Rosalynn Carter's Strawberry Cake Recipe

The recipe reached the public in a fitting way. Following Mrs. Carter's death on November 19, 2023, the official U.S. National Archives account shared it as one of her favorites, and you can still find the recipe the National Archives released from the Carter family papers today. It arrives printed on White House letterhead and described, in plain words, as a "Carter family favorite."

One warm detail is worth passing along. In a Good Morning America food memory shared by the Carters, grandson Jason Carter recalled her generosity, including handing out homemade pimento cheese sandwiches to fellow airplane passengers. He noted that nearly all her recipes called for mayonnaise, which makes this sweet cake a charming exception. For more on that Southern lineage, the Library of Congress feature on Carter family recipes from Plains, Georgia is a lovely companion read.

Every ingredient here pulls its weight, and none of them are fussy.

For the Cake Batter

• 1 package yellow or white cake mix. The base. White keeps the crumb pale and pink; yellow adds a little richness.
• 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry gelatin (Jell-O). The secret. It carries color and a concentrated berry note through the whole crumb.
• 3/4 cup cooking oil (canola or vegetable). Oil, not butter, keeps this cake moist for days.
• 4 large eggs. They give the batter structure and lift.
• 2 tablespoons flour. Stirred into the batter, separate from the flour that dusts the pan. It helps hold the fruit in suspension.
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries, or 1 pint fresh strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar. The real fruit. Frozen berries come sweetened, so with them you skip the added sugar.
• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans). For texture and a toasty edge. In our kitchen, pecans read sweeter than walnuts here, a nice swap if you find walnuts too bitter.

For the Pan and Serving

• Nonstick spray plus 2 tablespoons flour to grease and dust the pan.
• Sweetened whipped cream, optional, for serving.

The method is as simple as the ingredient list. This is genuinely a one-bowl cake.

1. Heat the oven to 350F and set a rack in the center.
2. Grease and flour your pan. Coat a 10-inch tube or angel food pan with nonstick spray, then dust with the 2 tablespoons of flour and tap out the excess. A Bundt pan works too.
3. Combine the base. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, strawberry gelatin, oil, eggs, and the 2 tablespoons of flour.
4. Fold in the fruit and nuts last. Add the strawberries and chopped nuts, then beat until well blended.
5. Pour and bake. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake about 55 to 65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Cool the right way. Rest the cake 10 minutes on a rack, then turn it out to cool completely before serving.

If we could hand you a single tip, it would be this one. Thawed frozen strawberries come already sweetened, so you skip the added sugar with them entirely. Just as important, drain them before they go into the batter. Frozen berries hold a lot of water, and that water thins the batter and lengthens the bake.

The rule is simple. Frozen berries: drain them, and leave out the 1/2 cup of sugar. Fresh berries: slice them, toss with the 1/2 cup of sugar, and let them sit to draw out their juice before mixing.

Here the old letterhead and the modern kitchen disagree. The original released copy reads "45 minutes or until done," while later kitchen-tested versions run 55 to 65 minutes. That gap is real, so the safe answer is to stop trusting the clock. Look for a toothpick or cake tester to come out clean from the center, since baking time varies with the pan and cake mix. Start checking at 50 minutes and go from there.

This cake is forgiving, which is part of why it has been passed around for so long.

Nut-free. Leave the nuts out entirely. The cake loses a little texture but none of its flavor.

Yellow versus white mix. White keeps the crumb pale and pink; yellow adds a touch more richness. Both are traditional.

Pan choice. The original calls for an angel food (tube) pan. A Bundt pan works too, but it changes the crumb and how easily the cake releases, so check doneness rather than relying on the stated time.

Mrs. Carter's cake is meant to be served plain or with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. Both are right. Plain, it travels well and tastes like something from a church potluck; with whipped cream and a few sliced berries, it becomes a proper dessert.

One storage note matters if you expect leftovers. Serve the whipped cream and berries on the side rather than piled on top, so the cake does not go soggy in storage. The cake itself keeps beautifully for a few days, thanks to all that oil, covered at room temperature or in the fridge.

There is something quietly moving about baking from a recipe a first lady kept and loved. With pantry staples, one bowl, and about an hour, you can make a moist, pink, berry-scented cake that tastes as though it took much more work. That gap between effort and result is why it has stayed a Carter family favorite for so long. Bake it once, and you will understand why the Carters kept making it.