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This vegan strawberry cake is made with fresh strawberries blended into the batter, and topped with a strawberry frosting! It’s super moist and so easy to make.
I’ve been quite obsessed with vegan cakes lately. We’ve had my vanilla cake, chocolate cake, and this easy vegan strawberry cake.
Seriously, when I say this strawberry cake is easy, I mean it- It only needs 7 simple ingredients, and because it’s vegan, there are no eggs, and no butter, but you’d never tell.
See, it’s super moist, fluffy, and with a tender crumb, the perfect texture you want from a cake. Taste wise, it’s sweet and loaded with strawberry flavor, thanks to the strawberry puree in the cake itself. To take it up a notch, you can even add strawberries to the frosting!
How to make a strawberry cake from scratch
The Ingredients
- All Purpose flour– Be sure to sift your flour first, so ensure it has no clumps in it. For a gluten free strawberry cake, use gluten free flour.
- Baking powder– Gives the cake some rise and leavening.
- Baking soda– Works with the baking powder to help the cake have a fluffy and moist texture, without sinking in the middle.
- Powdered sugar– Gives the cake a fabulous texture. I prefer using powdered sugar over standard sugar. If you only have white sugar on hand, you can blend it until it reaches a powdered consistency.
- Oil of choice– Use a mild tasting oil, like canola oil or vegetable oil.
- Non dairy yogurt– Coconut yogurt or soy yogurt. Either use vanilla or plain flavored.
- Strawberries– Fresh strawberries that are blended or pureed into a liquid like consistency,.
- Pink food coloring– Optional, but use a few drops if you’d like a pink cake.
The Instructions
Start by pureeing the strawberries, using either a blender, a food processor, or stand mixer. Next, add your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, add the rest of your ingredients, including the pureed strawberries, and mix until smooth and creamy. Gently add the flour mixture in, and stir until just combined- do not overmix. Transfer the cake batter into two 8-inch cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, before frosting.
Vegan Cake Frosting Ideas
I used a simple dairy free cream cheese frosting and added a dash of pink food coloring to it.
To make: Combine 8 oz vegan cream cheese with 1/3 cup vegan butter and beat until creamy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and continue beating. Add the vanilla extract and another 2 cups of powdered sugar (4 cups total), and optional pink food coloring. Beat until smooth. For a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar.
- Vegan Strawberry frosting– Add some freeze-dried strawberries to the base frosting, and blend until combined. You will have a beautiful pink frosting.
- Vanilla Frosting– Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the base frosting.
- Chocolate Frosting– For those who want a chocolate strawberry cake. Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the base frosting.
Tips for the Best Vegan Strawberry Cake
- Do not overbake the cakes, as they continue to cook as they cool down. Remove when a skewer comes out ‘just’ clean.
- For easy removal of the cake, use a springform cake pan or place parchment paper on the bottom of the pans, ALONG with greasing the tops of them and around. This will ensure the cakes come out perfectly.
- Avoid using coconut oil, as that can actually dry out the cake instead of keeping it moist and fluffy./
- Do not frost the cake until it has been cooled, otherwise, it will stick to the cake and it will begin to sink.
- This makes a layer cake. For a single cake, halve the recipe!
- I used frozen strawberries and thawed them out completely. Use fresh if those are easily available to you.
Storing and Freezing Tips
- To store: Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator at all times. Keep the cake in a sealable container or covered completely. The cake will keep well for up to 7 days.
- To freeze: This cake is freezer friendly and can be stored in the freezer. Place the leftover cake in a shallow container. The cake freezes well for up to 6 months.
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Zucchini Chocolate Cake
Vegan Strawberry Cake (GF)
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries blended and pureed
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour use gluten free, if needed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil or any oil of choice
- 1/2 cup dairy free yogurt can use any plain or vanilla yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line 2 8-inch pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- Using a high speed blender or food processor, blend your strawberries until a pureed texture.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix together your powdered sugar, oil, yogurt, and strawberries, and mix until combined and creamy. Gently fold through your dry mixture, and mix until just combined.
- Distribute the cake batter amongst the two cake pans. Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer comes out just clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans completely. Once cool, remove from the pans and frost, if desired.
Hi your cake look good but is it truly moist. I want to make it but I want a batter for three layer 9 inch cake pans. Could you please tell me the exact amount of ingredients that I should use please?
I want to make it for some one who lost a family member and she’s a vegan.
Made this cake for my daughter’s birthday. It turned out so good! Some alterations I made were using organic yogurt instead of vegan yogurt (so it was almost vegan), and I ground the dehydrated strawberries and added vanilla for the icing. Superb!! I should have doubled the cake recipe for either two taller layers or for a total of four short layers. Next time…
I made this cake today. It didn’t come out the way I expected. I used gluten-free flour, olive oil and half a cup of the powdered sugar. It came out really gooey. Maybe next time it’ll come out better.
This was delicious! I made the cream cheese icing with freeze dried strawberries (ground into powder). Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Can this be converted to cupcakes with gluten free flour?
The cake was scrumptious 😋😋😋
Thank you for the recipe🙏🏻😊
the best strawberry cake recipe I’ve ever made.
Hi,
Do you think this would work as cupcakes ?
Wondering if the bake time would be the same.
Thanks for the recipe !
I don’t see why not- you’ll need to reduce the baking time to around 15-20 minutes.
Made this cake for my friend since she’s lactose intolerant. I didn’t get to try the cake (I usually do) because I only had enough batter for the cake. She said it was delicious so definitely saving this for next time! Thank you!
Hello,
I am wondering if spelt flour will give the same effect?
Haven’t tried- feel free to experiment and see!
Very clever recipe. I made the gluten free version along with your cream cheese frosting. It really is yummy!
Hi! I made this recipe a couple months ago and fell in love. Would love to get your opinion on making this chocolate/orange. Not sure which part to make cake and which to make frosting lol. Is this possible?
I have a chocolate orange cake that uses similar ingredients 🙂
I made this cake for 2 groups with a vegan buttercream frosting and everyone LOVED it. My mom said it’s the best cake she’s ever had! Delicious. I can’t wait to make it again!
Love this recipe! Sponge turned out moist and held shape well as a sandwich. I wanted a non dairy cream filling rather than buttercream and so experimented with vegan ice cream as other vegan double creams had no substance. The ice cream worked perfectly, frozen in 2 same size discs and added on construction inbetween 3 layers of sponge. Cuts beautifully and re freezes!
Has anyone ever tried this with King Arthur Keto Wheat flour?
To follow up on my previous question; I see that you have already answered to others…..sorry to bother and not have read ALL the comments before me first!!😊
Sheri: I am interested in what your “easy fix” was in making this Could you share what that was?
Hello,
I made the recipe with GF flour (King Arthur) and followed the directions entirely. The cake does not rise during baking for GF as the regular flour does. Easy fix! I made another batch and now have a beautiful four-layer cake instead of two. Delicious! Also, the cream cheese frosting tastes lovely! Thank you!
OOoooh, thanks for that tip, Dawn! I’m going to try it that way too. Arman, thank you for this awesome recipe. It’s my and my daughter’s favorite flavor cake.
You are so welcome, Lisa!
For more intense strawberry flavor – I added 1 cup freeze dried strawberries (that I ground into powder in a food processor) – yum!
Do you think this would turn out if I used applesauce in place of the oil?
Haven’t tried!
i loved that this recipe is do easy peasy. any replacement for vegan yogurt though ?
Traditional yogurt works!
I’m trying this recipe later this week and just wanted to double check that the 1 cup of strawberries blended and pureed is measured at a cup of whole strawberries, and then blended and pureed, rather than a cup of the puree. Thanks for any help1
Yes that is correct 🙂 One cup pre-blended!
I’ve tried the recipe with regular yogurt, gluten free, and added strawberry extract; halved recipe which fit in my silicone 6in pan. Yet I feel like it needed more strawberry taste…Do I measure strawberries before pureed or puree then measure the puree. I measured strawberries first btw.
I was wondering if I can use regular yogurt…or does it have to be non dairy?
You sure can!
Best vegan strawberry cake recipe!
I made this recipe in combination with the strawberry buttercream frosting and it is SPECTACULAR. Some familial reviews were “this is bakery quality” and that it’s better than our favorite vegan restaurant’s dessert!! High praise!
Love it!!! xx
This cake was amazing, I made two batches bc I needed a big cake and a smash cake and everyone LOVED it. I highly recommend. Super easy to make and delicious!
Delicious and lovely texture! I made cupcakes with this and baked them 14-16 minutes. Changed the butter for shortening in the frosting which made it stiffer for piping.
I have a question. Do you want a cup full of strawberries that you then blend, or do you want me to blend as many strawberries as it takes to get to one cup of purée?
Mine came out great! One of the best vegan cakes I ever made. I subbed 1 Tb cornstarch for 1 Tb of the flour so cake would not be dense. For vegan yogurt, I put 1 TB ACV in a measuring cup & added Silk Original Soy Milk to equal 1/2 cup. For frosting I beat 8 oz Tofutti Cream Cheese (1/2 tub) with 2 Tb Earth Balance til creamy, then added 2 cups sifted powdered sugar. My frosting was soft & not overly sweet & I frosted the cake in the pan (8×12″). If I made a layer cake, I would have added another cup powdered sugar. 🙂
Hi Arman, Is it 1 Cup of strawberries (and then blended) or is it on cup of blended strawberries? Thanks and warm regards, Alex
1 cup blended 🙂
Can I use seedless strawberry preserves/jam to replace the strawberries? And how much?
Haven’t tried, feel free to experiment and see!
Arman,
What is the best way to measure the strawberries? Is the measurement a cup of strawberry puree?
Thanks,
Puree 🙂
Hey Arman,
You actually typed “shiow stopping dessert” near the beginning of this recipe, so I wanted to point that out. 🙂
This recipe was so easy and delicious! The recipe as stated above is only for one layer though. Double it for a normal two layer cake. I also used the suggested cream cheese frosting recipe which was perfect! Everyone loved it!
Can I replace the yogurt with coconut cream?
oooh… it looks like summer. Must try!
Penny,
For future reference, when baking gluten free, you need to use a cup for cup or all purpose blend (whether homemade or store bought) that either includes a binding agent like xanthan gum or guar gum (unless you add your own). Xanthan gum and the like takes the place of the gluten and is needed to give your cake structure. Using just almond flour isn’t going to be a good substitute for wheat flour and will not give you the texture you want out of a cake. You need a blend of flours to do that. King arthur, bob’s red mill, and even pillsbury make all purpose blends, and there are a variety of recipes online for homemade blends as well if you are so inclined.
I can’t speak to this particular recipe, because I haven’t tried it, but I have made many cakes using different 1-1/all purpose mixes and they’ve always come out well and nearly indistinguishable from gluten containing cakes. I hope this helps!
Hi. Can wheat flour be used as a substitute for all purpose flour?
Of course 🙂
This recipe is so great! I’m not vegan but I’m a cake baker and I often turn to vegan cakes for their ease and my often lack of eggs. Truly the easiest and most delicious strawberry cake I’ve ever had. I used strawberry yogurt instead of vanilla for more strawberry flavor. I also put strawberry jam in between the layers and then the cream cheese frosting on the outside. I brought it to a party and everyone loved it! Your recipes are great. Love the vegan chocolate as well.
Do you use sweetened yogurt or unsweetened?
Either works.
I’ve made this recipe 3 times and it came out flat and goopy all three times. I made two other vegan gluten free recipes today as well and non of them came out either. What can you tell me to get a fully risen cake? I used almond flour and all the other correct ingredients.
Penny, this recipe doesn’t include almond flour. They have only been tested as written. If you used almond flour, then I am not surprised they have not turned out for you.