This vegan strawberry cake is made with two layers of cake and a decadent dairy-free cream cheese frosting. It's moist, tender and bursting with fruity deliciousness!
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and cleaned
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups organic granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk, or as needed
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
- 2 drops pink or red food coloring, optional, or as needed to reach desired color (Note 1)
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries (Note 2)
- ½ cup vegan butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese, chilled
- 3 cups organic powdered sugar, plus up to 1 additional cup, as needed
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Place the berries into a blender or food processor and blend them to a smooth puree.
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Transfer the strawberry puree to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat.
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Bring the mixture to a low boil. Lower the heat if needed, so that it's just at a low simmer. Let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about half, about 20 minutes. Let the mixture cool while you begin preparing the other ingredients. (Note 3)
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Preheat the oven to 350°.
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Oil and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with parchment paper.
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Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
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Transfer the reduced strawberry puree to a liquid measuring cup. You should have about ½ cup. (Note 4)
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Add the non-dairy milk to the liquid measuring cup just until you have 1 ¾ cup total liquid volume (made up of the strawberry puree and milk combined).
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Stir in the oil, vanilla, strawberry extract, and food coloring, if using.
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Add the liquid mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Beat the ingredients together with an electric mixer at high speed just until the batter is smooth, about 1 minute.
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Divide the batter among the two baking pans.
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Bake the cake layers for 24 to 26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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Place the cake pans on cooling racks and allow the layers to cool completely before removing them from the pans.
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Place the freeze-dried berries into a food processor or blender and blend them to a powder.
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Place the vegan butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl. Beat them together with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy.
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Beat in the powdered strawberries.
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Begin adding the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, fully beating in each addition before adding more. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency and flavor.
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Once the cake layers have cooled, invert one of the layers onto a plate. Peel off the parchment paper.
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Spread a thick layer of frosting over the layer.
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Invert the second layer over the first layer, then cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
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Slice and serve.
- Make sure your food coloring is vegan, if you use it. I used McCormick's red food dye.
- One half cup of freeze dried strawberry powder can be substituted if it's available. This will allow you to skip the step of blending the berries to a powder.
- You can accelerate the cooling process by placing the saucepan into an ice or cold water bath. Wait a few minutes after taking it off of heat to do this, in order to let the pan begin cooling. Otherwise it could warp.
- It's okay if you have slightly more or less than that. The next step will adjust for small variations in volume.