Strawberry Cream Puff Cake
This light and delicious strawberry cream puff cake has an easy-to-make cream puff shell filled with a lightly orange zested cream filling.
Absolutely stunning, you won’t believe how simple this cream puff cake is to make. It is a perfect spring or summer dessert!
How to Make Cream Puff Dough
The shell of this cake is cream puff dough (otherwise known as pate pâte à choux or just choux pastry). Don’t let the fancy French name intimidate you! It is very easy to make choux pastry.
- Simmer butter, water and a bit of sugar in a saucepan.
- Add flour and stir until the mixture forms a ball. Off the heat, mix until smooth.
- Transfer the warm dough to a bowl and while mixing, add the eggs one at a time.
- Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and silky.
Baking Cream Puff Dough in a Pan
What makes this recipe spectacular is that you get all the tastiness and delight of cream puffs without having to go to the work of piping individual blobs of dough onto a baking sheet.
Instead, the cream puff dough is spread into a 9-inch springform pan.
It helps to use an offset spatula and lightly swipe at the dough to spread it evenly over the bottom and sides. Because the dough puffs up in swirls and bubbles while it bakes, you don’t need to worry about spreading it perfectly.
Partway through baking, pierce the dough with a toothpick and then let it continue baking until golden. The puffed up dough will fall as it cools.
Luscious Creamy Filling + Flavor Options
The filling for this cream puff cake is the stuff dreams are made of – ethereally light and creamy.
Plus, the hint of orange zest with the cream pairs incredibly well with the fresh strawberries layered on top.
The flavor options can be easily varied by swapping out the zest and fruit topping:
- Lemon zest + blueberries
- Lime zest + strawberries
- Orange zest + sugared cranberries (or cranberry sauce)
- Lemon zest + raspberries
- Lemon zest + huckleberries
- Lime zest + toasted coconut
Perfect Spring or Summer Dessert
My Aunt Marilyn gave me this cream puff cake recipe almost two decades ago, and I have been making it ever since.
We make it often on Easter and throughout the spring and summer months when fresh seasonal fruit is abundant. It is one of our favorite desserts!
The wow-factor of this gorgeous cake totally outweighs the effort it takes to make. It is so easy! You just can’t go wrong with the soft cream puff base, luscious creamy filling, and fresh fruit topping. 😍
A Few Other 5-Star Reviews
Here are a few comment snapshots (feel free to read through the comment thread for more reviews!):
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is hands down one of my favorite spring/summer dessert recipes. It is stunning despite how simple it is to make! -Megan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hi Mel, I made this yesterday and brought it over to my parents house for dessert. It was a huge hit. It looked as good as it tasted. Thanks! -Jen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh, my, gosh! Just made this cake for Sunday desert. It tasted like heaven in my mouth. I wondered how it would save for the next day, but there was no need to worry about it. We fought over the last piece! -Chris
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazing! Can’t wait to make again! I left the berries off, and let the family chose fresh peaches, strawberries, raspberries or a mix of all three. My college age son who moves out next week is considering getting a mixer so he can make this. My husband who doesn’t eat sweets had three small pieces! -Jackie
Strawberry Cream Puff Cake
Ingredients
Cream Puff Base:
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ⅔ cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, softened
- ⅔ cup (76 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Strawberries:
- 2-3 cups sliced strawberries
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- For the cream puff base, in a medium saucepan, bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl or into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed until the mixture is shiny, 1-2 minutes.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and 1-2 inches up the sides of the prepared pan. If it's difficult to spread, use your fingers (wetting them with cool water lightly may help) to evenly portion the mixture into the pan and then spread with the spatula.
- Bake the cream puff shell for 20 minutes. It is totally normal for it to rise and puff while baking. Remove from the oven and prick the bottom and sides with a toothpick 10-12 times.
- Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean (without any doughy residue).
- Cool completely.
- For the cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until mixture is smooth, another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the orange zest, vanilla, and whipping cream. Whip with the mixer until the mixture is thick and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
- Spread the filling over the cooled cream puff shell, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24 hours.
- Combine the strawberries and sugar and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.
- To serve, pile the strawberries on top of the cake. Run a sharp, thin knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. Slice and serve (alternately, the strawberries can be served on individual pieces rather than on top of the entire cake).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Aunt Marilyn
Recipe originally posted October 19, 2009. Updated August 2016. Updated April 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Now THIS is what Strawberry Shortcake dreams of being! We doubled the cream and the berries, because it’s delicious – haha! We all loved it. It’s light yet decadent, a perfect combination!
Very yummy! I was personally not a fan of the orange zest and will skip it next time I make it, but everyone else loved it.
This is hands down one of my favorite spring/summer dessert recipes. It is stunning despite how simple it is to make! Next time we make it, I’m going to drizzle a little melted chocolate over the strawberries. Yum!
Made this last weekend for a group of kids before prom. It looked (and tasted!) fancy, but was super easy to make. Mel is the hero… again!
Hi Mel,
I’m making this for Sunday except with blueberries and lemon instead of strawberries and orange. Would I macerate the blueberries with sugar or just use them nakey? And, would it work to add lemon juice to the filling as well as the zest for more pucker?
Thanks♡
The blueberries won’t do quite as well macerated with the sugar as the strawberries, so I think I’d either make a simple blueberry topping (cooking blueberries, sugar, a bit of lemon juice and cornstarch until thick and then cooling) or use the blueberries fresh and nakey. 🙂 The filling is already pretty soft and creamy so the extra lemon juice might make it runny and not set up, but it’s worth a try!
This recipe was so easy to follow and so delicious! We were impatient so we even cut into it after being in the fridge for only 30 minutes. It still turned out perfectly – a very light dessert that lets the fresh fruit do most of the sweetening!
HELP! What did I do wrong?? Half way through the first bake a large mountain started forming in the middle. I poked a couple of holes in it to try and stop it but it didn’t work – it only kept growing! Then when you are supposed to poke more holes I did (probably 20-25) and I also tried to squash down the mountain. Put it back in the oven and the mountain continued to grow!! I know it will still taste good, but what can I do differently the next time so this doesn’t happen again?? Thanks Mel!!!
It’s actually ok if that happens! Cream puff dough naturally puffs/rises in the oven. It will fall after it bakes and cools and if it’s still puffy, you can lightly press it down before spreading in the cream layer.
Love this recipe. Made it last night for a dinner party. Rave reviews.
We love this recipe, and have made it basically every spring since discovering it. If you triple the recipe it can be made in a half sheet pan, and feeds a crowd well.
Hi, Mel! Do you think this cream cheese filling will freeze well? I’m thinking about making a double batch and freezing half for a future cake…thoughts?
I haven’t tried it, but my gut feeling is the filling might get a little weird in texture (and liquidy) after freezing, BUT, I also feel like everything is worth a try.
Okay so I made a double recipe of the filling….omg….delicious….don’t know if it will make it to test the freezing! Will follow up if I freeze some so others can learn from my experiment =)
Thanks, Mel, for all you do….you have legit made my life so much better!
This was fabulous! Pretty, delicious and no leftovers.
Amazing! Can’t wait to make again! I left the berries off, and let the family chose fresh peaches, strawberries, raspberries or a mix of all three. My college age son who moves out next week is considering getting a mixer so he can make this. My husband who doesn’t eat sweets had three small pieces!
Hi Mel – still love this recipe. However, I was looking at your mini cream puffs (which I have not been brave enough to attempt) and was wondering if you have ever used that filling in this cake?
I haven’t – but I bet it would be delicious!
What should the pastry texture be like after cooking? I loved the filling and the strawberries but the pastry seemed a little gummy but maybe it was exactly how it should be and I just have never made pastry before. Maybe I over mixed it I’m not really sure or maybe it was just right
I think after watching your how to video I just didn’t push it up on the sides enough I have a thin layer
Mel, this was FANTASTIC! The perfect thing to serve for our Easter dessert. Thank you!
I loved the idea of this cake so I tried to make it yesterday but it didn’t turn out as it was supposed to. The cream cheese filling was still fluid after being in the fridge for over 18 hours and ended up making the shell soggy. I followed all the steps and even made my mother check everything so I’m not sure where it went wrong. The filling tastes amazing but I changed the vanilla extract to a vanilla bean for extra flavour. I alsp had to use a lower fat whipping cream since we don’t have wipping cream with more than 35% fat in the Netherlands. I hope you can help me out with what went wrong.
I’m guessing it was the lower fat cream that caused the issue – is it the type of cream that will whip into stiff peaks on it’s own? I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you! The filling should be very thick and creamy so if you have another type of cream that can be used to thicken it next time, that would hopefully do the trick.
I made this tonight and it was so delicious! I didn’t have any orange zest so I decided to add a little almond extract instead. I also added some raspberries and blueberries along with the strawberries. I knew it would be tasty, but I was surprised how tasty it was. Thanks so much for sharing! This is a keeper =)
This is really great. But please don’t scare readers from pâte a choux; cream puffs are über easy to make!
This a a great recipe though, and I foresee making it a lot
I`m totally making this for my mom
Hi Mel! We are making this for a “delivery cake” for tomorrow when (we hope) our newest bundle of joy will have arrived! As we are making the crust, it appears to be fairly thin/more like a batter than a dough, it cannot be pushed up the sides of the springform. We both (my mother in law and myself) read your directions and feel like we followed them- but this doesn’t seem to be the case… Who knows- we do know that however it looks, it will taste delicious!
Oh, that’s odd, Sara! It definitely shouldn’t be that runny. Did you use extra large eggs by any chance?
PS: congrats on your new baby (hope he/she arrives soon!!)
Although it bubbled it was delicious. One questions for clarification. When mixing the cream cheese, whipped cream filling, is the paddle used on the standing mixer or the attachment for whipping? I used the paddle and although the mixture was creamy and thick, I do not believe that it was as thick as it should have been. Thank you.
Hi Risa – you can probably use either but I usually use the paddle attachment.
I used the whisk attachment and the texture was perfect. I never tried it with the paddle to compare though
My cream puff mold in the spring form pan bubbled way before it was time to pierce it with a toothpick. Can’t figure out way. I am still going to use it though since I don’t want to waste ingredients. Thank you.
Mine bubbled too, but went ahead and pierced all over and it dropped. It was wonderful. We had one piece leftover and it was okay the next day. Best to make this the day of.
I am a relatively new subscriber to your blog, have been pinning your recipes, decided and yesterday was the day to try one of your desserts. My husband loves cream puffs and he loves strawberries so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. It turned out soooo good! I can’t wait to check out your e-book!
Thanks, Vikki – so happy to hear it!
I have a similar recipe, as an eclair cake. Same crust…pudding and cream cheese layer, whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce! Cant wait to try this version. Do you think it would work doubled in a 9×13 pan or even a cookie sheet? Thats how I do the eclair cake and it works beautifully.
If it’s similar to your recipe, I think it stands a good chance of working in a 9X13. 🙂