This easy strawberry compote recipe delivers a bright, natural strawberry flavor and comes together in about 10 minutes. Made with frozen strawberries for year-round consistency, it works beautifully as a cake or cupcake filling, a topping for cheesecakes, or a filling for danishes.
Use this compote to fill Moist and Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes or a Vanilla Almond Cake, then finish with a bakery-style buttercream. It’s also the fruit component in the Ultimate Fresh Strawberry Bakery-Style Cake and pairs perfectly with summery treats like Strawberry Banana Cake.
đź“– Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions
Easy Strawberry Compote Cake Filling with Frozen Strawberries
A 1x batch fills a 6″ three-layer cake or about 14–18 cupcakes. A 2x batch fills an 8″ three-layer cake or about 28–36 cupcakes.
For the most accurate results, use grams and a kitchen scale.
1 heaping cup(s)
Ingredients
Strawberry Compote
- 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons Instant Clearjel or 1 ½ Tablespoons Cornstarch (see notes)
- 50 grams (ÂĽ cup) Sugar
- 8 ounces (227 grams, about 2 cups) Frozen strawberries (unsweetened) — sliced or whole
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Lemon juice (bottled is fine)
Instructions
Make the strawberry compote
- Whisk the sugar and your choice of Instant Clearjel or cornstarch together in a small bowl; set aside.
- Combine the frozen strawberries and lemon juice in a nonstick skillet or saucepan.
If using Instant Clearjel
- Cook strawberries and lemon juice over medium heat until the berries thaw and the liquid simmers. Use a sturdy spatula to break any large berries into roughly ¼-inch pieces as they soften (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat, immediately stir in the Instant Clearjel/sugar mixture until dissolved — the compote will thicken quickly and continue to set as it cools.
If using cornstarch
- Add the cornstarch/sugar mix to the pan and cook over medium heat. Once the liquid simmers, cut large berries into small pieces with a spatula and continue to boil, stirring frequently, for about 10–15 minutes until the compote is thick and coats your spatula. It will thicken more as it cools.
Storage
- Refrigerate the compote for up to 2 weeks. Use cold straight from the fridge as a filling, or freeze it (including in a frozen layer cake). Stir before using if separation occurs.
Notes
* ½ Tablespoon = 1 ½ teaspoons (for those without a ½ tablespoon measure).
- Instant Clearjel must be whisked with dry ingredients before adding to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. Compared with cornstarch, Instant Clearjel yields a slightly thicker, glossier compote. Compote made with cornstarch can separate a bit in the fridge — simply stir before using.
- To use the compote as a cake filling, pipe a 1″ tall ring of buttercream around the cake edge, then spoon the compote into the center to prevent leaks.
Calories are estimated using a nutrition calculator. This recipe may reference other recipes whose calories are not included here.
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