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Wife Mama Foodie

Making Healthy Taste Good

Dessert, Vegan, Dairy-Free

March 22, 2021

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

This vegan vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream is free of dairy and eggs with a gluten free alternative included. Fluffy, moist, and delicious, this is THE go-to cake for both vegans and non-vegans!

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!
I think we can all agree that there’s no lack of dessert recipes on this blog. While I’m not vegan, I have a sensitivity to certain dairy products, so many of the treats I make are dairy-free and vegan friendly.

Cakes have always been one of my favorite desserts to make. When I first got married, a friend gave me a Southern Living cookbook and I quickly began making some of the recipes to impress my new hubby. I broke it in by making their classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was the first time I had ever made a homemade “non-box” cake, and let’s just say it wasn’t what I was expecting!

While the flavor was good, the texture was a little dry, almost cornbread-like. I had gotten too use to the fluffy, moist, and artificial qualities from boxed cakes. My homemade cake had a subtle vanilla flavor instead of that intense fake “birthday cake” taste and wasn’t bright yellow like boxed yellow cakes either…probably because I didn’t have yellow dye no. 5 on hand. 😝

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!
Instead of shying away from homemade cakes, I was determined to make them better. I began making birthday cakes for my family and friends and was constantly trying new recipes. After having kids, I quit my job to stay home with them and in order to earn a little extra cash, I started a small side business making custom birthday and weddings cakes. Over the years, I’ve made hundreds of cakes and now can whip ’em up in no time!

I have plenty of cake & cupcake recipes here on the blog to choose from, many of which are free of gluten, dairy, and/or refined sugar. But I also wanted to add a go-to vanilla cake. One that wasn’t necessarily “healthy,” but delicious and perfect to enjoy on special occasions.

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!
Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!
This cake does use natural sugar as opposed to coconut sugar or maple syrup, which helps to give it that fluffy texture. Coconut sugar works well in this Chocolate Pudding Cake and Chocolate Chip Coconut Oat Bars, where the distinct caramel flavor complements the other flavors in the recipe, but would be too overpowering in this simple vanilla cake. Since syrups tend to be a little heavier, eggs are used to give rise to the cake and to hold the overly moist cake together. In order to keep this egg free and not too dense, I found that granulated sugar worked best.

If you’re looking for a cake which is free of refined sugar, check out this Vegan Chocolate Cake or this Lemon Layer Cake with Fresh Berries!

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!This cake is fluffy, moist, and pretty simple to make. Even though it doesn’t have eggs, this is hands down my favorite vanilla cake recipe, whether you’re vegan or not! I love the combo of strawberries with vanilla cake, so I added fresh strawberry slices in between each layer, along with the strawberry buttercream, but you can leave it plain too, if you’d like.

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Gluten-free variation included!
Here’s this same cake I made previously with a cream cheese glaze drizzled over top! Whether you add the glaze or not, the cake is delicious! Hope you enjoy it, friends!

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Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream


★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Joscelyn Abreu
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
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Description

This cake is incredibly moist and delicious, whether you’re vegan or not! Just sub regular milk and butter for a non-dairy version. Gluten-free vanilla cake recipe also included! Makes one 8-inch three layer cake or 2 dozen cupcakes.


Ingredients

Scale

Vegan Vanilla Cake: (gluten-free version below)

  • 2 cups almond milk or other non-dairy milk (can also use regular milk if not vegan)
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
  • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup avocado oil, melted refined coconut oil, or other neutral tasting cooking oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • seeds from 1 vanilla bean, optional
  • vegetable shortening or coconut oil, for pans
  • parchment paper
  • fresh strawberry slices
  • strawberry buttercream
  • cream cheese glaze, optional
  • fresh strawberries for decorating, optional

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake:

  • 1 2/3 cups almond milk (or other milk of choice)
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
  • 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose measure for measure flour blend
  • 1 cup super fine almond flour (This helps the texture significantly so I don’t recommend subbing for more gf all-purpose flour)
  • 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup avocado oil or other neutral tasting cooking oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • seeds from 1 vanilla bean, optional
  • vegetable shortening or coconut oil, for pans
  • parchment paper

Strawberry buttercream: (Vegan vanilla buttercream here)

  • 1 cup vegan butter* (I like Miyoko’s European Style unsalted vegan butter. Can also use regular unsalted butter if not dairy-free)
  • 1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening or more unsalted butter*
  • 4–5 cups powdered sugar, to taste
  • 4–5 tablespoons ground freeze-dried strawberries (about 1 1/2–2 cups whole freeze-dried strawberries)
  • 3–4 tablespoons milk of choice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional Cream Cheese Glaze: (As seen in last photo. White Chocolate version here)

  • 8 oz. vegan cream cheese (or regular cream cheese if not vegan)
  • 1/4 cup coconut syrup, maple syrup, or other sweetener of choice, or more to taste
  • 3 tablespoons melted dairy-free butter
  • almond milk, if needed to thin the glaze

Instructions

Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine milk with vinegar and set aside to sour.
  2. Grease two (for thicker layers) or three (for thinner layers) 8-inch pans and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle, cut to fit the pan, and then grease the parchment paper circle. I don’t recommend skipping this step or your cakes could stick to the bottom of the pan. Set pans aside. Alternatively, you can line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients—flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt until well combined.
  4. Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour milk with a whisk or mixer and beat just until blended and smooth. Don’t over-beat.
  5. Evenly distribute the cake batter into the three pans and place onto the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cake/cupcakes will be pretty light in color. More or less time may be needed depending on your oven.
  6. Let cakes cool for several minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool thoroughly. Cakes are the easiest to frost when they are wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen overnight.
  7. To decorate, place on cake layer upside down on a decorative stand or plate. To keep the plate clean, you can tuck strips of parchment paper under the cake to catch the frosting.
  8. Use an offset spatula to spread the buttercream evenly across cake layer. Top with berry slices, then another layer of cake. Repeat steps with remaining layers.
  9. Frost the top and sides of layered cake with remaining buttercream. Chill cake in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes and go around the cake with a straight edge scraper to get a clean and smooth look.
  10. Top with optional glaze and decorate with fresh strawberries. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Buttercream:

  1. Beat butter and shortening until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, alternately with the tablespoons of milk and beat until incorporated. Add strawberry powder and vanilla and continue to beat until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add more or less strawberry powder to taste.

Optional Glaze:

  1. Beat cream cheese, sweetener, and butter together until smooth. If needed, thin with a little almond milk to get a pourable consistency.

Notes

*Vegan butter is usually salted, so it adds a bit of salty flavor to this buttercream. If you can find unsalted vegan butter, use that instead. For less salty flavor, use more shortening in the place of the salted butter.

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Category: Dessert, Vegan, Dairy-Free

Did you make this recipe?

tag @wifemamafoodie on Instagram and hashtag it #wifemamafoodie

You may also enjoy these similar recipes:

Simple Strawberry Shortcake

Simple Strawberry Shortcake

Layered Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

Vanilla Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream | Wife Mama Foodie

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Whipped Ganache

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Whipped Ganache | Wife Mama Foodie

March 16, 2019

No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie

This no-bake strawberry cream pie is a simple and delicious way to enjoy a cheesecake-like dessert! It’s dairy free, gluten free, plus vegan friendly, and can also be made with alternative sweeteners.

No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie | Vegan Friendly and Gluten FreeThis year is passing by so quickly. Can you believe it’s almost spring? It seems as if Christmas was just a few weeks ago and now it’s almost Easter! When I was younger, I felt like my childhood dragged. School for me was torturous, yet never ending. I couldn’t wait to be an adult and done with the petty cliques and mean girls who loved making my life miserable…little did I know mean girls just grow up into mean women! 😳

But now that I’m older and wanting life to slow down a little, it just flies by. My kids were just babies, now they’re almost adults! Ugh, I don’t even want to think about them going off to college in a few years. I’ve become such an emotional wreck these past few years. I cry over everything, like sentimental commercials, and even cartoons! Can you believe I cry every time I watch the Pixar movie, Up? Every.single.time! Like I don’t already know what’s going to happen. 🙄(spoiler alert!) But that part when Ellie finds out she can’t have a baby always gets me. 😢And when her hubby tries to surprise her with tickets to Paradise Falls (after saving up for it their whole lives!) and then she collapses going up the hill.  But the worst part is seeing him sitting in the dark church at the end of the funeral holding the one little balloon. 😭Omg, it’s so freaking sad! What’s up with all the sad Disney cartoons where people die? So morbid, right?! I thought they were supposed to be happy!

No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie | Vegan Friendly and Gluten FreeNo-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie | Vegan Friendly and Gluten FreeIt just goes to show that life is short. We have to make the best of it and not take any moments for granted. These last few years I have my kids living at home with me, we try to be very intentional with spending time together. We have family time almost every night watching our shows or movies together. On the weekends we’ll have game night or try and find something fun to do locally.

Throughout the year we also try and travel together to new places. I think there’s something special about visiting a new place for the first time with your family. It creates special memories that last a lifetime. My daughter was three and son was five when we took them on their first trip to Hawaii. They were amazed at the fact that they got to fly up into the sky above the clouds on an airplane. That was probably their favorite part of the trip, lol! Sometimes it’s the little things that matter. 😊 

No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie | Vegan Friendly and Gluten FreeLittle things, like this pie! Or maybe it’s chocolate, or cake…or chocolate cake! Whatever it is that makes you happy, do it.. Because life is beautiful and worth celebrating!

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No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie


  • Author: Joscelyn Abreu
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
Print Recipe
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Description

This no-bake strawberry cream pie is a simple and delicious way to enjoy a cheesecake-like dessert! It’s dairy free, gluten free, vegan friendly, and can also be made with alternative sweeteners.


Ingredients

Scale

Crust: (can also use a ready made pie crust of choice)

  • 10.5 oz package gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies, with filling, ground into crumbs (about 2 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil (may need more if using graham crackers or wafers)
  • 1 tablespoon pure cane sugar, coconut sugar, or other granulated sweetener of choice

Filling:

  • 16 oz. dairy-free or regular cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2–3 cans (about 2 cups) chilled coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk, only hardened cream, liquid discarded* (see note for heavy cream alternative)
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup pure cane sugar or coconut sugar (use more or less to taste)
  • 1 oz. bag freeze dried strawberries, ground into powder
  • 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
  • zest and juice of 1 small lemon (use more or less to taste)
  • fresh strawberries, for serving

Instructions

Crust:

  1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted coconut oil or butter until combined.
  2. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate for 45-60 minutes or freeze for 20–30 minutes, until firm.

Filling:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again. Add coconut cream a little at a time, beating until well combined. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again to ensure it’s thoroughly mixed. Slowly beat in sugar until incorporated. Remove 1/2-2/3 cup of whipped cream cheese mixture to pipe onto finished pie at the end (optional).
  2. Mix in strawberry powder until combined, then gradually drizzle in melted coconut oil, beating well with each addition. Finally, mix in lemon juice and zest.
  3. Spread filling evenly into prepared crust. Top with fresh strawberries and pipe reserved whipped cream mixture around berries, as desired. (I used Wilton tips 18, 1m, and 4b) Chill pie for several hours, until set.

Notes

*Can substitute coconut cream with 1 cup heavy whipping cream. Beat heavy whipping cream in separate bowl until light and fluffy. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Omit addition of coconut oil as well. It is only used to firm up the dairy free filling.

  • Category: Dessert, Vegan, Dairy free

Did you make this recipe?

tag @wifemamafoodie on Instagram and hashtag it #wifemamafoodie

You May Also Enjoy These Similar Recipes:

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

Vegan Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream | Wife Mama Foodie

Chocolate Granola Breakfast Tart

Chocolate Granola Breakfast Tart | Wife Mama Foodie

Purple Berry Pie

Blueberry Pie with Purple Berry Crust | Wife Mama Foodie

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Hello! My name is Joscelyn and I love to share recipes that are healthy and delicious. Many of them are also free of dairy, gluten, and refined sugar! Pick out a recipe and let's get cooking! Read More…

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