Vegan Strawberry Cake Recipe

The best Vegan Strawberry Cake Recipe ever celebrates deliciousness! Fresh Strawberry Cake From Scratch boasts tender, delicate strawberries in every bite. You’ll love the rich, dense and oh-so-delicious moist cake too. This Vegan Cake is topped with a vegan strawberry frosting recipe also made with fresh strawberries. More proof that you can be vegan and have your pink strawberry cakes too!

If you love vegan cakes as much as I do, this vegan coconut cake should be on your list too!

My mom makes the best strawberry cake recipes. When I became vegetarian (and then later vegan) I regretted not being able to eat that pretty cake anymore.

However, I’ve fine-tuned this recipe over the years and am pleased to present you the best dairy free strawberry cake recipe!

There isn’t a better flavor in the world than strawberry so making that the hero ingredient of a vegan cake is simply divine. I like to have some fresh strawberries as a topping with my cake.

However, there’s nothing like the flavor in this homemade strawberry cake!

I used fresh strawberries to make this beautiful vegetarian strawberry cake recipe even more delicious. I love this tip from Bon Appétit on how to cut fresh strawberries without wasting any fruit.

Wouldn’t this make an amazing vegan strawberry birthday cake recipe? So festive…especially with sprinkles!

Key Ingredients

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time!

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need for this homemade strawberry cake:

flour (a simple all-purpose flour works great)

sugar

fresh strawberries

vegetable oil

strawberry extract (substitute vanilla if you can’t find strawberry)

apple cider vinegar

I used some food coloring to make this fresh strawberry cake with a slight pink hue to it. You can find natural food coloring or you can add a teaspoon or two of my favorite beet puree. It adds color to vegan recipes!

How to Make Vegan Strawberry Cake

It’s easy to make this recipe for strawberry cake. Beyond the strawberry reduction, this sponge cake is pretty easy to prepare. You want your strawberry cake to deliver a moist, sweet cake with lots of fresh strawberries flavor in every bite.

Here’s the quick guide to this recipe:

Strawberry Reduction — we’ll take a pound of fresh strawberries and cook it down to 1/2 cup for an intense strawberry flavor.

— we’ll take a pound of fresh strawberries and cook it down to 1/2 cup for an intense strawberry flavor. Mix Dry Ingredients — whisk together four, baking soda, sugar, and salt

— whisk together four, baking soda, sugar, and salt Combine Wet Ingredients — combine water, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, extract, and the strawberry reduction

— combine water, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, extract, and the strawberry reduction Make the batter — pour the strawberry mixture in with the dry flour ingredients and stir until you don’t see any clumps of flour in the batter.

— pour the strawberry mixture in with the dry flour ingredients and stir until you don’t see any clumps of flour in the batter. Pour and Bake — Pour the batter into prepared pans (or pan) and bake.

Strawberry Reduction

To make the strawberry reduction, wash the fresh strawberries and cut off the the ends. Then pulse the strawberries in a food processor. Then add the strawberry puree to a saucepan and cook it down until it’s reduced to about a half cup.

Fresh strawberries are an important ingredient for this cake.

Mix Dry Ingredients

You can leave your mixer on the counter — you won’t need it for this recipe. Simply mix together the dry ingredients, like flour, baking soda, and salt. Use a whisk to combine these ingredients.

Marly’s Tips When measuring flour, be sure to use a whisk to stir the flour in the canister, before measuring it because it often packs down as it sits. Then lightly spoon the flour into a measuring cup. Use the flat edge of a butter knife to level off the flour in the cup.

Mix Wet Ingredients

Combine the wet ingredients, like vegetable oil, water, extract, and vinegar. If you’re going to use food coloring, add that here. Stir this all together and then add your strawberry reduction. You may need a spatula to help break up the bigger pieces.

Strawberry Cake Batter

Pour the strawberry mixture in with the flour mixture and stir. You’ll want to stir it until the clumps of flour are mostly gone.

Pour that batter into your prepared pans and now you’re ready to bake!

Baking Options

Here are three baking options for your vegan strawberry cake:

Sheet Cake : Pour the batter into a 9X13 cake pan — bake for 45 – 50 minutes

: Pour the batter into a 9X13 cake pan — bake for 45 – 50 minutes Strawberry Layer Cake — pour the batter into 9″ round cake pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes

— pour the batter into 9″ round cake pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes Strawberry Cupcakes — pour the batter into muffin pan compartments lined with papers and bake for 18 – 24 minutes.

Vegan Strawberry Frosting

It’s easy to prepare the vegan strawberry icing. I like to begin by whipping the vegan butter with a mixer until it’s fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

Finally, add a freshly mashed strawberry to the frosting. Mix on medium speed and you should have a delightful frosting to spread across your cake! If it’s not spreadable, simply mash another strawberry and mix on medium speed until it’s combined.

I love adding some chopped dried strawberries to my frosting. It adds more strawberry flavor to the frosting which I love!

Can I make this cake gluten free?

You can make this into a gluten free strawberry cake by using gluten free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour in this recipe.

What Does a Vegan Cake Mean? A vegan cake is made without animal products, including cow’s milk and eggs. If you’ve only baked cakes with these products in the past, it may seem impossible to make a delicious cake without them. However, it’s not only possible, it’s actually easy too!

More About Vegan Cake

The thing about making a vegan cake is finding the right balance of ingredients. I’ve studied vegan desserts and tested it a lot and have developed a winning formula that involves the right balance between flour, sugar, fat, and liquids.

The perfect vegan cake requires a thick batter, which is why I call for 3 cups of all-purpose flour. Using water, sugar, and flour in the quantities in this vegan strawberry cake recipe results in a perfectly tender cake with a moist crumb.

How to Tell When Vegan Cake is Done

I look for three clues to let me know when my cake is done, meaning the crumb has set:

Use a tester to insert in the middle of the cake, it should come out clean

You can gently press the center of the cake and it should spring back

The edges of the cake pull away from the pan slightly

These cues indicate the cake is done. If not, you’ll want to bake it for a few more minutes.

Vegan Strawberry Recipes

If you’ve made it this far, it’s proof you’re a fan of the pretty strawberry cake! If so, be sure to check out these amazing strawberry vegan dessert recipes:

And if you’re into moist vegan cake recipes, everyone loves my Vegan Banana Cake!

The strawberry reduction in this recipe was inspired by the strawberry cake from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

We hope you love this recipe for the Strawberry Vegan Cake made with Fresh Strawberries. If you decide to make this recipe, snap a photo and share it using #namelymarly on Instagram. We love seeing your photos!

Vegan Strawberry Cake If you need a reason to celebrate, this Vegan Strawberry Cake will help. Lots of strawberry goodness in a rich, dense cake! 5 from 6 votes Print Pin Prep Time: 40 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Resting Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes Servings: 16 Calories: 391 kcal Author: Namely Marly Ingredients 1 pound fresh strawberries

3 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups water

⅔ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons strawberry extract

3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 drops natural food coloring (pink or red) Strawberry Frosting: ½ cup vegan butter , softened

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon strawberry extract

2-3 strawberries , stems removed, chopped and mashed

½ cup dried strawberries (optional) Instructions Preheat oven to 350°F. If using 9X13 baking pan, grease and flour the bottom and sides of the pan. If using two 9-inch cake pans, grease bottoms and sides of pan and cut rounds out of parchment paper to place in the bottom of the pans. Then grease the parchment too.

Prepare Strawberry Reduction: Wash strawberries and cut off the stems. Place them in a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the strawberries are broken down in a thick slurry, with some strawberry chunks. Pour this into a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers. Turn heat down to low and cook for 30 – 40 minutes, until this mixture reduces to approximately 1/2 cup. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the water, vegetable oil, extract, apple cider vinegar, cooled strawberry mixture, and natural food coloring (if using). Stir to combine. You might need to mash the strawberry reduction to get it to separate a bit.

Add the strawberry mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until there are no visible clumps of flour in the batter.

Pour the cake batter in the prepared pan(s). For the 9X13 pan, bake for 45-50 minutes. For the two round cake pans, bake for 30 – 35 minutes. A tester inserted in the middle of the cake should come out mostly clean and the edges of the cake should pull away slightly from the pan. For the Strawberry Frosting User a mixer to whip the vegan butter until light. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and mix together. The mixture will be clumpy. Add the extract and one mashed strawberry. Mix again to combine and add a second strawberry if necessary to get a spreadable consistency. You can also add a drop of red or pink food coloring if you desire more color. Add optional chopped dried strawberries for more strawberry pop.

If using a 13X9″ pan: Allow the cake to cool completely before applying a generous layer of frosting over the top.

If using round cake pans: Allow the cakes to cool about 10 minutes. Use a butter knife to score around the edge of the pan, then invert cakes onto separate plates. Set aside to cool completely. Place a layer of frosting on top of one of the cakes, top with the second cake and then do one of the following 1) add more frosting on the top (creaking a “naked” cake with frosting between the the layers and on the top), or 2) frost the top and sides of the cake.

Topping: Add freshly sliced strawberries to each serving for that special touch. Recommended Equipment Food Processor Electric Mixer Cake Pans 9×13 Casserole Dish Spatula Nutrition Facts Vegan Strawberry Cake Amount Per Serving Calories 391 Calories from Fat 126 % Daily Value* Fat 14g 22% Saturated Fat 9g 45% Sodium 258mg 11% Potassium 71mg 2% Carbohydrates 65g 22% Fiber 1g 4% Sugar 46g 51% Protein 3g 6% Vitamin A 273IU 5% Vitamin C 18mg 22% Calcium 9mg 1% Iron 1mg 6% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.