This Strawberry Red Velvet Cake is an eggless red velvet cake surrounded by soft strawberry buttercream frosting. Topped with a chocolate drip and fresh strawberries,it’s a show stopper for sure! Best yet this pretty pink and red cake is gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be vegan!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, cocoa powders, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Measure out 1 cup of milk of choice in a large measuring cup and add in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Mix with a spoon and let sit for 5-10 minutes. This is your vegan buttermilk.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the cornstarch and water until it is thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, beat together the butter or vegan baking stick and the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes
Add the cornstarch water mixture in two parts into the creamed butter and sugar. Pour about half in and beat till combined then pour in the second half and beat until combined.
Using a spoon, stir your vegan buttermilk. It will appear chunky and this is what we want. In the same measuring cup, add in the other ⅓ cup of milk, the teaspoon of white vinegar, the red food coloring and the vanilla. Use a little whisk to combine everything.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry and wet ingredients in 3 sections, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until fully combined. Use a spatula after to make sure it is completely mixed.
With a spatula, scoop half the batter into one cake pan and the other half into the other pan. Smooth the tops with a butter knife.
Bake the cakes in the center rack at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes until slightly springy when carefully touched.
Let them cool in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Once the cakes have completely cooled, slice the cakes in half horizontally to create 4 thinner layers of cake.If the tops of your cakes have domes, you can very carefully cut them off to make them flat.
While the cakes are baking, make the frosting.
For the Frosting
In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine the quartered strawberries and granulated sugar. Stir constantly for about 5-8 minutes until the strawberries have liquified a bit and the sugar has dissolved. Use the back of your spoon to mash the strawberries apart.
Set a strainer or a mesh colander over a bowl and strain the strawberry liquid. You don’t want any of the seeds, you just want the liquid.
With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, beat the room temperature butter or vegan baking stick until creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, water, strained strawberry liquid (about 8 tablespoons), salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth and combined.If the strawberry liquid solidified a bit, that’s ok. Just use a spatula to scrape it into your mixing bowl.
Assembling the Cake
Place one cake layer on the cake stand. Take ⅕ of the frosting and frost the top. Place another layer of cake on top of the frosting. Repeat the frosting layer. Repeat this process 3 times.
Take the last layer of cake and put it bottom side up (or flat side up) so the top is nice and flat. Use an icing spatula to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides. You should only use ⅕ of your frosting on the top and sides. This is a semi naked cake.
Pop the entire cake uncovered in the fridge for 15-20 min so it’s more stable to work with.
Decorating the Cake
When the cake has only 5 min left in the fridge, make the ganache.
Place chocolate chips and butter or vegan baking sticks together in a heat safe bowl. Microwave them together in 10-15 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chocolate chips and butter are fully melted and incorporated. This will take a few min.
Immediately take the cake out of the fridge. Spoon almost all the liquid ganache on top of the cake. Take an icing spatula and push the ganache around to the edges of the cake so it drips down the sides. Work quickly because the cold cake will quickly stop the ganache from dripping too much.
Take the last ⅕th of buttercream and put it into a piping bag. Create swirls going all the way around the top rim of the cake.
If desired, place extra washed strawberries in the top center of the cake. I used 5.
Video
Notes
Vegan: Use a dairy free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non dairy milk, vegan chocolate and vegan red food coloring.All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 ½ cups packed AP flour (420 grams) and 1 cup of milk. Storing: Once the cake is cut into, it’s best to cut the entire cake into slices, remove the strawberries and wrap each slice in foil and store in a zip top bag in the fridge. Eat extra slices within 2 days.When ready to eat, let the slices sit on the counter, in the foil for about an hour or until the cake is room temperature and soft. Freezing: If not eating all the extra slices within 2 days, take the slices wrapped in foil (without the strawberries on top) and place in the zip top bag and freeze them. You can keep the slices frozen for up to 30 days.When ready to eat, put the slices in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cake is room temperature and soft.Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.