Strawberry Cream Cheese Loaf Cake
Strawberry jam swirled loaf cake with cream cheese frosting.
Ruby red fruits interspersed among delicate white flowers are the quintessential embodiments of spring and summer. And while many long to bite into a sweet strawberry, they’re not always available, at least not at an affordable price. To have that strawberry and cream taste any time of year, turn to this recipe for Strawberry Cream Cheese Loaf Cake.
While strawberries and cream are delicious, it’s not always a practical dessert. The fresh strawberries and the whipped cream are time-sensitive and prone to becoming a soft, melted mess. Here, Strawberry Cream Cheese Loaf Cake has all of the flavors of strawberries and cream that last more than a second. A butter-based cake is swirled with strawberry jam for a delightful pop of pink. Cream cheese blends with the tiniest touch of sweetness to create a silky, rich topping. A sliceable bite of a summertime treat? Count me in!
This loaf cake doesn’t follow your average mixing method. You start by stirring the butter, making sure it’s smooth and spreadable.
Next, you sift in your flour, baking powder, and salt over the butter, and stir to combine.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until the mixture turns a pale yellow color.
Whisk the eggs into the butter-dry ingredient bowl. Switch to a stand or handheld mixture and beat all of the ingredients until light and fluffy.
Once the dry ingredients and milk are incorporated, remove some of the batter and mix that small portion with strawberry jam. I mixed some gel red food coloring into the jam to maintain a nice color. Without the coloring, the straw gets less of a red and more of a brown-gray tone. You can omit the coloring, but be aware that there will be a color variation.
After folding the strawberry batter back in, all of the batter gets transferred to a pan and is ready to bake.
Removed from the oven and cooled completely, the loaf cake is ready for the finale. Cream cheese is smoothed and partnered with the tiniest addition of powdered sugar and a hefty pour of vanilla for a luscious finish.
Sliced and served, this Strawberry Cream Cheese Loaf Cake is a treat that can cover many bases. It’s exactly like those loaf cakes you see in fancy coffee shops but better. Not only are you saving money, but you’re also getting a treat full of flavor. The strawberry is a subtle companion swirled between a soft, buttery cake crumb. Partnered with the cream cheese and you have yourself a winner.
This cake is definitely the snack to have in the morning or as an afternoon snack. It’s a great dessert to share or give as a gift to neighbors or bring to potlucks as well.
The best thing about this cake is that it can be made any time of the year, you’re not restricted to the strawberry season. If you have a hankering for a bite of warm weather, then this is the dessert for you!
Strawberry Cream Cheese Loaf Cake
Allergens: Eggs Wheat strawberries Gluten
For the loaf cake:
- 1 cup plus 5 tablespoons butter, very soft
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup plus 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup strawberry jam
- Red food coloring
For the frosting:
- 6 ounces cream cheese, very soft
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
For the loaf cake:
- Preheat oven to 340°F. Grease a 9-x-5 inch loaf pan with baking spray then line the pan with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl mix butter with a rubber spatula until smooth and creamy, about a 1 minute or so. You want the butter to be very smooth and spreadable.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt over the butter, stirring everything to combine.
- In another bowl, use an electric mixer to whip eggs and sugar together until well combined and slightly pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pour the egg-sugar mixture into the butter-flour mixture and use an electric mixer to beat everything together until light and fluffy.
- Remove some of the batter and mix it with the strawberry jam.
- Gently swirl in the jam-flavored batter, combining to get marbled, swirl effecting.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter to the front and back of the pan creating a slight ramp.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Let loaf bread rest in the pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and lump free, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt.
- Spread on top of the cooled loaf, serve, and enjoy!