Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

Decadent, delicious, and piled high with coconut whipped cream! Oh, and this vegan strawberry shortcake has a twist: the strawberries are soaked in a zippy maple ginger marinade. 

Hey! Happy pre-holiday weekend Friday! Got plans for Memorial Day? I'm heading over to a cookout, and as usual, bringing dessert. This dessert to be exact.

Strawberry shortcake is always a hit. But vegan strawberry shortcake? Or strawberry shortcake with ginger? Could be weird.

The first time I made this I served it to my family and everyone who ate it LOVED it. Even my vegan food fearing dad. I was afraid the ginger would either go undetected or be bad, but the first comments out of people's mouths were "mmmmmm" and "yummm" and "Is that ginger? Niiiiiiice little kick there."

Also, I was also afraid it would be hideous, which, let me tell you, my desserts often are (often the most delicious ones are the ugliest). Not half bad though, don't you think? Things got a little sloppy during cutting, but by then everyone was too busy chowing down to complain about that. In other words, this thing was great.

Add a Little Ginger for Extra Flavor

Regular old strawberry shortcake strawberries are typically marinated in sugar. Kind of boring, but I guess it does the job. These strawberries are soaked in maple syrup (because it's vegan and delicious), with a bit of fresh ginger. You can skip the ginger if you're scared, but it's really, really good. Ginger goes surprisingly well with berries! 

How to Make Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

The shortcake portion of this recipe is pretty similar to non-vegan shortcake, but swaps oil and non-dairy milk for butter and regular milk. You'll be mixing it up to form a dough, then pressing it into the bottom of a couple of cake pans. Don't worry if it doesn't reach the edges — just try to keep it neat!

The shortcake and berries get layered with whipped coconut cream. You'll need to chill a couple of cans of coconut milk or cream, at least overnight. The contents should separate into liquid (coconut water) and semi-solid (cream). Whip the cream up in a mixing bowl with some maple syrup and vanilla, and you'll have an amazing dairy-free whipped cream substitute.

Once the shortcakes are baked and cooled, you're ready to layer them with your strawberries and vegan whip.

Tips For Making Perfect Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

• The coconut whipped cream is the trickiest part of this recipe, so here are a few words of advice:
  • Some brands of coconut milk/cream work better than others. I've had the best luck with Thai Kitchen.
  • Whatever you do, don't use light coconut milk, and make sure it's the canned kind.
  • Make sure your cans aren't too old. Over time coconut milk can sometimes separate too much, to the point where the cream becomes hard, waxy, and unwhippable.
  • 24-48 hours chill time is ideal. Shoot for more if your cans have been sitting in a warmer environment (i.e., you're making this during the summer), less if they've been in cool temps.
• If you don't have the cake pans for this, just form the pastry into a couple of 8 or 9 inch rounds and bake them on parchment lined baking sheets.
• I'm sure you could also make individual-sized shortcakes by shaping the pastry into 3 or so inch rounds. But, I haven't tested that. In any event, watch them closely if you do, because the cook time will likely be a bit less.

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5 from 2 votes

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Maple Ginger Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

Decadent, delicious, and piled high with coconut whipped cream! Oh, and this vegan strawberry shortcake has a twist: the strawberries are soaked in a zippy maple ginger marinade. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Chill time 1 day

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 505 kcal

Author Alissa

Ingredients

For the Maple Ginger Strawberries

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, or more or less to taste (optional)
• Pinch salt

For the Shortcakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (can sub spelt or another cup of all purpose)
• ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup unflavored soy or almond milk
• ¼ cup canola oil, or any neutral flavored baking oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Whipped Coconut Cream

• 2 (14 ounce) cans coconut cream or coconut milk, refrigerated at least 12 hours (ideally 24-48 hours)
• ¼ cup maple syrup, or to taste (can sub agave)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Prepare the Maple Ginger Strawberries

1. Stir all ingredients together in medium bowl and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Bake the Shortcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.

2. Lightly oil and line the bottoms of 2 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

3. Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. 

4. In separate bowl, stir together milk, oil and vanilla. Add to dry mixture and stir together with a fork. 

5. Mix to form a uniform dough. It should feel like a soft pastry dough. If it seems too dry, add a splash more milk. 
   

6. Divide into two balls. Press each into the bottom of one of your prepared baking pans.
   

7. Bake until firm and just slightly browned on top, 23-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from pans.

Make the Whipped Coconut Cream

1. Open your cans of coconut milk or cream. The coconut cream solids should have separated our from the coconut water during refrigeration. 

2. Scoop the cream out from each can and into a large mixing bowl, discarding any water (or save it for another use). 
   

3. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed, about 1 minute. 
   

4. Add maple syrup and vanilla, and beat again to incorporate.
   

Assemble the Maple Ginger Strawberry Shortcake

1. Carefully remove the shortcakes from the pans.

2. Set one shortcake on a cake dish and layer with half of coconut whipped cream and strawberries. 

3. Top with other shortcake, followed by remaining coconut whipped cream and berries. 
   

4. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for several hours.
   

Nutrition Facts

Maple Ginger Vegan Strawberry Shortcake

Amount Per Serving (1 slice (⅛ of cake))

Calories 505 Calories from Fat 284

% Daily Value*

Fat 31.5g48%

Saturated Fat 21.5g108%

Cholesterol 1mg0%

Sodium 227mg9%

Potassium 397mg11%

Carbohydrates 54.7g18%

Fiber 6.5g26%

Sugar 24.2g27%

Protein 6.2g12%

Calcium 130mg13%

Iron 3.6mg20%

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