Small-batch Vegan Strawberry Cake
This cute small-batch vegan strawberry cake is perfect for smaller gatherings and serves 4 to 6 people. It’s topped with a luscious strawberry frosting and filled with berry jam. This recipe has been adapted from my popular larger strawberry cake recipe!
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Strawberries, fresh or frozen. I’ve tested both varieties and they work equally as well! Make sure you use ripe and sweet strawberries as it’s the main flavor of your cake.
Sugar to sweeten the cake and bring out the flavor of the strawberries! This cake doesn’t use as much sugar as other layer cakes as the strawberries add a lot of natural sweetness.
Pink food coloring for a little extra pink color. When the cake is made with only fresh strawberries, it’s a dull pink color. Pink food coloring provides more consistent results than using beetroot powder or strawberry powder, as the latter two are more likely to brown in the oven.
If you want to make your own strawberry jam filling, you’ll also need cornstarch. And if you want to decorate the cake with my strawberry frosting, you’ll also need vegan butter and powdered sugar.
Prepare the cake batter
First, puree the strawberries in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add all your dry ingredients and mix until combined. Make sure you mix the ingredients very well so the baking powder is evenly dispersed… we don’t want any bitter pockets in our cake :).
Add the strawberry puree, and the rest of the wet ingredients then mix until just combined. It’s okay if there are some small lumps in your batter, as long as they aren’t dry lumps of flour! Overmixing the cake batter results in a dry and bread-like cake. No, thank you!
I used just under 1/8 teaspoon of pink gel food coloring and added it with the wet ingredients. This is about the same as 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of liquid food coloring. Keep in mind that the color will darken in the oven!
Baking the cake
The cakes take about 20-23 minutes to bake in a preheated oven. When you insert a toothpick in the middle, it should come out clean.
If you own cake strips, I recommend using them for this vegan strawberry cake. Cake strips prevent some browning on the edges of the cake, and minimize domes from forming on top. Don’t worry – if you don’t have cake strips, these cakes will still bake beautifully!
Decorating the cake
I decorated my strawberry cake with strawberry frosting which is naturally colored and flavored with strawberries. If you want some vanilla frosting for your cake (like below), beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together according to the recipe. Remove a little of the plain frosting, then mix in the strawberry puree or freeze-dried strawberries for your strawberry frosting.
I also filled my cake with raspberry jam and decorated it with fresh strawberries, and freeze-dried raspberries. Feel free to decorate your cake as you wish! It will also be delicious with:
- strawberry cream cheese frosting, or
- chocolate ganache and shavings, or
- vanilla buttercream, or
- lemon buttercream
Customizing this recipe
I recommend using my gluten-free strawberry cake and baking it in 2 x 6-inch cake pans.
This cake doesn’t work well with all-purpose gluten-free flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour as they result in overly dense and doughy cakes.
More vegan strawberry recipes
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Small-batch Vegan Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Puree
- ~2 cups (240g) fresh or frozen strawberries, room temperature and measured without stems
Dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled (note 1)
- ⅔ cup (135g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients
- ¼ cup (65g) neutral flavored oil
- 2 tablespoons (30g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ scant teaspoon pink gel food coloring, or around 1/2 scant teaspoon of liquid food coloring
To decorate (or see note 2 for alternatives)
- 1 batch Vegan Strawberry Frosting
- ⅓ cup (110g) strawberry or raspberry preserves, thick not runny (optional, see 3 for homemade quick jam)
- fresh strawberries, or other fresh berries
Instructions
Prepare the fresh strawberry puree:
- Add the strawberries to a food processor or blender. Blend until there are no more chunks. Set aside.
Make the strawberry cake:
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line 2 x 6 inch (15 cm) round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry cake ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir well. Add the strawberry puree and wet cake ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful to not overmix the batter. Lumps in the cake batter are fine, as long as there aren't pockets of flour.
- Divide the batter between your 2 cake pans and smooth the surface.
- Bake the cakes for around 20-23 minutes. They're ready when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for around 10 minutes then remove them to cool on a wire rack.
To assemble the cake:
- When the cakes have completely cooled, slice off the dome of both cakes. Place on a serving plate.
- Spread or pipe around 3/4 cup of frosting on the cake. If you're filling your cake with fruit preserves, create a dam of frosting and spoon the preserves in the middle. Place the remaining cake on top.
- Spread or pipe the remaining frosting around the cake. Garnish with fresh strawberries or as desired.
- Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature until serving. Store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. Make sure you let the cake come to room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.
Notes
- Please measure your flour properly using the spoon and level method, otherwise your cake will be dry and dense. Fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add it to a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Do not use the measuring cup to scoop flour out of the container as this will add too much flour to the batter. For the best results, use the gram measurements and an electric kitchen scale.
- Alternatively, you can decorate the cake with my strawberry cream cheese frosting or lemon buttercream. You may have a little frosting left over.
- To make your own quick jam, add 3/4 cup (95g) fresh or frozen strawberries/raspberries, 1 1/2 tablespoons (25g) sugar, 1 tablespoon (8g) cornstarch and a dash of water to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes while mashing the berries. Add more water for a thinner jam or cook longer for a thicker jam. Set aside where it’ll thicken further. When it’s cooled completely, use it in the cake.
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I love that you don’t need strawberry reduction, extract, or freeze-dried strawberries. I usually only have fresh or frozen so the recipe worked for me. Also liked how easy it is to make.
Hi Nat, I’m so glad you found this recipe approachable and easy to make! Thank you so much for your feedback, I appreciate it a lot 🙂
Hi there,
Looks delicious and I’m looking forward to making for my daughter’s birthday this weekend – what would you recommend as a neutral flavoured oil for this recipe please?
Thank you!
Hi Roz, I’m sorry for the late reply (I’m currently on maternity leave). For the oil, it depends on your personal preferences, but avocado oil or something like sunflower oil will also work. Hope that helps!
Hi!
I recently made this cake but was unsure of how to measure the strawberries until I just now read that someone else has that same question. I ended up cutting the strawberries to make up for the 2 cups. Unfortunately, my cake did not look as fluffy as yours does. Is this a possibility of why my cake did not turn out that way? I did follow everything else as said—so now I’m thinking that it was the strawberries, but want to double check!
Thank you in advance!! And hope to try to make it the right way next time!
Hi Jacky, I’m sorry your cake didn’t turn out! Adding too many strawberries can definitely weigh down the cake. As with most baking recipes, it’s really best to use the gram measurements as strawberries can vary so much in size and will fill a cup differently every time. A denser texture can also happen if the batter is overmixed, as the baking powder reacts quickly with the strawberry puree, so it’s important to preserve those air bubbles. It can also happen if your oven runs a bit cool. I hope that helps!
Hi Anthea, It was by sheer luck that I came across your treasure trove of vegan recipes. I’m an amateur baker & I tried your Strawberry cake recipe by replacing all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. The cake came out so very delicious! I used beet juice for the pink color and i threw in a handful of chopped fresh strawberries to the batter. My God, the cake tasted awesome!! A successful first try i must say.
Thank you for the simple recipes …
Hi Priya, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake and found it approachable to make! It’s great that the recipe worked with a couple of your adjustments too. Thanks so much for your support and for your lovely feedback!
hello, what’s is the recipe for the frosting ? kind regards
Hi, the strawberry frosting recipe is linked pretty much where ever you see the text ‘strawberry frosting‘ in the post. Just tap on the underlined text!
Very moist and delicious!
That’s great to hear! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Can I make this in a 13×9 pan?
If so what would the cook time be?
Hi Christine, I would actually make my larger strawberry cake in a 13×9 pan (that recipe is better for bigger batches). I haven’t tested it but it would probably take an extra 5 minutes to bake. Hope that helps!
Hi!
So I love the texture of the cake but it turned out waaayyyyy too sweet for me. How can I adjust the sweetness without affecting the texture too much?
Thanks!
Hi Roza, glad you enjoyed the texture! Reducing the sugar even a little will make the cake more dense and dry, so you may need to experiment to find a balance that suits you. If you make sure you add the salt and ACV, or increase the salt to 1/4 tsp or 1/2 tsp, it’ll balance out the sweetness. Hope that helps!
I’ve made this cake recipe 3 different times now (once gluten-free) as well as the strawberry cupcakes multiple times, and they’ve turned out great every time. I also got lots of compliments from family, friends, and coworkers who tried the cakes – this recipe is a hit! When I made it gluten-free, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour, and it turned out really well. The only thing I’d say that didn’t work out quite as well for me each time as it did for the author/creator is that my cakes were not as vibrant pink, even following the recipe for the correct amount of food coloring. But that is a small thing compared to the successes of this recipe. It’s also quite easy to make!
Hi Erin, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake and my cupcakes too! It’s great to know that this recipe works with BRM’s flour, as I know it can be a hit and miss. With the color, I find it hugely depends on the brand of food coloring that you use, as not all brands have the same intensity and some brands don’t ‘stick’ after baking. Hope that helps and thanks so much for your feedback!
Can you use 1-1 gluten free flour?
Hi Dawn, I haven’t tested this exact recipe with gluten-free flour but this recipe is similar to my other strawberry recipes that work with King Arthur’s measure for measure flour. The texture is more ‘spongey’ than the original, which may or may not be to your tastes. From experience, other gluten-free flours don’t work as well and make the cake quite chewy. Hope that helps!
Another favorite! Made this last night, and it’s absolute perfection! You’ve nailed it once again. Thank you!
Hi Lolly, aw that’s wonderful!! I’m soo happy that you loved this cake ❤️. Thanks so much for letting me know and for your ongoing support!
A fantastic small batch of cake. I have just made this for my daughter’s birthday who wanted to have small pink cake. It has turned out perfectly and it was great surprise for her. Thank you for your recipe 🔥
Hi Orsi, I’m thrilled you loved this cake and honoured that you chose to make it for your daughter’s birthday! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback ❤️
Hi there! Thank you for creating a website where it is filled to the brim with vegan recipes. I am not vegan but I am allergic to dairy. I love vegan recipes for this very reason! I can still enjoy my favorite things with a slight twist. Especially when they are desserts! So thank you for doing what you’re doing! I appreciate you 🙏❤️✨️
Would it be alright to mix freeze dried strawberries to the dry mix to enhance the strawberry flavor? Would it change the recipe too much? Thanks!
Hi Yena, I’m so glad you find my website useful and that the recipes suit your dairy allergy! Thanks so much for your support!
With this cake, I haven’t tried it but I imagine it’d work fine if you add an extra dash of milk. Freeze-dried strawberries will absorb some liquid and might dry out the cake a little. Hope that helps!
If I use frozen strawberries, do I need to defrost them first?
Hi Em, yes you do! Room temperature strawberries are best for this recipe.
When measuring strawberries are they chopped or whole?
I measured the strawberries whole. For the best results, it’s best to use a kitchen scale and the grams measurements as the size/shape of your strawberries will affect how a cup measures the strawberries.