Description
Strawberry Earthquake Cake is a luscious, moist strawberry-flavored cake with a creamy, tangy cream cheese swirl packed with fresh strawberries and white chocolate chips. Baked to perfection, this dessert offers a delightful combination of fluffy cake and rich, sweet topping, making it an irresistible treat best served warm with vanilla ice cream for an extra indulgent experience.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake Batter
- 1 box (15.25 ounces) strawberry cake mix
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup (109 g) vegetable oil
Cream Cheese Swirl
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (166 g) diced strawberries, plus extra for garnish
Topping
- 2 cups (364 g) white chocolate chips
Serving
- Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Mix Cake Batter: In a medium bowl, combine the strawberry cake mix, eggs, water, and vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly until well combined and smooth.
- Pour Batter: Pour the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish, smoothing it out.
- Prepare Cream Cheese Mixture: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together softened cream cheese, melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt until smooth and creamy.
- Add Fresh Strawberries: Gently fold the diced strawberries into the cream cheese mixture, distributing them evenly.
- Swirl Cream Cheese into Batter: Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter in the baking dish. Using a knife, gently swirl the cream cheese mixture into the cake batter to create a marbled effect.
- Add White Chocolate Chips: Sprinkle the white chocolate chips evenly across the top of the batter.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Serve: Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Garnish with extra diced strawberries and serve warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a delightful contrast.
Notes
- Room temperature eggs help ensure a smooth batter.
- Be careful not to overmix the cream cheese swirl when folding in strawberries to avoid breaking them down too much.
- You can substitute fresh strawberries with frozen, but thaw and drain them first to avoid excess moisture.
- For a lower-fat version, use reduced-fat cream cheese and less butter.
- Check the cake early near the end of baking time to prevent overbaking, which can dry out the cake.
