Strawberry Red Velvet Cake

5 from 14 votes

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!

Prep Time1

Cook Time45

Chill Time20

Total Time2 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: Slices

Calories: 733kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Cake

2.5 cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
¼ cup cocoa powder ( I use 2 tablespoons of dutch or natural unsweetened and 2 tablespoons of dark)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons water
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 ⅓ cups milk , keep ⅓ separate
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar , kept separate
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red liquid food coloring (I use McCormick)

For the Strawberry Buttercream

3 ½ cups quartered strawberries , fresh or frozen
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick
8 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 pinches kosher salt
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water

For the Chocolate Drip

¾ cup chocolate chips
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick

For Decoration

5 large fresh strawberries , washed and dried

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For The Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Measure out 1 cup of milk in a large measuring cup and add in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Set aside.
Mix with a spoon and let sit for 5-10 minutes the mix again. This is your homemade buttermilk.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 2.5 cups multipurpose gluten free flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 4 rounded tablespoons cornstarch (52 grams) and 6 tablespoons 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 ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick and the 1.5 cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
Then slowly beat in the cornstarch water mixture into the creamed butter and sugar. The final mixture will look chunky; that's normal.
Into the measuring cup with the buttermilk, add the other ⅓ cup of milk, the remaining 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, the 1 tablespoon red food coloring and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
With the mixer on low speed, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, into the creamed butter sugar and cornstarch water mixture, beat in some dry ingredients then some of the wet ingredients then some dry.
Divide the batter evenly into two greased and parchment lined 8 inch cake pans and 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.
Remove cakes from oven and let the cakes cool almost completely in the pan for 15 mins before trying to remove. Then remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Once cool, slice both cakes in half horizontally. Now you have 4 thin layers of cake.
If your cakes have dome tops, you can take a thin layer off the tops of the cake with a knife, to make a flat surface.

For the Strawberry Frosting

In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine the 3.5 cups quartered strawberries and 1.5 cus 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. You should have about ½ cup.
With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, beat the 1 cup room temperature butter or vegan baking stick until creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Slowly add the 8 cups confectioners’ sugar, strained strawberry liquid (about 8 tablespoons), 2 pinches kosher salt and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract. Beat until combined; it will be thick.
Slowly beat in the water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use it all.
If the strawberry liquid solidified a bit prior to using, that’s ok. Just use a spatula to scrape it into your mixing bowl.

Assembling the Cake

Place one layer of cake on a cake plate/stand. Scoop ⅕ (about 1 cup) of frosting on top of the layer and use an icing spatula to spread it around.
Place another layer of cake on top; repeat this same process. Do this with 3 layers of cake.
Once you get to the last layer of cake, place it bottom (or flat) side up so the top of the cake is nice and flat. Use an icing spatula or a butter knife to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides of the cake.
You should only use a fifth of the frosting on the top and sides combined; 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.

Make the Chocolate Ganache

When the cake has only 5 min left in the fridge, make the ganache.
Place ¾ cups chocolate chips and 6 tablespoons 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.
Place extra washed strawberries in the top center of the cake. I used 5.
If you have frosting leftover, save it in a bowl covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for a few days.

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.

Nutrition