This double strawberry vegan cake is deliciously sweet, moist, and dripping with a strawberry glaze.
Sometimes you want a strawberry vegan cake, and sometimes you want a double strawberry vegan cake. Because is it really a strawberry cake if the cake and the frosting aren’t deliciously strawberry flavored?
Back in high school I went to a vegan bakery in Atlanta and had the best slice of cake in my life. Nothing has topped it since. Almond lemon something – all I know is it was as moist and dense as could be, which is all I ever wanted out of a dessert.
The bakery has since closed, but ever since I’ve been trying to find a cake that blows me away like that one did.
I think that slice of cake is why I prefer to make vegan cakes over non-vegan. I like baking vegan because it opens up a whole new world of possibilities and combinations. And it’s a fun challenge to experiment with food and see how much I can manipulate a recipe without ruining it.
And so we arrive at modern day: Double Strawberry Vegan Cake. It’s as simple as basic cake ingredients and 1 cup of strawberry puree. But it’s so. good. And it’s so close to the cake of my dreams.
I woke up this morning and knew that I wanted a double strawberry vegan cake, because it felt like spring out and what’s more spring than strawberries? It may be January, but 60 degrees and a blue sky goes a long way in Portland.
Here’s what I want in a strawberry cake: it tastes like strawberries and it’s as pink as can be.
So I spent the morning browsing through dozens of strawberry cake recipes. Many of them either call for white cake mix (didn’t have that) or gelatin (don’t want to have that).
I finally gave up and just decided to do some good ole’ fashioned recipe developing. I hopped in to the kitchen and hoped that my food science skills would carry me on through.
And they did!
I’m so happy with the way this vegan strawberry cake turned out. I’ll admit that I’m usually a bit too eager and don’t wait for cake to cool completely before frosting. Thankfully, this frosting works wonderfully as a glaze. If you’re like me and you’re impatient, get creative! Pour the frosting on the cake bit by bit and let it drip down the sides. You’ll probably end up with a pool of frosting, but that’s part of the fun.
If you’re a bit more into a “finished product” look, just wait until your cake cools and then frost. But then the glaze won’t be nearly as fun 😉
Mmm strawberry frosting. What’s better, the cake or the frosting? I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself.
This vegan cake is dense, moist, and full of fresh strawberry flavor. The strawberry glaze is a light and fun alternative to traditional frostings.
- 1.5 cups pureed strawberries*
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- 3/4 cup canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 flax eggs (1 egg: 1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water)
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons pureed strawberries
- 2 tbsp non-dairy butter
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease two 9" cake pans with cooking spray.
Use handheld or stand mixer to cream together butter, oil, and sugar until well combined. Mix in egg replacer on low.
Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt). Set aside.
Combine strawberry puree, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on low, slowly pour in ½ cup of strawberry mixture. Once combined, mix in ½ cup dry ingredients mixture. Alternate wet and dry mixtures until evenly combined.
Evenly divide cake batter into two well greased caked pans. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let rest in pans for ten minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack.
Mix together butter and powdered sugar as much as possible. When the mixture is too thick to stir, add in strawberry puree, one tablespoon at a time. Mix until frosting is spreadable, but not too runny.
Add in 1-2 tbsp strawberry puree, mixing continuously, until frosting reaches desired consistency. If the mixture gets too thin and runny, add in 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar.
For a glaze with the "drip" style, let cool for 30 minutes before frosting. The cake will be cool to the touch, but still warm inside. If you prefer a solid frosting, wait until the cake has cooled completely to frost.
*Puree strawberries (stems removed) in a blender or food processor until smooth, even consistency.
