Strawberry Earthquake Cake

Strawberry earthquake cake is one of those recipes I stumbled on completely by accident and then made four times in the same month. That’s how good it is. I’m not even exaggerating.

Okay so the backstory is a little chaotic, honestly. I was trying to make a regular strawberry sheet cake for my cousin’s birthday last spring and I completely botched the cream cheese layer — it sank, it swirled, it cracked the top open. The whole thing looked like something had literally exploded under the surface. I pulled it out of the oven and kind of just… stood there staring at it. My daughter walked in and said “Mama, why does it look like an earthquake hit it?” And I thought, you know what, maybe that’s just what it’s supposed to look like.

Turns out, it kind of is. And it was INCREDIBLE.

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What Is a Strawberry Earthquake Cake, Anyway?

So if you’ve never heard of an earthquake cake, here’s the basic idea: you build layers of ingredients in a baking dish, pour cake batter on top, then drop spoonfuls of a cream cheese mixture over that. As it bakes, the cream cheese filling sinks and swirls through the batter and everything kind of erupts and bubbles and cracks on the surface. Hence the name. It looks like a beautiful mess. It tastes like a dream.

The strawberry version is — I think… no, I know — the best version of earthquake cake I’ve ever had. And I’ve tried the chocolate one, the lemon one, the pumpkin spice one my neighbor Samira made at Eid. All good. But this one hits different, especially in spring and summer when fresh strawberries are actually good and not those sad, white-in-the-middle ones from the grocery store in January.

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What You’ll Need: Ingredients

This is a very forgiving recipe. Don’t stress. Here’s what goes into it:

For the base:

• 1 box white cake mix (I always grab Betty Crocker or Pillsbury — both work perfectly)
• Ingredients listed on the box: eggs, oil, water
• 1½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced (frozen works too, just thaw and drain them well or you’ll have a soggy disaster — learned that the hard way)
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup chopped pecans (optional, but please don’t skip them if you can help it)
• ½ cup white chocolate chips — this is what makes it a proper strawberry white chocolate earthquake cake

For the cream cheese swirl:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature (not cold from the fridge — been there, it clumps and ruins everything)
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

That’s it. I know the cream cheese layer looks like a lot of powdered sugar but trust the process. It creates that gooey, almost cheesecake-like filling that runs through the whole cake and makes it completely irresistible.

Oh — and one more thing. Spray your baking dish really well. Like, really really well. More than you think you need to. I’ve lost good cake to under-greased pans and I refuse to let that happen to you.

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How to Make Strawberry Earthquake Cake Step by Step

Step 1: Preheat your oven

350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Don’t skip the greasing. We talked about this.

Step 2: Build the base layer

Spread the shredded coconut evenly across the bottom of your greased dish. Then scatter the chopped pecans over the coconut. Then scatter the white chocolate chips on top of that. And then — the—oh wait, actually do the strawberries last so they sit right under the batter. Arrange your sliced fresh strawberries over the whole thing.

It looks like chaos at this stage. That’s correct.

Step 3: Mix and pour the cake batter

Prepare your white cake mix according to the box instructions. Pour it evenly over all your base layers. Don’t stir. Don’t mix. Just pour and move on. Resist the urge to stir. (I stirred the first time. It looked fine but the texture was all wrong.)

Step 4: Make the cream cheese mixture

Beat the softened cream cheese with the melted butter until smooth. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until creamy and fluffy. It’ll look like a very thick frosting at this point.

Step 5: Drop the cream cheese swirl

Spoon large dollops of the cream cheese mixture all over the top of the batter. Use a spoon and drop them in random spots — don’t spread it. The oven does the work. As it bakes, those dollops sink down into the batter and create the most gorgeous gooey pockets of cream cheese filling throughout the cake.

This is the moment. This is what makes it a strawberry earthquake cake and not just a regular strawberry cake.

Step 6: Bake

35–40 minutes. The top will crack and look uneven and almost alarming. That is exactly right. You’re looking for the edges to be set and golden and the center to still have a slight jiggle when you shake the pan gently. Don’t overbake it or you’ll lose all that gorgeous gooey center.

Set a timer at 35 minutes and check it. Don’t wander off like I did the first time and come back at 48 minutes wondering why it smells a little too done.

Step 7: Cool (a little) and serve

Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. The layers need to settle. I know it’s hard to wait. But it’s worth it.

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Tips I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Actually, you know what, let me just give you the honest rundown of what I’ve figured out across my many, many batches of this:

• Fresh strawberries are better than frozen for texture, but frozen work in a pinch — just squeeze out the extra moisture or the bottom gets soggy
• The cream cheese MUST be room temperature. I put mine on the counter for an hour before I start. Cold cream cheese lumps in a way that never smooths out properly
• Don’t skip the coconut. I know not everyone is a coconut fan (my husband claims to hate it) but it adds this subtle sweetness and texture in the base that you don’t taste as coconut — it just makes the whole cake better. Even my husband eats it without complaining
• White chocolate chips instead of regular — this is what makes it feel fancy without any extra effort
• Serve it warm with a spoonful of whipped cream or even a small scoop of vanilla ice cream if you want to take it somewhere really good
• Store leftovers in the fridge. It’s honestly even better cold the next day, which I wasn’t expecting at all

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Why This Is the Best Strawberry Earthquake Cake Recipe

Look, I’ve seen other versions online. Some skip the coconut, some use strawberry cake mix instead of white, some don’t do the pecans. All of those are fine I guess. But this combination — the fresh strawberries, white chocolate, coconut, and that thick cream cheese swirl — this is the one that gets people quiet at the table. The good kind of quiet. The “I need a second piece immediately” kind of quiet.

My cousin, the one whose birthday cake started this whole journey, now requests it every single year. That says something.

If you make this, please let me know how it turns out in the comments! And if you’ve got a variation I haven’t tried yet, I’m genuinely curious — drop it below. 🍓

Now I’m sitting here craving it and it’s only Monday morning. Thanks a lot, brain. 😅