roasting the strawberries). And grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. In a measuring cup, pour in the milk, egg whites, vanilla extract or paste and reserved 1/2 cup strawberry puree (discard any extra) and whisk until combined.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and, alternating between the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients (the strawberry/egg white mixture), add the them butter/sugar mixture until the batter is relatively smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and transfer to the oven to bake for 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. It’ll probably take a good hour.
To make the frosting:
- Bring a saucepan filled with a few inches of water. Place the clean bowl of a stand-up mixer atop the saucepan. Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl and mix.
- Heat the mixture until it reaches 140 degrees F or until the sugar has dissolved completely. Carefully (it’ll be hot!) transfer the bowl to the stand-up mixer and with the whisk attachment, beat for 5 to 7 minutes, until very fluffy. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with the paddle attachment. With the mixer running on low speed, add the butter, one cube at a time until smooth and glossy. Lastly, pour in the rhubarb puree and red food coloring and mix until combined.
To Decorate the Cake:
- When the cake is completely cool, pour the frosting on top of the cake. Using an offset spatula or any spatula you own, smooth it out until it reaches the edges. Make a few swoops in the frosting so it looks cute. And then top it with a bunch of sprinkles!
Notes
Love sheet cakes? Here are some of my favorites:
51 Comments
I made this today and it was delightful! I made a half recipe, which worked well in an 8 x 8 cake pan. I ended up using all of the rhubarb puree in the icing, and it was wonderful. Even my rhubarb-suspicious teen snarfed it happily. Definitely worth making again!
love hearing this yay!!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Cake will be good for 2 to 3 days after!
This looks so good! Do you use this frosting base for any other recipes?
Yes, you can substitute any other fruit type roasted juice instead. So do this with plums or peaches, etc.
How many days does this cake hold up? Can it be made the night before and stored at room temp or in the fridge?
I would make it up to a day ahead and wrap it with plastic wrap! You can store in the fridge or room temp–whichever one you prefer.
This looks amazing! I am wondering what frosting would go well if I didn’t do Swiss meringue? Would American buttercream work instead or would that make it too sweet?
No you can definitely make American buttercream if you like!
I made this cake and it was amazing. The texture was fluffy and so moist!! The flavor as one described.. ‘I feel this is what pink tastes like it if had a flavor..’
I was wondering could I achieve this exact cake in vanilla? If so how would that be done?
Let me work on this! A lot of people have asked to turn this into just a simple vanilla cake haha. Stay tuned 🙂
I was wondering how this would hold up if I baked it in 2 9inch rounds and made a layer cake instead? I’m thinking of making a birthday cake for my niece’s birthday next week and would love to make this because it looks delicious!
Thanks 🙂
Do you know how this would hold up if I baked it in 2 9inch rounds and stacked them to make a layer cake? This looks delicious and I would like to use it for my niece’s birthday cake next week. Thanks!
Yes this would totally work. I think you’d probably need to bake the cake layers for about 25 minutes to 30 minutes. Should work like a charm. 🙂
Thanks for responding so quickly and with baking times as well! Can’t wait to make this 🙂
Hi! So psyched to make this eep it’s so pretty and pink!! Questions:
1. How would all-purpose differ from cake flour?
2. I have a bag of frozen rhubarb on hand–how would I alter directions to use this instead of fresh? Is it possible?
Thanks!!
I would say that you can use all-purpose flour in the cake instead of cake flour and you should be totally fine. It’ll be less soft and fluffy but still really good.
I would thaw the rhubarb in the fridge over night and then use it as directed in the recipe. Honestly you could probably just roast it from frozen and i’d be totally fine too.
Thanks! Will report back 🙂
I just made this cake this weekend and it was a hit. The recipe was easy to follow and the cake turned out beautifully. The batter was the most gorgeous batter I have ever seen! I opted for a simple buttercream icing and it turned out perfect. Everyone that ate it loved it. I got requests to make it for the next birthday in our family.
YAYY!! So wonderful to hear. xo
I just made this cake and let me tell you, it was wonderful. The color is enough to attract attention. Oh the cuteness. It tastes great too! I loved the frosting, it was nice and fluffy. I’m keeping this recipe is my arsenal.
This is on my list. But I may have missed rhubarb time. Shite. I love this pinkness soooo much but more than that, the flavour blast this combo is yelling at me… it looks so fluffy and addictive. Xo
I would like the recipe in German !!
Please!!!!
Julia from Germany.
This cake is beautiful! I don’t think you can get a a more classic and tasty combo in the summer than strawberry and rhubarb. Where did you get the gorgeous sprinkles?
copenhagen! 🙁 they have the best sprinkles in their country.
YUM! I made this for mother’s day– but did 2 9″ rounds instead of a sheet cake. This let me use up the rest of the strawberry puree in the middle in addition to some of the frosting. I had some sort of issue with the Swiss meringue…it curdled up on me and it may be because I used a ceramic bowl over the water bath so it got too warm/runny, then attempted to fix by popping in the fridge when it then got too cold and the butter re-solidified. This post would have helped me out: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/05/swiss-meringue-buttercream-frosting-recipe.html. The cake was still pretty fantastic– moist and flavorful with a nice tart topping. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh wonderful! Ahh yes, swiss meringue can be a little tough. The tip of scooping out 1/4 of a cup of frosting, melting it in the microwave and then pouring it 100% works. I should include that in case anyone runs into trouble! Sorry the frosting gave you trouble.