This gluten-free strawberry cake is incredibly soft, tender, and moist! It’s made with real strawberries that are blended, simmered, and reduced into a concentrated puree that’s perfect for mixing into cake without the need for artificial flavors.
Gluten Free Strawberry Cake at A Glance
- Blend, then simmer fresh (or frozen) strawberries until reduced by about half.
- The goal here is to basically get as much moisture out of the strawberries as possible. Less water = more flavor. Cooking out the water deepens the color, thickens the texture and concentrates the natural sugars – perfect for baking!
- This recipe uses whole eggs instead of just egg whites.
- Most strawberry cake recipes you’ll find are made using only egg whites. This is so that the yellow yolks don’t overpower the subtle pink/red strawberry color. Since there are already plenty of egg-white-only recipes to choose from, I decided to make my recipe using whole eggs those of us who don’t want to decide between tossing out perfectly good egg yolks and making something with the yolks for the sake of not being wasteful.
- You’ll need to add additional food color if you want it to have a distinct reddish pink hue.
- Natural fruit pigment breaks down when exposed to high heat (like during baking). Even though your batter might look pink or red before baking, it will turn into a muted brown/beige after. So if you really want your cake to stay colorful and bright, food color gels are a must!
How to Make the Best GF Fresh Strawberry Cake
Summed up into bite-sized steps:
- make the strawberry puree
- whisk dry ingredients
- whisk liquid ingredients
- cream butter & sugar, then eggs & oil
- mix everything together
- divide into cake pans & bake
Make the Strawberry Puree
Blend: Add about 1 pound or 3 cups fresh strawberries to a blender or food processor and process until totally smooth. After blending you should have about 1 1/4 cup strawberry puree.
Simmer: Transfer the pureed berries to medium sauce pan. Add lemon juice and a pinch of salt and simmer over a medium heat for about 30-45 minutes or until the pureed mixture has thickened and reduced down until you have 1/2 cup of puree left.
Cool: After reducing, transfer the berry mixture to a heat-safe container and set aside until it’s room temperature.
Start the Cake Batter
Bowl #1 | medium bowl: Whisk together the gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Set aside.
Bowl #2 | medium bowl or mixing jug: Whisk together the milk, yogurt, vanilla extract, cooled strawberry puree and food coloring (if using). Set this aside too.
Bowl #3 | large bowl or stand mixer bowl: Beat room temp butter and sugar together on a medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes until light & fluffy then mix in the oil. Finally, add the eggs mixing well after each addition.
Mix it All Together Then Bake
Combine (add to bowl #3 – creamed butter): Add the flour mixture and the remaining wet ingredients to the creamed butter and eggs in alternating intervals. Mix well in between each addition. Start and end with the flour mixture like this:
flour >> liquids >> flour >> liquids >> flour
Mix until you have a thick, but lump free batter then divide between a couple of prepared cake pans and bake.
🌟🍓Strawberry Buttercream Frosting🍓🌟
Transform your basic vanilla buttercream into a deliciously luscious & fruity strawberry buttercream with fresh or frozen berries and simple ingredients! No added food coloring or expensive freeze-dried strawberries needed!
Recipe Questions
Why blend the strawberries before reducing them?
It speeds up the time needed to reduce on the stove top.
By breaking them down you increase the overall surface area which allows for the water in the berries to evaporate quicker.
Do I HAVE to blend the berries?
No! Blending just helps to speed up the simmering process and do most of the work to help the berries breakdown into a smooth puree.
If you prefer not to blend the berries for whatever reason: finely dice the berries before adding them to pot to simmer. While simmering use a potato masher (ideal) or a fork to break down the berries as much as you can. Don’t leave any big chunks of berries in tact – you need a mostly smooth puree that can easily mix into the batter.
Do I need to strain the strawberry seeds?
No. They’ll either blend up into nothing if you’re blender is strong enough or disappear after baking so there’s no need to give yourself another job.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
Yes, but you should thaw them first. Frozen berries will also have more moisture which means it will take longer to reduce them on the stove.
Why alternate between flour & liquid ingredients?
Quick Answer: It ensures you end up with a smooth & evenly combined batter.
Long Answer:
➡Butter, oil & eggs are high fat ingredients.
➡Milk, yogurt, vanilla extract & strawberry purée have a lot of water.
➡Water & oil don’t like to mix
If you add too much liquid (water) to the creamed fats all at once, you’ll the batter will split & curdled because the water & fat will naturally try to separate.
To avoid splitting, it’s best to alternate between the flour & liquid additions until fully combined. Start with the flour to coat the fat and end with flour to soak up all the remaining, unmixed liquids. Mix: flour, liquid, flour, liquid, flour.
How can I make this cake more pink/red?
Two options, but both work best:
➡Add food coloring. Start with 1-2 drops of pink or red food coloring. Food color gels are more pigmented than water-based food color. I don’t recommend natural food colorings as they’ll fade just as easily as the strawberries.
➡Use egg whites only (and also maybe add food color). Instead of using whole eggs, you’ll need about 1 cup of egg whites. This will be about 7-8 eggs depending on how large your eggs are. Add them all at once to the bowl when it’s time to add the eggs (no need to add them one at a time). Mix well on a high-speed then move on to add the remaining ingredients as instructed.
How to make this into a 9×13 inch sheet cake.
Pour into a prepared metal cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until cooked through.
If you bake this in a glass or ceramic dish, you will need to increase the overall bake time by 5-10 minutes.
How to make strawberry cupcakes?
Line your cupcake pans with paper lines or lightly grease and fill the cups about 2/3 full. Bake for about 22-25 minutes or until cooked through.
You’ll end up with about 26-30 cupcakes.
More Gluten free Cake Recipes You Might like
- Gluten Free Funfetti Cake
- Gluten Free Swiss Roll with Strawberries & Cream
- Gluten Free Lemon Cake with Blueberry Filling
- Gluten Free Banana Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting
- Gluten Free Vegan Vanilla Cake (Eggless Cake)
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake recipe! Leave a comment and review with your thoughts. I always appreciate the feedback and serving suggestions that you come up with!
Gluten Free Strawberry Cake Recipe
This gluten free strawberry cake is soft, tender and super moist, with a delicate strawberry flavor that's fruity, floral and bright!
Ingredients
Strawberry Puree
- 1 ½ lb whole fresh strawberries, hulled (680g | about 2 cups after blending)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (15g)
- pinch of salt
Cake
- 2 ¼ cup gluten free all purpose flour blend (315g)
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup butter room temperature, salted or unsalted (170g)
- 1 ¾ cup granulated white sugar (350g)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil or another neutral flavored oil (45g)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature OR 1 cup egg whites (240g | from about 7 eggs)
- ⅓ cup plain greek yogurt (80g)
- ½ cup whole milk (120g)
- ½ cup reduced strawberry puree (120g)
- 1-2 drops red or pink food color gel, ensure gluten free - optional*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1 cup butter room temperature (226g)
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted (440g)
- ¼ cup strawberry puree (60g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt - only add if using unsalted butter
- ¼ cup strawberry jam - optional for filling
Instructions
Strawberry Puree
- Blend: Add berries and to blender and blend on high about 30-seconds or until smooth.
- Cook: Pour blended berries into a small sauce pan with 1 tbsp lemon juice and pinch of salt. Cook over a medium-high heat for about 45-55 minutes or until the puree has reduced to about ¾ cup (180g). Remove from the heat and cool fully before working to the cake batter. FYI: You'll need ½ cup puree for the cake and ¼ for the frosting.
Cake
- Oven Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8-inch round cake pans. For easy release, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper.
- Bowl #1 (medium bowl): Add flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk together then set aside.
- Bowl #2 (small/medium bowl): Whisk together the yogurt, milk, ½ cup strawberry puree and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- Bowl #3 (large bowl): Add the butter & sugar to a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer with a fitted paddle attachment. Beat on a medium-high speed for about 3-5 minutes until fully combined into a, pale mixture. Make sure to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often. Add the oil and mix on a medium speed until combined. Then add eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition.
- Combine: Mixing on a low speed, add the flour mixture (bowl #1) and milk mixture (bowl #2) in alternating intervals to the creamed butter like so: flour, milk, flour, milk, flour. Gently mix the batter in between each addition. Make sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. The batter should be thick, smooth and lump free.
- Bake: Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 32-35 minutes until cooked through. To check for doneness, insert a knife or tooth pick into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean it's done.
- Cool: Run a knife along the edge of the cake pans to loosen the cake from the sides then flip over onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Make sure to fully cool the cake layers before frosting.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Butter: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a mixing bowl with a hand mixer: beat butter on high for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Sugar: Add the sugar, powdered strawberries, milk, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Mix on a low speed at first until the mixture is no longer powdery then increase to a high speed and mix about 2-3 minutes or until thick and creamy. Add more sugar if the frosting is too sticky and add more cream if it's too thick/dry.
- Puree: Add the cooled strawberry puree and vanilla extract to the bowl. Mix on a medium-low speed until the ingredients are well combined. Be sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed to ensure even mixing. If you want a slightly thicker frosting, add another ¼ cup powdered sugar. If you want to thin it out a bit you can add a tablespoon of milk or more as needed.
- Frost Cake: Frost your cake as you like. Use about ¾ - 1 cup of frosting for the filling and use the rest for the top and sides of the cake. Optional: Spread a thin layer of strawberry jam across the middle layer towards the center of the cake. Make sure to leave about 1-2 inches of space around the perimeter clear of jam unless you don't mind it potentially spilling out the sides of the cake.
Notes
- Leftovers/Storage: Cover the cake well or transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge up to 5 days. You can also freeze it up 3 months - thaw in the fridge. I recommend letting the cake rest/warm up to room temp before serving.
- If you want to use a different frosting: Reduce the fresh strawberry amount to 1 lb (450g) or 1 cup after blending.
- If you want to use frozen strawberries: Thaw first then, blend & reduce. Since frozen fruit holds on to more water, add an extra 10-15 minutes to the total time when cooking the strawberries.
- If your strawberries are a bit bland/flavorless: Consider adding 1 tbsp sugar to the pot while simmering.
- Yoghurt substitute: Swap yoghurt for sour cream OR leave out the yoghurt and regular milk and use ½ cup buttermilk instead. Add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time.
- Using egg whites only + food color for a stronger pink/red color: You need 1 full cup egg whites or 240g. This will come out to about 7-8 eggs depending on their size. When it's time to mix in the eggs, just add the egg whites all at once and mix on a high speed for about 2 minutes.
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