This Strawberry Upside Down Cake is crafted with a convenient boxed cake mix, sweet strawberries, and caramel. It’s the perfect sweet, moist cake everyone will love.
It’s that time of year again when those sweet, red, delicious strawberries from Florida start showing up in grocery stores. That initial sighting each year has me brainstorming new ways to turn the fruit into delicious dishes to share with y’all.
Looking back, each of my upside-down cakes have been a hit. From my original Pineapple Upside-Down Cake to my Caramel Pecan Upside-Down Cake to the Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake, I’ve given you plenty of reasons to pull out that seasoned cast iron skillet and flip out a delicious dessert. So, it just made sense to give one of my favorite berries the upside-down treatment!
Something to keep in mind when you follow this strawberry upside-down cake recipe or really any classic upside-down cake recipe… you’ll want to turn that cake out pretty much immediately after it comes out of the oven. We don’t want to give the caramel too much time to firm up and stick to the pan. Y’all enjoy!
What makes this Strawberry Upside Down Cake recipe so simple?
Because this Strawberry Upside Down Cake features a boxed cake mix, the result is a super quick and easy dessert. But trust me when I say… no one will know this cake came from a box. The delicious caramel and strawberry flavor permeate the whole cake to create an amazing dessert that’s perfect topped with some whipped cream or even a big ol’ scoop of vanilla ice cream.
What baking dish should I use to make Strawberry Upside Down Cake?
I recommend using a well-seasoned 10.5-inch cast iron skillet for this cake. If you are in a pinch, you could use a 10-inch cake pan or springform pan. Just melt the butter and brown sugar together in a saucepan and pour it into the baking pan.
You could even use a non-stick cooking pan as long as it is similar in size and oven safe. If you only have a 9-inch springform pan nearby, you can use it but just keep in mind it may take a little longer to bake. I don’t really recommend using a longer baking dish, like a 9×13, because there will not be enough “topping” to cover the top of that cake to make it taste just right or to provide an even layer. There is a lot more surface to cover when you are baking in a 9×13-inch baking dish, so I can’t say I recommend using that type of dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter divided
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 (16-ounce) package fresh strawberries
- 1 (15.25-ounce) yellow or butter cake mix
- 1 cup water
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Wash, core, and slice each of the strawberries in half.
- In a well-seasoned, 10.5-inch cast iron skillet, heat ½ cup butter and the brown sugar over medium heat until butter is melted; stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
- Arrange the strawberries in the skillet, carefully pressing the cut side into the caramel mixture.
- Melt the remaining ½ cup butter and add it to a large bowl with the cake mix, water, and eggs. Mix well.
- Pour the cake batter over the strawberries.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Immediately cover pan with a platter and invert. Serve warm, topped with whipped cream, if desired.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
This recipe was featured on Weekend Potluck.
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I used a 10.5 inch cast iron skillet. when I added the batter it was all the way to the top of the skillet. I had to remove some because I knew it would have overflowed which messed the cake over thickness up. did you use a regular cast iron or one with deeper sides? it tastes good, but looks nothing like your picture even the berries weren’t looking great.
Sorry it didn’t turn out like you expected, Nicole! I’m pretty sure all my skillets are just a standard depth, but good catch on not overfilling it! No one wants to have to clean up the bottom of the oven!
Can I use home frozen strawberries for this recipe?
Once thawed and well drained, I don’t see why not.
Can I make this in the afternoon and serve it after dinner? You said to serve it warm…
Once you turn it out, it’s ok to serve at room temp. You just need to make sure you turn it out while it’s still warm so the sugar doesn’t get too thick.
Help I dunno what happened..I had rather large strawberries so I had to slice some of the larger ones instead of half and used a gv yellow cake mix..should I have used a jiffy yellow cake mix?
I think the issue might be the thickness of the gluten free cake batter. It looks like it was too thin and allowed the strawberries to float to the top when baking. Should still taste great, though.
I used devil’s food cake mix and it came out great!
So creative! Glad to hear it turned out great for you, Kate!
Followed instructions and put in 10.5 iron skillet. Cake ran out all over oven. What a mess!!!
Oh no! Are you sure fo the skillet size?
Not sure if i did something wrong but the springform pan allowed all of the carmel topping leak out 🙁 smells good though.. lol just a heads up.
Seems like maybe the pan wasn’t on correctly. Did you maybe have the pan flipped over by accident?
STACEY, I DID TRY THIS. THE GREMLINS GOT INTO THE BERRIES AND ONLY HAD ABOUT HALF OF WHAT I NEEDED SO USED MY 8 IN. CI SKILLET AND 1/2 THE INGRED WITH A JIFFY YELLOW CAKE MIX. LOOKS GOOD, SMELLS GREAT. HUSBAND HAS PLATES OUT ALREADY TO HAVE SOME. HAVE SEEN APPLE, PECAN, AND PEACHES DONE THE SAME. WITH ONLY 2 OF US I AM GLAD I THOUGHT OF THE JIFFY MIX. DELISH.
THANKS FOR THE RECIPE.
Hope y’all both enjoyed it!
How would a 9” springform work? How would you adjust the oven time?
It will. It just might take a little longer.
I made this and put on top of a cheesecake for a Strawberry Upside-down Cheesecake. I made 4 10″ for the restaurant. Sold out by the end of the night.
Wow!
Odd question but could I use peaches?
That’s not odd at all. You can absolutely use peaches! In fact, I’m working on a peach version right now.
Made this for my kids and they FLIPPED (get it.. because its an upside down cake…) haha. but seriously, love all your recipes, keep it up
Ha! So glad they enjoyed it!!
Ive only ever made pineapple upside down cake, this is so smart!
Thanks!!!
could I make it in a 9X13 cake pan?
You can try it, but I’m afraid there will not be enough “topping” for the cake to taste right. There’s a lot more top surface area on a 9×13.
What about using a non-stick frying pan ?
As long as it is of similar size and oven-safe, it should work just fine.
I think if we add a few tablespoons of extra ingredients in the bottom of the pan , I’m thinking it would be ok.
Think I will try it next week.
Let me know how it turns out!
Would it be possible to make this with frozen strawberries?
I think that might work. 🙂
As I have frozen strawberries in the freezer to use up before this years season I whipped out my strawberries and when defrosted I drained all the juice and cut the in half, poured in the batter and waited with baited breath as I luv strawberries. But not these. Mushy is the only word and with no shape left. Loved the cake but I’ll wait till strawberries are in season prior to making this again.
Thanks for the heads up!
Use the frozen strawberries to make strawberry bread. It’s quite tasty!
I had to give all my iron skillets to my kids since I no longer have the strength to handle them when filled with food. So can I melt the butter and brown sugar in another pan and pour it into the 10″ springform pan and proceed with the recipe as printed? By the way = this looks delicious.
Pam
Yep. That should work just fine. Enjoy!!
Can I use some other pan? I don’t have a cast iron skillet
Yes, a 10-inch cake pan or springform pan will work.
This sounds so good . I can’t wait to try it, it will be a nice surprise for my husband.
Sure hope he’ll enjoy it!