Moist and fluffy vanilla cake with a luscious strawberry cream cheese frosting. Garnish with crisp, freeze-dried strawberries or fresh strawberry slices, either is delicious!
The vanilla cake + strawberry frosting combination creates an elevated ‘strawberry & cream’ cake that’s perfectly light, fresh, and guaranteed to please.
This cake just screams summer to me and I know it will be making multiple appearances in the months to come. Birthdays, dinner parties, cookouts, pool days, etc … this cake is the perfect sweet & fresh dessert for hot summer days!
For more strawberry season inspiration, check out these Strawberry Crumble Bars. Soft and chewy crumble bars with a sweet strawberry filling and vanilla glaze drizzled over top. The perfect lil sweet treat or healthy dessert!
Ingredients for Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake Recipe
Eggs – Add structure and texture to the cake while baking. I have not tried a vegan substitute and would not recommend trying with this specific recipe!
Maple Syrup – Be sure to use 100% pure maple syrup with nothing added to it.
Coconut Oil – Adds moisture + healthy fats to this gluten-free cake recipe. Be sure to use refined coconut oil for a neutral flavor that doesn’t taste like coconut.
Organic Cane Sugar – I love the Whole Foods or Wholesome brand for organic cane sugar. You can also substitute with coconut sugar, just be aware that it may be less sweet and will slightly color the cake.
Vanilla Bean Paste – I prefer the brands, Nielsen Massey or Rodelle, for the most natural + aromatic vanilla bean flavor. I love using vanilla bean paste because it adds a more prominent vanilla flavor, and adds beautiful vanilla bean specks to the cake. If needed, substitute with traditional vanilla extract.
Almond Flour – I use Bob’s Red Mill Super Fine Almond Flour for the best texture. For measuring, make sure you spoon and level for accurate measuring (if you pack the almond flour into the measuring cup you will have too much for this recipe.)
Gluten-Free Flour – The benefit of using a GF baking mix is that it’s a blend of different GF flours, starches, xanthan gum, etc to best replicate the texture and properties of traditional wheat flour. My go-to is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
Freeze-Dried Strawberries – This is the trick for getting strawberry flavor (and color) without adding too much moisture + liquid from fresh strawberries. If you don’t have access to freeze-dried strawberries, substitute with ¼ cup strawberry jam, adding more to taste as desired
Cream Cheese / Butter – If needed, you can substitute dairy-free options for both the cream cheese and butter. Just note that the consistency may be less thick and more runny. I’d suggest KiteHill for DF cream cheese and Earth Balance for DF butter.
How to Bake Gluten Free Vanilla Bean Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line the bottom of a 8” square pan with parchment paper, and spray the edges with baking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut sugar, almond milk, and vanilla bean paste.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together almond flour, gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl of whisked wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. Batter will be thick.
- Add the batter to the parchment-lined 8″ square pan, using a spatula to spread into a smooth layer.
- Move to the oven and bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes (mine took ~38 minutes) or until the top is browned, edges are pulled away from the sides, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out crumb-free. Let cool completely.
How to Make Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
This rich & creamy frosting is the key to this Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake! I utilize freeze dried strawberries to get a delicious tart + slightly sweet strawberry flavor. You should be able to find freeze dried strawberries at most grocery stores – I usually buy from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.
Here’s how you make it:
- Add freeze dried strawberries to a mini food processor and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a mini food processor, you can use a knife and chop until super fine.
- In a large mixing bowl, add softened cream cheese and butter. Use a hand mixer to blend together until evenly combined and smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt and use a hand mixer to blend together.
- Stir in powdered freeze-dried strawberries until evenly combined.
Storing Leftover Strawberry Cake
Assuming you don’t finish this cake in 1 day (even though it’s *THAT* tasty,) I have a few storage tips to keep the cake moist and fluffy.
You can keep the cake in the pan and cover it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Or transfer the cake bars to an airtight container, whichever is easier. I then recommend storing the cake at room temp for 3-4 days for the ultimate moist + fluffy leftover texture.
After that, it will need to be refrigerated and could stay fresh for another 1-2 days.
You could also freeze some of the leftovers in an airtight container and build up your freezer dessert stash. Then you can simply let the cake thaw overnight in the fridge and enjoy!
More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes
If you enjoy baking cakes and need more gluten-free friendly recipe inspiration, I’ve got you covered! Cakes are one of my favorite baking projects and I’ve created quite a few cake styles, flavor combinations, and overall options for you to try out.
Gluten-Free Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – Two layers of fluffy banana cake with chopped chocolate chunks and a luscious cream cheese frosting.
Zucchini Walnut Cake – Moist and fluffy zucchini cake with toasty walnuts studded throughout. A luscious cream cheese frosting is the perfect sweet yet tangy complement to this cake!
If you try this recipe or any of the above ones, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you, and it also helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake 🙂
Ingredients
Gluten Free Vanilla Cake
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted & cooled
- ⅓ cup organic cane sugar or sub coconut sugar
- ¼ cup almond milk or sub any other dairy free milk or whole milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or sub 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups super fine almond flour spooned & leveled
- 1 cup gluten-free flour must be 1:1 replacement (I used Bob’s red mill 1:1 GF Baking Flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries ~¼ cup once pulsed
- 5 oz cream cheese softened
- 3 oz butter softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or sub vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
Gluten Free Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line the bottom of a 8” square pan with parchment paper, and spray the edges with baking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut sugar, almond milk, and vanilla bean paste.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together almond flour, gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl of whisked wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. Batter will be thick.
- Add the batter to the parchment-lined 8″ square pan, using a spatula to spread into a smooth layer.
- Move to the oven and bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes (mine took ~38 minutes) or until the top is browned, edges are pulled away from the sides, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out crumb-free. Let cool completely.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
- While the cake is cooling, start on your frosting. Add freeze dried strawberries to a mini food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add softened cream cheese and butter. Use a hand mixer to blend together until evenly combined and smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt and use a hand mixer to blend together. Stir in powdered freeze-dried strawberries until evenly combined.
- Once cake has cooled, spread strawberry cream cheese frosting in an even layer on the vanilla bean cake bars. Optional: decorate with extra finely chopped freeze-dried strawberries or slices of fresh strawberries. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- For measuring the almond flour, make sure you spoon and level for accurate measuring (if you pack in the almond flour to the measuring cup you will have too much for this recipe)
- You can also bake in a 9” square pan, time would be 30-35 minutes
- If you don’t have access to freeze-dried strawberries, you could substitute ¼ cup strawberry jam, adding more to taste as desired
- To keep this recipe dairy free, you can substitute dairy-free cream cheese and dairy-free butter for the frosting, the consistency will be a little runnier. (If you go this route, I like using Kite Hill plain dairy-free cream cheese and Earth Balance unsalted butter baking sticks)
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