This pretty pink vegan strawberry cake is light and fluffy and topped with a gorgeous vegan strawberry buttercream frosting.
This vegan strawberry cake is a dream. Topped with a delicious strawberry buttercream frosting it’s a strawberry lovers dream come true!
It’s made with fresh strawberry purée which is just fresh strawberries puréed in the food processor. So it’s loaded with strawberry flavor.
It’s also light, fluffy and wonderfully moist.
If you love delicious vegan cakes then you’ll also love our gorgeous vegan Victoria sponge our vegan banana cake and our most amazing vegan chocolate cake too.
Ingredients You Need For The Cake:
Ingredient Notes
- Canola oil – can be replaced with vegetable oil or any neutral flavored oil. We have even made this cake with a light olive oil and it worked great.
- Distilled white vinegar – reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise. You can also use apple cider vinegar.
- Fresh strawberries – are puréed in the food processor to make strawberry purée.
- Strawberry extract – may also be called strawberry essence or strawberry flavoring, it’s the same thing and will do the job perfectly. If you can’t get hold of it, then you can replace it with vanilla extract. The strawberry purée will still provide plenty of strawberry flavor.
- Red gel food color – The strawberry purée and strawberry extract on their own give the batter a lovely light pink color, but we found that it didn’t hold when baking. So we needed to add in a little red gel food coloring to get the beautiful pink color. You can omit this if you don’t mind about the color, but as you can see the result of using the red gel food color is a nice shade of pink that holds up well through the baking process.
The Frosting
Frosting Notes
- Strawberry extract – as with the cake, if you can’t get hold of strawberry extract then simply replace it with vanilla extract.
- Strawberry purée – make a little extra purée from fresh strawberries than you need for the cake batter so that you have some left over to use in the frosting.
- Vegan butter – you can use any brand of vegan butter but a firmer option will always work best in a frosting.
How To Make Vegan Strawberry Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Prepare your strawberry purée by adding fresh strawberries (washed, stems cut off) to your food processor and puréeing until smooth. In order to get enough purée for both the cake recipe and the frosting use 10.5 ounces (300g) fresh whole strawberries.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add strawberry purée, oil, vinegar, strawberry extract and red gel food coloring to the mixing bowl and mix into a batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between three 6-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and placing them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, strawberry purée and strawberry extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until your frosting is thick and smooth. If it’s too thick, add more strawberry purée.
- When the cakes are cooled, frost with the strawberry buttercream frosting.
- When the cake is frosted, it’s ideal to let the frosted cake set up in the fridge for one hour before serving.
Recipe Tips
Measure the flour correctly. Either use the spoon and level method: spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife, don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup, or weigh it out on a food scale for complete accuracy.
Don’t over-mix the batter. Mix the batter until it’s just mixed and then stop mixing. If you over-mix the batter it will affect the texture and rise.
Bake the cakes immediately. When the cake batter is ready, transfer to your cake pans and bake them right away. Don’t let the cakes sit for any length of time before baking or it may affect the texture and rise.
Adapt for different cake pans. This cake adapts to different size cake pans as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes.
- Two 7-inch round cake pans – bake for 25 minutes.
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes (note that the cake layers are quite thin).
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30 minutes.
- One 9×9 square cake pan – bake for 25 minutes.
Recipe FAQ
If you’d like to make this cake gluten-free then use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend in the same quantity as the regular flour.
If you want to make cupcakes then check out our recipe for vegan strawberry cupcakes, the recipe is adapted from this cake.
Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week.
Yes, this cake is freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Strawberry Cake:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Strawberry Purée (232g)
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tsp Strawberry Extract
- ⅛ tsp Red Gel Food Color
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 2-3 Tbsp Strawberry Purée
- 1 tsp Strawberry Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. Set aside.
- Prepare your strawberry purée by adding fresh strawberries (washed, stems cut off) to your food processor and puréeing until smooth. In order to get enough purée for both the cake recipe and the frosting use 10.5 ounces (300g) fresh whole strawberries.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix together.
- Add strawberry purée, oil, vinegar, strawberry extract and red gel food coloring to the mixing bowl and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared 6-inch cake pans and smooth down.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and placing them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, 2 tablespoons of strawberry purée and strawberry extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until your frosting is thick and smooth. If it’s too thick, add more strawberry purée.
- When the cakes are cooled, frost with the strawberry buttercream frosting.
- When the cake is frosted, it’s ideal to let the frosted cake set in the fridge for one hour before serving.
Notes
- Measure the flour correctly. Either use the spoon and level method: spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife, don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup, or weigh it out on a food scale for complete accuracy.
- Strawberry extract – may also be called strawberry essence or strawberry flavoring, it’s the same thing and will do the job perfectly. If you can’t get hold of it, then you can replace it with vanilla extract. The strawberry purée will still provide plenty of strawberry flavor.
- Red gel food color – The strawberry purée and strawberry extract on their own give the batter a lovely light pink color, but we found that it didn’t hold when baking. So we added in a little red gel food coloring to get the beautiful pink color. You can omit this if you don’t mind about the color, but as you can see the result of using the red gel food color is a nice shade of pink that holds up well through the baking process.Don’t over-mix the batter. Mix the batter until it’s just mixed and then stop mixing. If you over-mix the batter it will affect the texture and rise.
- Adapt for different cake pans. This cake adapts to different size cake pans as follows:
- Three 6-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes.
- Two 7-inch round cake pans – bake for 25 minutes.
- Two 8-inch round cake pans – bake for 20 minutes (note that the cake layers are quite thin).
- One 9-inch round cake pan – bake for 30 minutes.
- One 9×9 square cake pan – bake for 25 minutes.
- Make It Gluten-Free: If you’d like to make this cake gluten-free then use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend in the same quantity as the regular flour.
- Storing and Freezing: Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week. It’s also is freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- This recipe was first published in January 2018. It has been updated with new photos and the recipe itself has been slightly updated and simplified.
This recipe was perfect! I used two 8inch pans and the layers didn’t end up being too thin. I also halved the amount of icing and it was still delicious. I also subbed vanilla extract for strawberry extract as I didn’t have it on hand. The natural strawberry flavour came through anyway to create a cake with just the right amount of sweetness. Will make this again!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks amazing! I’m going to make a “moon” cake for my nephews space themed party. How would I adapt the cooking time for a bowl?
No idea about cooking times for a bowl, you will just have to test it and see.
I made this cake for a birthday and got great reviews! I didn’t have extract so I left that out, along with the food coloring. Will add it to my list of fantastic recipes!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Lu!
Hi there! I really loved this cake!!!! Made both the cake and frosting. I made a three layer 6″ cake. To cut the sweetness I used dark chocolate ganache in between the layers and on top with a drip. The only problem I had is that the cake itself was a bit too crumbly. Not sure if it is because of over-mixing (I was really careful not to do so) and/or baking too long. At 20 minutes it was for sure done. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I would love to try this recipe. Is 232g the weight of the strawberries before puree or is it the weight of the puree itself? Thank you!
It’s the weight of the purée.
This recipe was fantastic! Made the cake for my daughter on Valentine’s day and it turned out incredibly moist with a very fresh strawberry taste. I have made vegan cakes before but this one exceeded my expectations. I melted some dark chocolate and drizzled that over the strawberry buttercream icing and added a few strawberry roses. If I could post a pic I would. Great vegan recipe, thank you for sharing!
That sounds amazing! Thanks so much for sharing Serrana!
Would this work in a 13×9 inch cake pan?
I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thanks!
Hi Theresa, it does work but it can come out a bit thin. Baking time would be around 15-18 minutes.
Does this recipe convert for cupcakes, and if so, how many cupcakes would a single batch likely make? My daughter wants strawberry cupcakes for her birthday in two weeks and this recipe looks delicious!
Hi Katie, it does adapt well to 12 cupcakes, baking time is around 20 minutes. You can also just check out our vegan strawberry cupcakes.
Hello, quick question! Could I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour? Would everything else proportion wise be the same?
Alison, this cake blew us away!! Baked this for the second time (exactly as per recipe) and it was so moist. One tip is to use salted butter for frosting and it does reduce the sweetness of the frosting for those like us who don’t like it too sugary! My family is shocked and surprised with the amazing natural strawberry flavor! And I do follow all your baking recipes 🙂
Thank you so much!
So happy to hear that Archana, thanks so much for the great comment and review!
This cake and icing are amazing!!! I made this purely for fun and because it looked delicious. It was so easy and it turned out so moist. If I made this for a birthday I’d double the recipe and make it four 8” layers for sure.
Thank you so much!!
So happy to hear it came out well! Thanks so much for the great rating Gina!
Beautiful cake! 😍 Is it possible to replace fresh strawberries to frozen strawberries?
Hi Dina, yes that would be fine. Let them thaw first and then purée.
Can I use a Bundt pan for this cake?
Hi Carolyn, yes you could but I’m not sure of the baking time, it would depend on the size of the pan. Just keep a watch on it for baking time.
I made this cake for a lady I work with that is vegan. I always taste test my cakes before I put them together for the icing and decorations. I have never made a vegan cake before. This cake recipe was easy and tastes amazing.
Yay! Thanks so much! 🙂
I’ve made this cake twice since in the past three months, using 3 x 6inch pans and loved it. Now a friend is asking for the same cake for her daughter\s graduation but she wants a half slab. The biggest pans I own are two 12 x 12 square pans and she is okay with this size. So I was thinking i would need to maybe multiple this recipe by 1.5 for one 12 x 12 inch square. Is that right? We all loved this cake the first time so much so I do not want to disappoint her with a small layer.
Hi Joan! So happy to hear you loved the cake! I think you are right, if you increase the recipe by half that should be perfect for a 12 inch square pan. All the best! 🙂
I’ve been using this recipe to make a birthday cake for my daughter for the last three years, and it is still her (and my) favorite! She loves strawberries and she requests it every year now. I never have strawberry extract on hand, but it always turns out amazing regardless. I just made it as her birthday is tomorrow, and thought I’d finally leave a note to say thank you for this delicious recipe that has become a family tradition!
That’s awesome Amanda! So happy to hear that. Thanks so much! 🙂