Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake

This Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake is fresh and fruity, full of strawberry flavour and naturally coloured! It’s perfect for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, baby showers and bridal showers, and everything in between!

I thought it was time for a Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake – and unlike this Strawberry Sponge Layer Cake, I wanted to make a proper Strawberry Cake. Think moist, fluffy, strawberry-infused sponge slathered in lashings of creamy, strawberry-infused frosting.

How to make the cake

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Use a food processor, or blender or hand-held stick blender to whizz the strawberries until completely smooth.

• Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.

• Transfer into two 18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tins.

Tip: Line the tins with greased baking paper to make the sponges easier to remove afterwards.

• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Tip: Transfer onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before applying the frosting.

How to make the strawberry frosting

Another important component of this Strawberry Cake is the frosting – it’s thick, rich and creamy, and packed full of strawberry flavour. I did think adding fresh strawberry purée to the frosting would create too much excess liquid, so I decided to use strawberry jam.

Tip: To make this refined sugar free, use a refined sugar free strawberry jam such as this one.

• Mix the coconut cream with strawberry jam and use an electric whisk to whip until fluffy.

• Apply the frosting to the cake using a palette knife for frosting.

How to decorate

• Fresh berries: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries etc.
• Freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries.
• Fresh mint.

How long does this keep for?

This Strawberry Cake tastes best eaten on the day it’s made, but it keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Substitutions you can make

• You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
• You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
• You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
• You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
• For a refined sugar free version, use a refined sugar free strawberry jam.
• For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds.
• You can use plain flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
• You can replace the strawberries with blueberries, peaches or mango.
• You can use fresh or frozen strawberries – just make sure to defrost frozen ones and get rid of any excess water.

More gluten-free vegan cake recipes

• Tropical Carrot Cake
• Chocolate Truffle Cake
• Tropical Carrot Cake
• Lemon Blueberry Cake
• Cherry Bakewell Cake
• Chocolate Cake
• Black Forest Cake
• Red Velvet Cake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
• Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake
• Lemon Pound Cake

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 #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake

This Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake is fresh and fruity, full of strawberry flavour and naturally coloured!

4.43 from 101 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free strawberry cake, gluten-free vegan cake, vegan strawberry cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 414kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cake:

• ▢ 300 g (10.5 oz) fresh strawberries , hulled
• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon beetroot powder (optional – to add red colour)

For the frosting:

• ▢ 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk **
• ▢ Pinch beetroot powder (optional – to add red colour)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons strawberry jam (ensure refined sugar free if necessary)

Instructions

For the cake:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Use a food processor, blender or hand-held stick blender to whizz the strawberries until completely smooth – you should end up with around 250ml (1 cup) strawberry purée.
• 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).
• Once melted, add the strawberry purée to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
• Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (and beetroot powder if using).
• Mix well, adding a tiny splash of any plant-based milk if it's looking too dry.
• Transfer mixture between two small greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins).
• Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Once out the oven, immediately remove cakes from baking tins and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

For the frosting:

• 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!
• 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).
• Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl.
• Add the beetroot powder (if using).
• Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy.
• Add the strawberry jam and carefully mix it in.

To decorate:

• Once the sponges have cooled completely, place one sponge on a large plate or cake stand, and cover with half of the frosting.
• Place other sponge on top and use the remaining frosting to cover the top.
• Best when fresh, but keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour.

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

You can replace the strawberries with blueberries, peaches or mango.

You can use fresh or frozen strawberries – just make sure to defrost frozen ones and get rid of any excess water.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Strawberry Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 414 Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 17g85%

Sodium 46mg2%

Potassium 243mg7%

Carbohydrates 39g13%

Fiber 5g20%

Sugar 19g21%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin C 25mg30%

Calcium 100mg10%

Iron 3mg17%

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

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