Recipe for a delicious, soft vegan Summer Strawberry Cake. It’s easy to make and tastes fresh and light.
Super simple Fruit Cakes were my favorites when I was young – I always requested those as birthday cakes and my mother would make me one, although my birthday is in winter and many fruits, especially strawberries weren’t in season. But this awesome, super moist and delicious cake is great in summer as well (even better with freshly picked strawberries!). Hence the title: Summer Strawberry Cake!
The base gets topped with a vegan yoghurt layer that makes the cake moist & soft, then some strawberry slices and finally topped off with an agar layer. Agar or often called agar-agar is great to make vegan jelly! It’s the perfect alternative for the nasty gelatin that is extracted from the skin and bones of animals (UGH!). Agar is plant-based and obtained from algae. I find it really easy to work with, especially the powdered form.
Summer Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients for the base
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dextrose*
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3/4 cup water
For the top
- 1/2 cup sweetened soy yogurt (or use unsweetened and mix with 30g dextrose and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
- 5 strawberries
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/5 cup dextrose*
- 1/2 teaspoon agar powder
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C.
- Place all the dry ingredients for the cake base in a mixing bowl and combine, add the wet ingredients and whisk until it's a smooth batter.
- Place a baking sheet in your baking pan or oil the pan lightly, pour in the cake batter evenly and place it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. (Use the Toothpick Method to make sure the cake is baked through in the middle.)
- Let the cake base cool off completely - but leave it in the baking pan.
- Cut 5 large strawberries in slices and remove the green part.
- Spread the sweetened vegan yogurt over the cake and place the strawberry slices on top.
- In a small pot, heat the water, dextrose, agar powder and lemon juice and bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, let it simmer for about 3 minutes and let it cool off for a few minutes before pouring it evenly over the strawberry slices.
- Place the cake in the fridge for a few hours until the agar topping thickens.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*I've used Dextrose in this recipe which is a fructose-free sugar, but you can sub it with your favorite granulated sweetener.
Nutrition
Should you decide to give it a try I’d love to hear how it went! Write me a comment or post a picture on instagram and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^
Mariana
Wednesday 15th of July 2015
Is there something you can substitute the dextrose for? Coconut sugar maybe?
Bianca
Thursday 16th of July 2015
Yes, you can sub the dextrose with your preferred granulated sugar. Coconut sugar will work too!
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen
Friday 5th of June 2015
VEGAN SUMMER STRAWBERRY CAKE looks so damn delicious. I love the light background! I think it’s super fun and different and honestly it really makes the strawberries stand out! YUM!
bianca
Sunday 7th of June 2015
Thank you my dear!!
Jennifer Harmon {Peppers and Peaches}
Tuesday 2nd of June 2015
I always asked for fruit pizza from my mom on my birthday when I was growing up! Great taste buds think alike! I'm not sure why, but cake has never been overly exciting to me. Not that I don't like it, I just prefer it loaded with fruits that can steal the show and let the cake take a backseat. I especially like your use of agar in this one! I have not experimented very much with it and when I did it honestly did not turn out well. I am excited to give it another go!
bianca
Thursday 4th of June 2015
The first time I worked with agar it didn't turn out too great, as well, but with the right agar powder/water-ratio it should work out just fine :) You can use more strawberries too and put them more closely together so that the cake will be more to your liking.
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit
Sunday 31st of May 2015
I never ever would've thought of an agar layer on top of strawberries on top of cake :o I love this, and I especially love the little pop of lemon in the jelly layer. Those flavors together sound incredibly summery! You were such a healthy little kid requesting fruit cake for your birthday while I was over there deciding between devil's food or funfetti :D haha
bianca
Thursday 4th of June 2015
Thank you so much Natalie! You just made me google Devil's Food because I wasn't familiar with that cake - and now I have a mayor craving for chocolate cake :D LOL. And I wouldn't have considered my "child me" as a healthy kid.. I ate so much crap (I still do sometimes :P )