Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake

This Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake comes with the most deliciously fruity frosting and is loaded with sweet berries!

I love using matcha green tea powder in desserts, as it adds a beautiful colour and delicious earthy flavour. I’ve previously used it to make:

• brownies
• shortbread
• chocolate truffles
• panna cotta
• donuts

So, it definitely made sense for me to try it out in a sponge layer cake!

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I used my go-to sponge cake recipe for this, which I love for several reasons:

• It’s undetectably vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free
• It has a moist and fluffy texture
• It’s super easy to make: think one bowl and simple ingredients that you’ll probably have on hand already
• It’s versatile and customisable, as you can use any oil you like (coconut, vegetable or olive all work well) and you can substitute the maple syrup with any other sweetener of choice, such as agave syrup or brown rice syrup

But the real star of this Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake is the magical, 2-ingredient strawberry buttercream frosting! All you need to do to make this frosting, is whip up some coconut whipped cream (or you can substitute with shop-bought coconut yogurt if you’re feeling lazy!) and mix in some strawberry jam. To keep it refined sugar free, make sure you buy a naturally sweetened jam.

Matcha and strawberry are a match(a) made in heaven and I also love the combination of pastel green with pastel pink, and the slight bitterness of the matcha perfectly compliments the nectar-like sweetness of the strawberry frosting.

Then all you need to do is load up the cake with allll the fresh berries. I used strawberries, blackberries and cherries for a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. You can also sprinkle over some sprigs of fresh mint and pretty little edible flowers if you’re feeling fancy.

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake:

For the cake:

glass mixing bowl

measuring jug

18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tin

baking paper

cooling rack

For the frosting:

electric whisk

palette knife for frosting

5 from 3 votes

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Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

This Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake comes with the most delicious fruity frosting and is loaded with sweet berries! 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: gluten-free matcha cake, vegan matcha cake, vegan matcha sponge

Servings: 8

Calories: 369 kcal

Ingredients

• 60 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• Juice of 1 lemon*
• 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 150 g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds** (almond meal)
• 150 g (1 1/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• 2 heaped teaspoons baking power (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1-2 teaspoons matcha powder to taste

For the strawberry frosting:

• 400 g (14oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk***
• 2 tablespoons strawberry jam (refined sugar free if necessary)

To decorate:

• 200 g (7oz) fresh berries, chopped into smaller pieces if necessary - I used strawberries, blackberries and cherries
• Few sprigs fresh mint

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)

2. Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)

3. Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds

4. Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and matcha powder

5. Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry

6. Transfer mixture between two small greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm tins) 

7. Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean

8. Once out the oven, immediately remove cakes from baking tins and transfer onto a wire rack to cool

For the strawberry frosting:

1. You'll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won't happen and you won't be able to make this cream!
2. Open the tin upside down - the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)
3. Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl

4. Add the strawberry jam

5. Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy

To decorate:

1. Once the sponges have cooled completely, place one sponge on a large plate or cake stand, and cover with half of the cream

2. Spread the strawberry frosting over this layer of cream and add half of the berries

3. Place other sponge on top and use remaining frosting to cover the top

4. Cover with the remaining berries

5. Best eaten on the day or day after it's made

Recipe Notes

*The lemon juice is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the sponge fluffy. If you don't want to use lemon juice, substitute with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar instead

**You can alternatively use almond flour

***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Strawberry Sponge Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 369

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.