Easy vegan strawberry cake packed with fresh strawberries and lots of flavor! This eggless cake uses just 7 key ingredients (plus the frosting) and can be prepared in 1 bowl.
This cake is the perfect Valentine's Day dessert just like my vegan strawberry cupcakes! It has been adapted from my very tried and tested vegan mango cake.
Why you'll love this cake
DIFFICULTY RATING: This from-scratch strawberry cake is easy to make! All you need to do is blend the strawberries, mix the dry and wet ingredients in one bowl then bake.
FLAVOR: Incredible strawberry flavor using 4 cups of REAL strawberries! You don't have to use strawberry extract or flavoring!
TEXTURE: Fluffy and not dense! Some strawberry cakes are stodgy due to too much liquid. However, I added extra baking agents and minimized the amount of liquid so you get a light and fluffy cake. This cake stays moist for days!
Simple ingredients to make this cake
Even though this cake is eggless and dairy-free, you'll only need a few basic pantry ingredients to make this cake.
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredient notes
Strawberries, either fresh or frozen. I tested both types and there was no big difference. If possible, choose strawberries that are already sweet and vibrant as this will be noticeable in your final cake. Strawberry puree acts similarly to applesauce and is a wonderful egg replacer!
Dairy-free milk. This recipe uses less milk than other vegan cakes because we have so much moisture from the strawberry puree. That means we don't have to fuss around making a strawberry reduction.
Oil helps the cake stay moist and fluffy, compared to butter which can make a cake feel dry if it's not at room temperature.
Baking powder and soda. We're using double baking agents to counteract the high amount of fruit, which tends to weigh down a cake!
Beetroot powder or pink/red food coloring (optional). Without the powder or food coloring, the cake is a dull and pale pink color.
Brands of beetroot powder vary a lot. When baking with beetroot powder, your cake batter might be a vibrant pink color but the baked cakes will be anywhere from vibrant pink to orange/brown. Alternatively, pink/red food coloring provides more consistent results where the batter is almost the same color as the baked cakes.
Making the strawberry puree
If you're using frozen strawberries, allow them to fully defrost.
Then simply add all the strawberries to a food processor or blender and blend until it forms a puree and there aren't any more chunks!
Preparing the strawberry cake batter
First, I'd recommend making the cake batter in a large bowl rather than using a stand mixer. This reduces the chance of over-mixing the batter!
In a large mixing bowl, add all your dry ingredients and mix until combined. If you're using beetroot powder, mix it in as well.
Then add all your wet ingredients (including food coloring, if using) to the flour mixture. Mix the batter until just combined! Some lumps in the batter are fine but make sure your mixture has no pockets of flour.
The final mixture should be quite thick. This helps create a fluffier vegan strawberry cake without dense spots! A runnier batter results in a stodgy cake.
Baking the cake
This vegan strawberry cake bakes in around 30 minutes, depending on how hot/cool your oven runs.
The cake layers are ready when you insert a skewer in the middle and it completely comes out clean. The cakes are very moist so we need to make sure they are completely baked through!
If you used beetroot powder, the cakes may darken after baking - this is normal! The surface of the cake is normally darker so don't stress. The middle of the cake is lighter in color!
Decoration tips
I frosted this vegan strawberry cake with vegan strawberry buttercream, but you can also use:
- Vegan strawberry cream cheese frosting or vanilla cream cheese frosting
- Whipped dairy-free cream only if you're making one layer of the cake. Whipped cream will not hold between layers of cake.
- Drips of chocolate ganache
And you can top the cake with:
- Fresh or freeze-dried strawberries, or any fruit!
- Strawberry jam
- Chocolate shavings or shards
- Vegan strawberry cookies
You can even make this strawberry cake into a heart-shaped cake!
Customizing the cake recipe
I recommend checking out my vegan gluten-free strawberry cake which uses only 6 ingredients! It's easy to make and stays moist for days.
I tried baking the below recipe with 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour and a combination of different gluten-free flours. However, I had to completely change the ingredient quantities to make it work. Even still, the gluten-free cake was often too dry or dense or could only be eaten on the day it was baked.
Coconut sugar is darker than granulated sugar so will turn the cake brown! It also has more moisture than regular sugar so I recommend using a scale to weigh the ingredients so your cake doesn't have too much moisture.
I don't recommend beetroot juice. The amount of juice/liquid you'll need to add to color the cake is enough to completely change the cake's texture (it'll be dense and might not bake through).
Whilst pink pitaya powder is a lovely color, I haven't had great success baking with it. For me, the color completely faded and it gave the cake a slightly rancid taste and smell.
Other vegan strawberry desserts
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Vegan Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Puree
- ~4 cups (480g) fresh or frozen strawberries, weighed without stems
Dry cake ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons beetroot powder, and/or 1-3 drops of pink/red food coloring (add with wet ingredients), to color (note 2)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
Wet cake ingredients
- ⅓ cup (85g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
To decorate (or as desired, note 2 for suggestions)
- 1 - 1 ½ batches Vegan Strawberry Frosting, OR
- 1 batch Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (120g) fresh strawberries, or other fresh berries
Instructions
- Note: For the best results, I recommend using grams to measure the ingredients, especially the flour and strawberries. Alternatively, use the spoon and level method to measure the flour. Use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Do not use the measuring cup to scoop flour out of your container as too much flour will result in a dense cake.
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 the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line 2 x 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry cake ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add the strawberry puree and wet cake ingredients (with food coloring if using) to the bowl and fold 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 and pour the cake batter between your 2 cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for around 25-30 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 one cake. Place that cake on a serving plate.
- If you chilled your frosting, stir it a few times to make sure it’s smooth and soft. Spread or pipe around 1 cup of frosting on the cake and place the remaining cake on top.
- Spread or pipe the remaining frosting on top. Garnish with fresh strawberries or as desired.
- Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge until serving. Allow the cake to come to room temperature 30 minutes - 1 hour before serving. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer (without fresh strawberries) for 1 month.
Notes
- I haven't had much success substituting the all-purpose flour with 1:1 gluten free flour blends or a combination of gluten free flours without completely changing the recipe. Instead, I'd recommend my 6 ingredient gluten free strawberry cake which is super easy to make!
- For the most consistent and reliable results, I'd recommend pink/red food coloring. When using food dye, the color of your cake batter will be similar to the color of the baked cake. Alternatively, beetroot powder doesn't always bake well (this depends on the brand and how old is the powder). Cake batter that is colored with beetroot powder may be a lovely pink but the baked cake could be anywhere from vibrant pink to orange/brown in color.
Nutrition
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Andrea says
I have made this cake twice now. It is so good! Even my picky omnivore mother loved it!
Alena says
Very delicious light and fluffy vegan cake ever!! Loved every bite of it! It literally melts in your mouth that is how moist it turned out. Very easy and simple recipe to follow! Will most definitely be making this cake again
Dakota says
Have made this cake many times now and it’s one of our go-tos! I was wondering if you’ve ever tried using frozen blueberries in place of frozen strawberries, to make a blueberry cake?
And if I wanted no added sugar, just sweetness from the berries, or reduced sugar to 3/4 or 1/2 cup, how would you recommend altering the other ingredients? Thanks!
Anthea says
Hi Dakota, I'm glad that this recipe is a keeper for you! I haven't tested this recipe with blueberries, but I think it would work similarly. With reducing or removing the sugar, it's a little more tricky as sugar doesn't only make the cake sweet, but adds moisture and helps it rise a little more. It would also make the baking powder taste more noticeable. Would you be able to try a granulated sugar replacer? Alternatively, you could reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and just add an extra dash of milk to make up for the reduced moisture. I hope that helps!
Mónica says
Es delicioso, con un gran sabor a fresa pero Anthea, no sé que hago mal, hice la receta 8 veces en un fin de semana (me obsesioné, lo admito), usé en algunas fresas frescas, en otras congeladas, en alguna remolacha, en otra colorante rosa, en el último ningún colorante y de todos modos sale negro el pan.
Incluso en una usé jugo de limón, en otra el vinagre de manzana, en otra vinagre blanco, se me acabaron las ideas. Usé diferentes marcas de fresas por si en una de esas, ese era el problema.
Sin embargo, el pan vegano de fresas y gluten free sale de un rosa magnífico.
Mucho agradeceré tus recomendaciones o consejos.
Saludos desde México.
Mony.
Marisa Lother says
BEST STRAWBERRY CAKE EVER
i’m so glad i found this recipe!! i was looking for a good easy strawberry cake recipe with healthier ingredients to make last minute and this one took the cake (literally!) i made it into cupcakes and used avocado oil and milk kefir and it’s INCREDIBLE. best part is it comes together in under 10 mins and no beating required!