Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake

Fresh strawberries and lemon curd inside a jazzed up bundt cake, topped with strawberry jam.

I'll say it straight up in case you're wondering--this dessert is inspired by Cake Mix Doctor recipes and starts with a box of cake mix. [Whew, I'm glad I got that off my chest]. While I routinely whip up muffins, waffles, cookies, pizza dough, bread and spaghetti sauces without opening a box (other than the baking soda box) I'm not there yet with cakes. I may never be. I'm happy with the results I get adding a few things to a box of cake mix, so for now I'll keep on doing it.

Strawberry season is brief, and I want to make the most of the fresh berries while they last. Because I prefer the taste of local berries, I simply don't buy strawberries at the grocery store. I'll stock up like a squirrel at the farmer's market, but when my backyard patch and the markets are empty I'm done for the year. I wish I could spend my days dunking fresh berries in sour cream, then brown sugar, then popping them into my mouth--but sadly, I need to do other things as well. I put up local berries in jam, salsa (my cantina style recipe is here) and in bags in the freezer. We'll enjoy some fresh in treats, like my Strawberry Lemon Snack Cake and Strawberry Sour Cream Brown Sugar Muffins.

This cake is another, more falutin', way to enjoy fresh strawberry flavors. It will work with frozen berries as well. It won't taste as good with a box of berries who have crossed multiple state lines to make their way to you. Have a piece of chocolate instead. 

For other recipes using strawberries, please see my Strawberry Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other Cake Mix Doctor-inspired recipes, please see my Triple Chip Zucchini Spice Cake. I pin fruit recipes to my Pinterest Fruit Board. Wanna know how to Use This Blog? Click here.

Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake

1½ cups chopped strawberries

1 Tablespoon lemon curd

1 16 ounce box yellow cake mix

5 Tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour + more for dusting the pan

1 3.4 ounce box lemon instant pudding mix

⅔ cup milk (I use 2% cow kind)

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup strawberry jam, warmed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray a Bundt pan with oil spray and shake some flour around the pan for dusting, dumping out the excess.  Set aside. In a small bowl mix strawberries and lemon curd, then set aside. In a large bowl (my stand mixer if you live here, or what you prefer) dump all the ingredients from cake mix to vanilla extract.  Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined.  Stop and scrape the bowl, then continue on medium speed for another 1½  minutes longer.  Use the same scraper to fold in the prepared strawberries.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until the top springs back when you press it, then set the pan on a wire rack to cool for another 15 minutes.  Flip the pan over onto the rack, and leave it alone for a minute to loosen the cake from the pan.  Mine totally stuck, which sucks. Remove the pan and let the cake cool completely.  Transfer to a large plate and pour warm strawberry jam over top of the cake to cover up the stuck part.