This strawberry angel food cake vintage recipe is made with jello, cool whip, frozen fresh strawberries, and angel food cake. That’s it! Only four ingredients. It’s a sweet no-bake make-ahead refrigerated strawberry dessert that has become a true family favorite for us.
If you like this recipe (and have plenty of strawberries around), you’ll also love fresh strawberry pie and strawberry shortcake from scratch.
Why You Need Strawberry Angel Food Cake In Your Life
A good fresh strawberry dessert recipe is one of my favorites this time of year. While the strawberries aren’t ripe for picking YET in Ohio, I do know that they are in other parts of the country, which has me thinking about strawberry desserts like strawberry rhubarb pie. And because I see the prices drop at our area grocery stores, I wanted to make a fun dessert that was very easy but used fresh strawberries!
- Fresh strawberries. When strawberries are in season they are the best! This is a unique strawberry dessert that uses only 1 pound of fresh strawberries.
- Easy to pull together. This dessert is super simple to make and a great one to have the kids join in on!
Only Four Ingredients
To make this fresh strawberry dessert recipe you will only need four ingredients!
- Strawberry Jell-O – I recommend the name brand. This is one instance where generic just doesn’t cut it.
- Fresh Strawberries – You will need your strawberries to be frozen. You can use fresh; just pop them in the freezer for 24 hours before making this recipe.
- Cool Whip – It brings this recipe all together. Use good ol’ cool whip or make your own.
- Angel Food Cake – I buy it at the store in the bakery section. I mentioned, easy, right?
How to Freeze Fresh Strawberries
It was easy to freeze the fresh strawberries. I would recommend doing this as you’re able to control the size of each strawberry. You know how huge strawberries can be? I like to be able to control that and cut cut them before freezing.
- Wash: The day before you plan to make this recipe, wash and cut one pound of fresh strawberries. You’ll want the strawberries to be bite-size.
- Freeze: Place them on parchment paper and freeze.
- Store: Once they are semi-frozen you can put them in a plastic bag to use when you’re ready to make the strawberry angel food cake.
How to Make
- Break the angel food cake into 1 – 2 inch pieces. Add to a bowl and set aside.
- Boil 1 1/4 cups of water on the stove. Dissolve the Jell-O into the boiling water. Once dissolved, add the frozen strawberries and stir. I then transferred the strawberry mixture to a mixing bowl.
- Fold in the cool whip into the strawberry mixture. Yum!
- Add the angel food cake into the strawberry mixture until well combined.
5. Pour into an 11×7 pan. You can use a 9×13 pan, but I like my strawberry angel food cake thicker.
6. Chill. Place the cake into the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to chill. Longer is better!
This Fresh Strawberry Dessert recipe took minutes to make! It’s an easy and fresh dessert to enjoy those fresh strawberries on a hot day! No oven required. Top with whipped cream if you prefer and enjoy!
Strawberry Angel Food Cake FAQ
I used a 13 oz bakery made angel food cake for this recipe.
No. I didn’t and had no problems.
I like to be in control of how big the strawberry bites are. I’ve also found that buying fresh certain times of the year is much cheaper. That being said, you could use store bought frozen strawberries if you prefer.
I did in the past, but it was very difficult to get the cake out of the pan. For this reason, I suggest using an 11×7 or 9×13 inch pan.
Watch How to Make This Strawberry Dessert
Strawberry Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 3 oz package of strawberry Jell-O
- 1 1/4 cups water boiling
- 1 lb strawberries frozen
- 8 oz Cool Whip thawed
- 13 oz angel food cake
Instructions
- Break angel food cake into 1 - 2 inch pieces.
- Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add frozen strawberries and stir.
- Place strawberry mixture into a large bowl and fold in the Cool Whip. Add angel food cake pieces and combine.
- Pour into 11x7 or 9x13 pan.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or until fully set.
Notes
How to Freeze Fresh Strawberries
- Wash: The day before you plan to make this recipe, wash and cut one pound of fresh strawberries. You'll want the strawberries to be bite-size.
- Freeze: Place them on parchment paper and freeze.
- Store: Once they are semi-frozen you can put them in a plastic bag to use when you're ready to make the strawberry angel food cake.
Nutrition
More Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad Recipe
- Homemade Strawberry Bread Recipe
- Easy Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam Recipe
Strawberry Angel Food Cake Recipe originally shared May 2014. Updated 2021.
Comments & Reviews
Can I use already frozen strawberries (like from the frozen section) or will they make this too soggy?
It’s me. Replying to me. Don’t worry everyone. I actually read the recipe and it answered this question. Imagine that.
My store only had whipped cream not cool whip. Is this okay?
It will work. I’ve used homemade whipped cream in the past and it worked fine.
Can I use fresh strawberries without freezing
I would not recommend using fresh strawberries as they are too juicy and will lead to sogginess.
The instructions do not include frosting the finished recipe with cool whip as it appears in the picture. Would that require additional cool whip and if so, how much, and should it be frosted before chilling for four hours?
Hi! Frosting the top is completely optional. It’s delicious as is. If you are going to frost the top, you can do it before serving. I would just purchase an additional container of cool whipe.
I made this recipe but it came out watery, I put it in the refrigerator. Was it suppose to go in the freezer?
Hmmmm, were your strawberries frozen when you added them? Or were they fresh? I’m trying to figure out where your extra water content came from.
Does this have to be eaten when cold, or it’ll start to disolve?
Assume this uses 1-1/4 CUPS of water? I’m making it now, and suggest that edit.
Yes! 1 1/4 Cups. Thanks for catching that. I’ve updated the recipe.
Has anyone ever tried making this with raspberries? I can’t find strawberry jello!
I’m looking for the same information. My mom is allergic to strawberries. Think I’ll try it anyway.
I’ve been making this recipe for many years and it’s a big hit especially in the summer. The original recipe calls for whipping cream, but I use Cool Whip. Walmart cake doesn’t work very well for me, it’s too crumbly; a regular grocery store chain cake seems the best. I add 2T sugar to the strawberries before freezing and use a 9×13” pan. Make this soon, you won’t be disappointed.
Making this right now. I can’t wait until it’s ready to eat! 😋
Definitely going to try this. I’m on WW so going to try with sugar free jello and lite cool whip. Hope the end results are still the same!!
I’m sure the taste will be a bit different but the texture should be the same. Let me know how it turns out!
My family can’t tell the difference.
I was so happy to find the strawberry, jello, angel food cake and whipped cream dessert.
Many thanks
It’s one of our favorites! The perfect dessert this time of year!
Just made this yummy looking dessert! Can’t wait to try it! Couldn’t help but licking the spoon when i was done stirring the cool whip in LOL just wondering though, how long is this recipe good for while stored in the fridge?